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Taekwondo Australia Provides Grants To International Athletes

Taekwondo Australia has committed funds to support its sparring and poomsae athletes who qualified for the Australian Team to participate in the Oceania, Commonwealth and World Poomsae Championships. This is the second level of funding provided by the association in 2008 and completes its commitment to support Gold Medalists from the 2008 Australian Taekwondo Open and National Championships who successfully competed in the Canberra Selection Trials.

Board Chairman Mr Hassan Iskandar stated that Taekwondo Australia had now provided a total of $10,000 in grants for athletes who would be competing in events in New Zealand, Canada and Turkey and that it demonstrated the association's commitment to ensuring that Australia continued to maintain a competitive presence on the international Taekwondo stage. Mr Iskandar also stated that the association had recently received an invitation to the US Open and that further funds would also be committed for athletes who qualified for participation at this event in 2009.

Taekwondo Australia Funds Athletes

Taekwondo Australia's Board has approved funding for athletes in terms  of commitments given at the 2008 Nationals.  Gold medallists who attended the Canberra selection event, and who applied for funding, will shortly receive a subsidy towards their travel expenses and entry fees. This is the first domestic funding provided by Taekwondo Australia in 2008.

Grants for onward events in New Zealand, Canada and Turkey has also been considered by the Board and will be finalised once results from the selection event become available.  Taekwondo Australia is in the process of corresponding with the qualifying athletes to confirm results and the events that they intend to enter so as that funding levels can be finalised.

Kukkiwon Confirms Issuing Of Certificates

Taekwondo Australia is pleased to advise members that we have received confirmation from Kukkiwon that your Association has been accorded the privilege to continue the processing and issuing of Kukkiwon Certificates in Australia.

Athlete Participation Support For Canberra Selection Event

As previously advised, 2008 Nationals gold medalists in the 14-17 Black Belt and Open Black Belt Divisions will receive support in attending the October selection event in both poomsae and sparring. The Association’s offer of support remains in place and will only apply to gold medalists who actually participate in the selection contest.

Qualified athletes will receive a notice in the mail explaining the process for registering their participation details and will need to ensure that they comply with the stipulated closing date so funding processes are not delayed.

The level of funding will be determined after the closing date and will be reliant on the number of applications received and the availability of funds for all coming competitions.

National Sport Development Program – Poomsae and Sparring

The National Sport Committee (NSC) has been busily working to reintroduce a national sport development program. Our goal is to provide a transparent system that allows all involved a clear pathway from grass roots to elite. Much work has been done and more will still need to be done to fulfill our desire of becoming the nation’s peak body once again. All involved are working tirelessly to produce a system we are all proud of, giving consideration to the achievements and challenges of the past. The documents that support this system will be placed on the web site, as completed, for all to see.

The NSC has chosen the US Open as our first development activity. Sparring Athletes, who placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd in the Black Belt 14 – 17 and Open Divisions at the National Championships on the 5 and 6 September 2008, will now be eligible to participate in the Taekwondo Australia National Sport Development Program.

The NSC is awaiting confirmation of Poomsae categories for the US Open. If the US Open does not meet the NSC desired outcome for National Team Poomsae development, another competition will be used for development purposes. Please be assured that we seek timely clarification so as not to disadvantage our members personal development planning.

Athletes and coaches will receive a notice in the mail explaining the process of registering interest. Special consideration forms will be available, on line, to athletes who were unable to contest the National Championships but feel they could qualify for the program. Some support will be made available to athletes who qualify for squad selection and the Association appreciates that many athletes make participation decisions based on the support offered. Taekwondo Australia will confirm the extent of support as soon as possible. Further information regarding application forms and eligibility criteria etc will be posted on the Taekwondo Australia web site shortly. Application deadline is 30 October 2008.

Support of 2008 Australian Team: Commonwealth, Oceania and World Poomsae

Much consideration has been given to these competitors and while not wanting to disadvantage any deserving athlete, the Association has limited funds with which to offer sponsorships.

Taekwondo Australia is not privileged to any information relating to the support of athletes beyond the selection event, and until sense prevails and further clarification is offered, we are able to only offer limited assistance to support athletes to these events because of the unknown nature of the arrangements to be made. The level of funding to be offered will be made after the selection event has been conducted so that we are able to determine the costs involved and the funds that the Association has available.

Despite claims and arrangements made for past events, the selection of officials for the coming events is beyond the scope of the current team management processes for Australians and any official who receives an invitation to participate in these events, either from the WTF or from the event organisers, should write to Taekwondo Australia’s Acting CEO to request assistance and include a copy of their participation invitation and estimated expenses.

Our hope is that in the near future we will once again be able to provide more appropriate assistance to our members in fulfilling their aspirations of Australian representation.

We Move Forward To Meet The Challenge

Taekwondo Australia thanks you for your support during these times of change and challenge.

The Association is undergoing change which will benefit all our members and supporters.

Taekwondo Australia is also looking at ways to make membership more relevant and valuable.

Taekwondo Australia is the organisation with the history, the people and the resources to provide an outstanding Taekwondo experience and we will build on this as we move forward with the assistance of our new Board and the support of our Taekwondo community.We are in the progress of re-establishing our National Sporting Organisation (NSO) status including AOC membership, ASC and WTF recognition as well as potential sponsorship funding, through government and non-government sources. We are well underway in fulfilling our obligations to do this and have progressed a number of areas already, including:

• We have a newly elected board with fresh thinking, new ideas and a renewed energy for progress.
• We have revised and implemented a new constitution which means we meet the Australian Sports Commission’s intent that we operate in a fair and transparent manner and in accordance with their published governance principles.
• We have appointed one independent Board member and are in the process of completing our constitutional requirement to appoint two more directors to provide the Board with specific skills and independent opinions.
• We have reviewed our governance and operations systems (eg policies and guidelines) and identified and prioritised recommendations.
• We have completed a Strategic Planning Forum with delegates representing both operational and state activities and are redeveloping our Strategic Plan in accordance with their recommendations.
• We have implemented some of these recommendations already and are taking steps to continue this work.
• We have been communicating and engaging with Government Officials building support with the right people who can promote our organisation as we grow and change.

Some members may be aware that there has been some factionalisation of Taekwondo in Australia. While Taekwondo Australia recognises that not all involved in the sport are going to concur in relation to the management and development of Taekwondo in Australia, it is important to remember, irrespective of the direction one comes from, that factionalism and division reflects back on the sport as a whole. Do we want Taekwondo to be seen as a unified and respected sport or one that lacks cohesion and credibility? Taekwondo Australia has made consistent efforts to maintain communication pathways for all stakeholders and will continue to pursue this. Our attempts to openly discuss the issues our sport faces have not always been met with co-operation from other parties but we will continue to offer opportunities to work together in a transparent and accountable environment for the sake of our sport.

We need to address the issue of factionalism as members of the Taekwondo community because, despite what some individuals may think as to where they stand or where they believe they have positioned themselves, it is the sport that ultimately suffers from such conduct in the perception of both the public and government.

We are confident that given the progress we have made to date and the continued and positive support by members, we will be the officially recognised Taekwondo peak body and will provide meaningful support, events and resources for all members and supporters. We will be updating this site regularly to keep all members informed. If you have any questions please contact our Acting Chief Executive Officer, Kate Eggar.

AOC Announce Review of Organisations Governing The Sport of Taekwondo
11 July 2008

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) today announced that the AOC Executive have appointed former Australian High Court Judge, The Hon Michael McHugh AC QC, to determine whether there is one Australian organisation governing the Olympic sport of Taekwondo in Australia. The AOC stated that in determining this the organisation will need to demonstrate that it is exercising a real and specific sports activity, conducting activities in compliance with the Olympic Charter and the rules of the WTF, and subject to being affiliated to the WTF and any other pre-conditions, whether they should be admitted to membership of the AOC.

Mr McHugh will be assisted in the review by the AOC Director of Sport, Ms Fiona de Jong. The ASC has also been invited to participate in the review. Written submissions and oral presentations will be made by 31 January 2009 and Mr McHugh will deliver his determination to the AOC Executive by 31 May 2009.

Mr McHugh was admitted to the NSW Bar in 1961 and was appointed QC in 1973. He was appointed a Justice of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of NSW in 1984 and a Judge of the High Court of Australia in 1989, a position he held until his retirement from the Court in 2005. Post-retirement Justice McHugh was appointed as one of the non-permanent Justices of the Court of Final Appeal in Hong Kong where he sits for a period each year at the invitation of the Chief Justice of Hong Kong. When not sitting as judge of that Court he is otherwise fully engaged as a Mediator and Arbitrator.The AOC has also appointed Mr McHugh as Beijing Olympic Games Australian Team Advocate.

Taekwondo Australia Inc welcomes the appointment of Mr McHugh and looks forward to the opportunity to make submissions to this review.

Coaching And Officiating Accreditations

To read about the latest situation in regard Taekwondo Australia coaching and officiating accreditations click here.

Dan Grading Policy Changes

In a move to bring Taekwondo Australia head instructors in parity with other nations, the Board recently approved changes to the Dan Grading Policy. Effective immediately, Australian gradings will be recognised to one Dan level below that of the Grading Instructor. This was previously two Dan levels below. This means for example whereas previously a 5th Dan could only grade a candidate up to 3rd Dan, this has now been changed to a candidate up to 4th Dan. The Board acknowledges that a change of this nature places a significant onus on the grading instructor to ensure that candidates have achieved appropriate levels in all aspects of the requirements of the rank they are being graded to.

The Board is pleased to note the wide acceptance of this policy change and the high level of support from Head Instructors.

Success at World Juniors

Chloe Iriyadi from Melbourne achieved a silver medal which was Australia's only medal at the recent World Junior Championships in Turkey and Taekwondo Australia congratulates her on the result. Chloe has been training for many years and her results at this event were certainly contributed to significantly by her training and experiences at Taekwondo Victoria and Taekwondo Australia competitions. Well done Chloe!