It's been a busy and exciting start to the year for Australian Taekwondo. Some important initiatives and events are being planned for our members, and I look forward to seeing these delivered over the coming months.
The Senior World Championships are fast approaching and Australian Taekwondo, in partnership with CombatAUS, is poised to make a formidable impression in Baku, Azerbaijan. It is an immense source of pride for me, alongside Australian Taekwondo CEO Heather Garriock, to represent Australian Taekwondo at such a prestigious event, lending our support to our senior Kyorugi athletes and promoting the advancement of Taekwondo in Australia. The Championships are also set to include celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of World Taekwondo and recognise the best male and female athletes from each edition of the Olympic Games and the founding National Federations.
Events like these allow us to meet with representatives from World Taekwondo and our Member National Associations to discuss the improved direction and development of Taekwondo in Australia and advocate for positive outcomes for Taekwondo and our members. Our organisation must maintain an open dialogue with our international counterparts and work together for the betterment of Taekwondo. I wish all our athletes and support staff the best for a successful World Championships campaign and recognise the great work our clubs and coaches have done in preparing our athletes for the world stage.
As we continue to modernise and professionalise Taekwondo in Australia, investing in the development and advancement of our coaches, from grassroots to high performance, is essential to producing Australia's best athletes. The association has been working to fill this void and deliver initiatives that support increased skills, knowledge, and training of our coaches. I'm delighted to see Australian Taekwondo launch an updated and modernised coach accreditation with more profound coach education and training material. This is further supported by the launch of a new High Performance Coach Technical Growth Program and the delivery of several Coach Development Seminars at no cost to accredited coaches as part of their membership. Quality coaching is critical to recruiting and retaining participants in Taekwondo, and we'll be doing more in the future to enhance and advance our coaches in Taekwondo.
Engaging in new commercial opportunities that benefit our business and members is critical to our growth and development as a sport and martial art. We were delighted to announce our partnership with Fight HQ last month and, more recently, partnering with the Moreton Bay Council to deliver our series of international events. I encourage each of you to consider attending these events as either an athlete, coach or spectator and support our national and international Taekwondo community.
Thank you for your continued support of Australian Taekwondo; I look forward to bringing you another President update in the future.
Kind regards,
Jean Kfoury
President - Australian Taekwondo
