WTNZ CHRISTMAS MESSAGE-December2022

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Meri Kirihimeteand season’s greetings to you and your whanau.
I’m pleased to bring this Christmas messageto all members, supporters, and stakeholdersat the end of anotherchallenging year, but one in which we have collectively made great progress as an organisation,and equally with our clubs around the country as we were finally able to return to normalityfrom mid-2022.I’d like to start by recapping the many highlights and achievements of our WTNZ family this year.
The year in review:
WTNZ successfully heldelections and democratically electeda new board in February. This wasfollowed in May by the appointment of development committees, patrons and support personnel to help stand our organisation back up again.
WTNZ also facilitated with High Performance Sport New Zealand $10,000 in funding for Tom Burns who represented New Zealand at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
In the lead-up to our WTNZ Open Championships in July, we held online Kyorugi & Poomsae Courses, all of which were well attended. We then capped this off with a specialin-person Kyorugi Referee course conducted by Denzil Ray WT/WTO Educatorin Auckland the day before the tournament.
Utilising our Daedo Gen 2 scoring system,participants were able to learnfirst-hand and apply the latest WT Kyorugi rule changes both at the seminar and WTNZ Open Championshipstournamentthe next day.This proved to be very beneficial forall officials and athletes who participated.
The WTNZ Open Championships were a great success with competitors and officials taking part from all over the country. After what had been such a long lay-off fromour holding live events due to the Covid-19 situation, it was fantastic seeing everyone re-connect and come together again.We were also very grateful for the sponsorship and support provided bythe Embassy of the Republic of Korea in helping make this event possible.
And then as promised, we followed this up with two additional Poomsae Seminars held in Auckland and Christchurch during October-November to further upskill athletes and instructors on the latest Poomsae applications and competition pointers.Our new lookwebsite is now operational at http://worldtaekwondonz.com/We will continue to provide updates on this platform, add and improve functionality.
Our website also has a frequently asked questions (FAQ)page that we encourage you to visit for more information about WTNZ.

WTNZ meeting with New Zealand Olympic Committee

I am pleased to report that this week we met with New Zealand Olympic Committee CEONicki Nicol and COO Tara Pryor to update them on our progress this year and outline what we believe would be an inclusive, safe and fair pathway to the Olympics for our athletes. WTNZ represents a significant portion of WT-style clubs across New Zealand, and I was encouraged by what was a very positive discussionwith NZOC.We will provide further updates and progress in the New Year.

The year ahead

As we head towards 2023and beyond,I am pleased to share with you our plans to roll outfurthertournaments and development seminars, including accessfor membersto top international Kyorugi& Poomsae refereesand judges. We are also currently planning a special seminar by a top world Kyorugi athlete.

Please let usknow ifyou would like to host a tournament or seminarand we will aim to work this into our planning for 2023and assist you in any way we can. Orjust let us know if you are holding an event of your own and would like us to help promote it to our membersso they can attend.

As evidenced in our activities, WTNZ has continued to maintain good relationships with key external stakeholders this year while we get our organisation operational. In 2023 itis our full intention to pro-actively lobby on behalf of andbe a voice for any member, club or organisation that is feeling disaffected or disenfranchised with the overall status of WT-style Taekwondo in New Zealand. We will continueto ensureall our events are open to every club and athlete in New Zealandregardlessof their membershipstatusand remainfree from any political interests, affiliations or interference.

Please register with us for updates and access

It’s free to register your club with us. Please just send anemailback to us for further details at: admin@worldtaekwondonz.comBeing registered with WTNZ means you and your members will receive discounted entry fees forall our events andhave access to our many resources.

Thanks so much to all the volunteers, officials, athletes, membersand sponsors who supported the above events and WTNZmaking all this possible. Also, a special thanks to World Taekwondo Oceania and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea for their support and advice this year, High Performance Sport New Zealand for their funding of our 2021 Olympian Tom Burns, and to the New Zealand Olympic Committee for meeting with us this week.2023 is certainly looking to be a great year for WTNZand its members.

On behalf of the WTNZ Board, Committees, Patrons and OfficersI’d like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. And I look forward to seeing you again next year.

Ngā mihi nui

Master Jung Joo (Jason) Kim

President -World Taekwondo New Zealand