Summers in season of gold

By L. SCOTT HAINLINE
CHRONICLE CORRESPONDENT
On the way to capturing a taekwondo state championship, and finishing as a national points leader, John Summers didn't forget about his top priority.
Having fun is my favorite part," he said. I like sparring a little more than the others events because it's challenging, but I always want to have fun."
Summers, who just turned 8, recently wrapped up a Texas Triple Crown state title through the American Taekwondo Association, and his totals made him a national points leader in all three categories including form, weapons and sparring.
He beat out approximately 500 competitors in the Texas ATA 7-and-under division, and bettered nearly 3,000 scores nationally.
Summers is a straight-A student at Danish Elementary in the Cy-Fair ISD, and gets plenty of support from his father, Brian, mother, Renee, and younger sister, Hailey, 5.
The season runs from June to June, and we went to 18 or 19 events last year all across the nation," Brian Summers said. He made friends all over the country, and they went from playing together one minute to competing against each other and then back to playing together, and that was pretty awesome."
Summers ran away in the form and weapons competitions, and captured the top spot in sparring by going 24-1 over the final six weeks of the season.
There was a kid from Tyler who was close for a while, but John went 4-0 against him to close it out," his father said.
Summers also plays youth baseball and is currently an all-star for the Texas Outlaws, an AA select team.
He spends most of time at catcher, but also plays second base and in the outfield, and another prized activity is reading (favorites include Harry Potter and Speed Racer, among others).
He played soccer for one season, but we try to limit the sports so he can enjoy everything," said Brian Summers, a former coach at Cypress Christian, St. Pius X and Cy Springs.
Summers practices up to four days per week at the Taekwondo USA Family Center on Jones Road in Houston, and occasionally with a private tutor.
John has been studying taekwondo for two years, and competing for about a year and a half, and he's come a long way in a short period of time," his father said, and we try to make sure he has fun above everything else through all of it.
We're very proud of his accomplishments, but more proud of the friends and lasting relationships he's making along the way."