Awards Recipents to be Announced Monday

Recipents of the 2008 Season comBATON awards will be announced on Monday for these catagories in the newsletter:

1. *Turnbull Award - for the team with the most divisional wins in the 2008 season with Division 1 being mandatory

2. Coach of the Year - for exceptional clock management, team rotation and all around coaching during the 2008 season

3. Indominitable Spirit - for the team with the most spirit and tenacity for the 2008 season

4. League MVP - for the most consistant contribution to his/her team during the 2008 season

5. Heavy Metal Warrior - for consistant display of physical and mental toughness during the 2008 season

6. Power Player - for consistant display of valor under pressure during the 2008 season

7. Five Point Awards - for players scoring a 5 point score in a game

8. Team MVP's for the 2008 Season - one per team

9. Sportsmanship - for consistant good sportsmanship during the 2008 season

10. Championship Tournament of Games MVP's- one for each game

* Named in honor of Master David Turnbull for his contributions to the game. This was awarded to the comBATON Samurai during their 11th annual testing retreat last weekend.

The Turnbull Award

The comBATON Samurai playing out of DC Turnbull TKD in Lake Mary, Fl were awarded the 2008 Championship Trophy for the Games held at the Disney Martial Arts Festival in a surprise visit to Master Turnbull's testing retreat in remote Volusia County on Sunday.

Although he knew we were going to stop by, Master Turnbull had no idea that we were bringing the trophy or that Steve would declare it to be the "Turnbull Award" for now and evermore. The award was named in honor of Master Turnbull's contributions to comBATON and will always be the most prestigious award the league will give.

Although brief, the ad hoc ceremony was special because Master Kathy, Master Turnbull's master, was there for the camp as were many of the Samurai and other students. The trophy had all of the Samurai names engraved upon the back and the front plaque was labeled "Turnbull Award." The DC Turnbull Taekwondo community was delighted to have another award presented to Master Turnbull. He was recently named the "The Coordinator of the Year" by the Disney Martial Arts Festival Organizers as well.

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comBATON at Disney

This Photostory was made from Master Wendi Turnbull's of 2 Dog Photography photos taken at the comBATON Tournament of Games at the 2008 Disney Martial Arts Festival.

Championship Pics from Disney Martial Arts Festival

Photos taken by Master Wendi Turnbull of 2 Dog Photography have been uploaded to comBATON's MySpace page. When the video from the games has been edited into a highlight clip, the home page on comBATON's website will be updated. This will probably happen in the next week or so.

Disney Martial Arts Festival

comBATON the martial arts team sport held its first championship games at the Disney Martial Arts Festival on October 24, 2008 in Orlando, Fl. All teams competing qualified during earlier tournaments. The Samurai of Lake Mary, the Ninja of Spring Hill, the Spartans of Port Richey, the Tigers of Pembroke Pines and the Lionheart of Hialeah Gardens participated.

Earlier in the day, Samurai coach/player Master David Turnbull, also a coordinator for TaeKwonDo competition at the festival, was awarded a glass plaque for being the Disney World Martial Arts Festival coordinator of the year. Not one to rest on his laurels, he immediately got to work registering taekwondo competitors for the event.

Championship Tournament of Games This Friday

World Championship Tournament of Games this Friday at the Disney Martial Arts Festival! Games start promptly at 7 pm. All games are 15 minutes with 3 time outs for each team. See you there!

MVP for Spring Hill Games Announced

Seth McKinley - MVP of Tournament of Games III is pictured on the right with his teammate, John.

Seth McKinley of the Ninja is comBATON's Most Valuable Player of the Spring Hill Tournament of Games III this past September 13th. Seth acted as coach and captain of the team due to the absence of Brian Schneider. Seth rose to the occasion by making outstanding plays and showing leadership in the heat of battle.

Seth has been with the Ninja since their beginning in 2005. His experience and developing athleticism stood him apart from the other players, as he moved with precision and ease about the field of play.

Seth understands the nature of comBATON, and has the vision to know where and when to maneuver in order to get his teammates in the best position to receive the baton. He is a team player.

His rate of improvement has been significant. And he is only going to get better...

Squirt Scrimmage in Hollywood

The Tigers and Lionhearts had a practice scrimmage on October 11, 2008 in Hollywood. This slideshow is comprised of pics taken there.

Another Player Slideshow

Ninja and Tigers Battle It Out

Check this one out. The sequence at 1:09 is killer. I don't what that "Don't blow the horn" was about so I guess the crew was playing around with an airhorn.

People Behind comBATON

Want a free comBATON Cap or Tee to wear to the Disney ?

1. Comment our banner on 25 MySpace page profiles. Simply copy and paste from our pics.
2. Have 10 friends put comBATON in their "Top 8 Friends" on MySpace for a month.
3. Post a comBATON video on YouTube and get 100 views OR comment on 25 comBATON videos.
4. Get your picture in a newspaper or magazine wearing comBATON gear.
5. Post 25 of your comBATON pics on your MySpace and tag them "comBATON."
6. Write about us on your MySpace profile and post a comBATON pic of you on it.
Tees and caps will be sent to coaches in time for the Disney Championships

Samurai Team Photo

Thanks to Master Wendi Turnbull of 2 Dog Photography for this team photo.

Ninja Team Photo

Thanks to Paul Ruby for this Ninja Team photo. Josh was not available when the photo was taken.

Overview of the Spring Hill Tournament of Games

Every game at the Spring Hill Tournament of Games was action packed. The Samurai and Spartans were the first teams to arrive followed by the Ninja. While waiting for the Tigers, the teams held light contact practice scrimmages. They mixed it up with ages and genders. The sportsmanship and control was remarkable. All bets were off when the games started though.

As usual, the 14-16 girl's games were great to watch. To quote Brian "The Cat" of the Tigers, "Every school has a great team. In our case, it's the girls." Other members of the Tigers men's team nodded in agreement during a snack break in the lobby.

The boys and men's teams grappled more than in previous games giving the games a new element of interest. Things got heated and the referees had to get after some of the players for continuation of play after the whistle was blown.

The younger player's teams from the Miami area did not make the trip to Spring Hill and will have a scrimmage in Southern Florida on October 12th to qualify for the Disney games.

Overall, the tournament of games went well thanks to Regis Lima Martial Arts as the host. Sondra, Starlite, and Lewis helped make set up a snap.