On Sunday 4th May 2014, Sabumnim Michael Nguyen and Sabumnim Tony Nguyen along with the team at Impact Taekwon-Do Australia hosted the 1st Victorian ITF Open Junior Championships in North Melbourne.
This event attracted 59 competitors and representative from 9 Taekwon-Do schools from all around Melbourne, regional Victoria and South Australia. The stadium was full of an overwhelming number of spectators and supporters. The atmosphere was lively energetic as a championship should feel.
It was a fantastic day that ran fairly smoothly with 4 rings operating simultaneous for most of the day. The events ran well ahead of schedule for all of the day and the event finishing almost 2 hours ahead of schedule. This meant adults and children did not have to have a long day as it is mentally very exhausting for everyone. Officials worked together and were well looked after with copious rest breaks and complimentary refreshments.
All schools contested in Patterns, Sparring, Special Techniques and Power Breaking with everyone participating in the true spirit of Taekwon-Do. New friendships were formed and there was positive feedback from competitors and supporters. There was an overall good display of sportsmanship from all competitors. There was complete fairness in the judging with decisions usually being unanimous between the inter-school judges. The important outcome here is that children are getting at least 3-4 fights whether they win or lose in sparring. They are preparing for competition at a younger age and that they are enjoying themselves. This will help build stronger competitors. Special Techniques and Power breaking were run like at the World Championships with one competitors completed all breaks/techniques before being dismissed.
Thank you to the follow people: –
- Mr Paul Harper, Mrs Michelle Harper, Mr David Proctor for use of their equipment for the tournament.
- Miss Lisa Trinh and her family for catering for 50+ hungry people during the peak lunch service.
- Miss Claire Jones for being our paramedic/first aid on the day.
- Miss Alison Currie for sound setup, technical support, MC duties and tournament manager on the day.
- Miss Larita Bouphasavanh for her massive effort behind the scenes sourcing equipment for the rings, the poster, the signs around the tournament venue, the certificates of participation, for the tournament documentation and officiating on the day.
- Mr Matthew Nguyen, Mr Carl Robertson, Mr Trent Pakarinen-Stephens and Mr Tim Hon your travelling in the rain to pick up, deliver, setting up, officiating on the day and packing up.
- Mr Tony Nguyen, Mr Anthony Palmer, Mr Paul Harper and Mr Justin Chin for taking the roll of centre referee at this competition.
- Miss Hyang-Ah Lee and Miss Rosy Satanek for photographer and videoing the tournament.
- Miss Yeon-Il Lee for officiating on the day.
- Mr Michael Pirotta, Mrs Sue Pirotta, Mr Sean McCarthy, Mr Lanny Tieu and Mrs Leah Tieu, Mrs Sarah Strachan for being Jury President on the day.
- Miss Vy Nguyen, Mr Kemal Sejranovic, Miss Jennifer Nguyen for marshalling and equipment checks on the day.
- The Impact Taekwon-Do team who sacrificed their Saturday to help set up the venue.
Special thank you to the people below for assisting with officiating on the day and for entering your students: –
- Mr Anthony Palmer 5th Dan – Legacy Taekwon-Do
- Mr Paul Harper 5th Dan – Il Shim Taekwon-Do (Melbourne)
- Mr Justin Chin 5th Dan – Thoroughbred Taekwon-Do
- Mr Phil Zydbel 4th Dan – Geelong Taekwon-Do
- Mr John Dwight 3rd Dan – Il Shim Taekwon-Do (Melbourne)
- Mr Kye Todd 3rd Dan – Australian Institute of Taekwon-Do
- Miss Tania Matthews 2nd Dan – Impact Taekwon-Do Australia
- Miss Julia Fogarty 2nd Dan – Impact Taekwon-Do Australia
- Miss Natalie Jewel 2nd Dan – Ataru International/Impact Taekwon-Do Australia
- Mrs Gill Greenstein 2nd Dan – ITFA Melbourne
- Mr Nathan Hill 1st Dan – ITFA Bruthen
- Mrs Corinne Leahy 1st Dan – Il Shim Taekwon-Do (Stawell)
Thank you everyone so much for your ongoing support. It feels truly great to have so many schools all work together in the absence of Taekwon-Do politics. Without your involvement there would not have been a tournament. Look forward to seeing you all again next year.
2014 Victorian ITF Open Junior Championships Official Results
