Eight talented students from Millennium Tae Kwon Do and Family Fitness are in Guatemala gearing up for the 2006 Pan-American Taekwondo Games.

About 20 countries will be represented at the competition, which is slated to begin this evening and continue until Saturday.

These students will represent Canada in sparring, patterns, power breaking and self-defence events.

Ashley Primeau and Nicolas Plaja both have red belts. Holly Toirer and Rachel Gibson are green belts.

Elizabeth Plaja has a black strip belt, while Sarah Mennetje and Andrew Mennetje are both first degree black belts and Patricia Plaja is a third degree black belt.

These talented locals earned their spot in the tournament by winning at the provincial level and are part Team Canada. The team consists of 25 other students from Toronto, Montreal and Quebec City.

The team will be staying in Guatemala for an additional week after the competition to tour the country and participate in several seminars and workshops.