Caledonian Taekwondo Health & Fitness Centre, Glasgow, Scotland, Fitness

2011 has to be Caledonian’s biggest year so far! January seems like a very distant memory now and our hopes and ambitions for the year have been met head on. With an incredibly busy calendar of 12 coloured belt gradings, 5 Scottish competitions, 3 international competitions, an Olympic champion's seminar (an Olympic champion staying at the club!), a WTF IR’s referees course, a world poomse champion’s seminar, 14 National Team training sessions (2 members graduating onto the team) and a dan grading to get through - free weekends were few and far between.

January was one of the coldest moths on records but still tropical compared to the December of 2010! The Stirling Cup was the opening event of the year and although we had won it in 2009 we had to settle for 2nd place this time.

Eddie Woods of Mind Safety, in consultation with the club coaches, decided to award his annual scholarship to Lily Arenas. Lily used the scholarship wisely and went on to compete in a number of events throughout the year with the highlight being gold at the Berlin Open in May (more on that later).

The Commonwealth Championships in India beckoned with several of the club’s members representing Scotland at the event. Carla Summerhill got gold with Dale Rhodie, Robert Robertson and Laura Sweeney all winning silver. Scotland went on to finish 4^thin the event. It was a great performance from a great team.

Caledonian was lucky to receive the backing of worldmark once again. They generously donated £1000 so that we could buy a daedo scoring system. The system would go on to become the only WTF approved system and proved to be a wise investment as more and more competitions began using the system. This was all do to the continued efforts of Liz Williamson - thanks Liz!

February was spent in preparation for the onslaught of competitions in March, April and May for those representing the club and Scotland. March was the Dutch Open with Laura, Carla and Robert fighting for Scotland. The guys fought well but unfortunately it was no to be their day.

Next up for Caledonian members of the Scottish National Team. Laura, Carla and Robert were competing with Dale and Ewan both injured. Laura and Carla fought well but narrowly missed out. Robert won two matches but was beaten in the quarter finals. After such a strong performance Robert along with other members of the Scottish National Team was invited to take part in the Norwegian Olympic Teams training camp.

The Belgium Open and competing for the club was; Laura Sweeney, Lily Arenas, Dale Rhodie, Robert Robertson and Sabrina Wong. It was a well entered competition with 1200 entries and ten rings! Laura was first up and won her first match against Germany. She then lost the next match to the Croatia world silver medalist (who went on to win the world chmapionships very convincingly two weks later). Lily Arenas was next up but lost her first match 10-8. Robert was the last of the club to compete on Saturday winning his first two matched but narrowly losing the third on a debatable head shot. A good all round performance from the club on Saturday narrowly missing out on medals.

On Sunday Dale was first up. Still suffering a broken hand from India he started the match aggressively but the weakness was exposed by his opponent and he was beaten in his match against Norway. Last up was Sabrina with three matches to win it she started well against Croatia. Easily winning the match she has a short wait until her next match against Central African Federation. The next opponent was more accomplished and proved a more difficult player. Sabrina dealt with it well and finished strongly to set up a place in the final. The last match for Sabrina, and the club, was against a very good Croatian girl. Sabrina played well but her opponent was more comfortable and won the match 11 - 6. Well done Sabrina!

In 2011 most of the club's focus was on competing abroad but we still had matches to win in Scotland. We had a much depleted squad from the previous year but finished a respectable 4th out of the numerous clubs competing.

The following week the club was off to Germany for the Berlin Open on Saturday 7th May. The team was in great form returning with 8 medals. Laura Sweeney beat 3 German opponents to win gold. Sabrina Wong beat German opponents with her opponent being given a TKO in the final. Callum Wong and Lily Arenas bothl won gold, Rebecca McGowan and Nathan Kerr won silver and Steven McVey and Robert Robertson won bronze. Special thanks go to the parents Steven, George and Mark who were a great help on the day.

1st May was Caledonian first one to one fun day at the centre. Despite some teething problems with the daedo scoring system the day ran (eventually) well. It was a great experience for all of the kids and let the younger, less experienced kids take part. Some of the cadets and juniors also came along to give some demonstration matches and be team leaders on the day.

European Champion Aaron Cooke came to visit Caledonian and spend some time signing autographs and taking time to talk to the kids.

At the end of May, after 16 years, the club resigned its membership of the British Taekwondo Control Board and joined Taekwondo Scotland Ltd. TKDSL went on to become the largest WTF group in Scotland and had run the elite arm of taekwondo in Scotland for the previous 4 years. The BTCB contacted all of Caledonian’s members two weeks later with a rather unfortunate letter. The tone of the letter re-enforced to the club’s decision to leave, with many members questioning the letters motives.

The BTCB went onto loose 65% of its membership in Scotland, loose sportscotland recognition and loose Scottish Institute of Sport recognition. The club was fortunate to have supportive members and parents who, after reading email correspondence from the executive of the BTCB, recognised why the club had made its decision.

The ETU released its ranking lists and 2 players featured amongst the top ranked players in Europe. In the Senior Female -57Kg division Carla Summerhill from Caledonian Taekwondo made it into the top 20 ranked athletes from Europe following strong displays throughout 2010 including a superb Bronze Medal at one of Europe's largest Tournaments, the Dutch Open. 2010 also saw Carla selected for the Great Britain team at the European Championships in St. Petersburg. In the Senior Female -53Kg division Laura Sweeney of Caledonian Taekwondo was one of only two British fighters in her weight category to make the ranking list. A great year for Laura saw her take a bronze medal at the Trelleborg open.

Ravenscraig Regional Sport Centre was the focus of much of the events of 2011. However, for many it was their first taste of this state of the venue in the TKDSL One to One. A large number of the kids from the club took part with a very high win ratio. More importantly there were some fabulous performances from the kids of the club.

Summer camp called again for some of the club’s younger members. It was a revised system this year only offering morning session. 25 children attended over the course of the week and everyone went home very happy. The clubs was also to run camps in Easter and the October breaks making it the most successful year for the camps yet.

June saw all of the club instructors also attend the child protection courses ran by Sports Coach UK. Caledonian would like to thanks TKDSL for organising a course for everyone and the other instructors who went out their way to make sure they were up to date with best practice for child protection.

July saw the announcement of the Taiwan Olympic legend Chu Mu Yen come to Scotland to study English and help Scottish athletes improve. It was an exciting few weeks before he arrived but he was ableley taken care of by the Wong family. Through their hospitality he was quickly smitten by Scotland and was delighted to help out at the club and advise athletes. Special thanks to the Wongs for all their help.

Back to school for a number of club members in August for the TKDSL Corner Judge & Referee's course. There was a good level of support from the club with George Kerr, Stephen McVey, Jordan Harvey, Daryl Johnston, Thomas Anderson, Liz Williamson, Muriel Finnigan, Carla Summerhill, Robert Robertson, Robert Robertson Snr and John Haggerty all sitting and passing their respective courses.

The second one to one of the year took place in August and was a great season opener for the kids, the coaches and the newly qualified referees. Great performances and lots of happy faces.

The Gathering called in September for members of the club that attended Scottish squad training sessions. Dale Rhodie, Thomas Anderson, Rebecca McGowan, Lily Arenas, Callum Wong, Sabrina Wong, Stephen McVey, Nathan Kerr and Daryl Johnston were all taking part in WTF demonstration matches.

Back to the basic was the order of the month for September when the club attended the second TKDSL Dan grading. Club Instructor John Haggerty had the pleasure of being one of the examiners on the day. On the following day it was back to being a student again as he sat his 5^thDan – a test over due by several years! The successful candidates from the dan grading weekend were; Ellis James Wright 1st Poom, Shannon Harrington 1st Poom, Andrew Harley 1st Poom, Michael Walker 1st Dan, Kevin Sanders 1st Poom, Jacob Williams 1st Dan, Murray Donaldson 1st Poom, Jay Mckenzie 1st Poom, Tiegan McVey 1st Poom, Stephen McVey 2nd Poom, Stephen McVey 2nd Dan, Laura Sweeney, 2nd Dan, Callum Wong 2nd Poom, Lily Arenas 2nd Poom, Nathan Kerr 2nd Poom, Dale Rhodie 4th Dan, Robert Robertson 4th Dan and John Haggerty 5th Dan.

On Friday 21st October Caledonian traveled to Ireland to take part in the South Dublin Open. The team was eleven strong and was accompanied by the Scottish National Team and Camran Taekwondo. Three of the Scottish National Team that were competing were also members of Caledonian.

The team performed incredibly well with some memorable performances against some well known faces in Scottish, English and Irish taekwondo. Out of a team of eleven players the club returned with an impressive haul of 7 gold and 4 silver medals and two players of the day trophies. New Dublin champions are; Rebecca McGowan, Callum Wong, Stephen McVey, Thomas Anderson, Sabrina Wong, Dilexsan Francis Aloysious and Lily Arenas. Caitlin McEneaney, Nathan Kerr, Lee Brown and Daryl Johnstone all won silver.

Ewan Harrison, Robert Robertson and Laura Sweeney were all on international duty. Ewan and Laura both won gold in their respective divisions. Ewan was award senior male player of the day. Robert was in a category that was combined up to -68kg and he would have fought Scottish team mate in the final but both athletes agreed not to fight the final.

On Sunday 30^th October Taekwondo Scotland Ltd hosted a seminar by world renowned taekwondo superstar Chu Muyen. The event was attended by nearly 100 members of TKDSL and a few of our ITF friends were there as well. There was a great atmosphere at the event with old and new friends getting a chance to catch up. The seminar was held in the main sports hall of Ravenscraig Regional Sport Centre where the Scottish Open will be held.

Croatian Open

Caledonian went with a small team of three players to the Croatian Open. Laura, Robert and Sabrina were a small team with a big mission. They all fought well but unfortunately for the guys it was not to be their weekend. Many lessons were learned and it was good to make new Croatian friends.

Well done to all of the players, coaches, assistants, refs and corner judges from the club who took part in the Scottish Open at Ravenscraig Regional Sports Centre on Sunday 27th November 2011. The club entered 25 players - our largest team for an event this year.

The players that took part were; Sabrina Wong gold, Callum Wong gold, Stephen McVey Jnr gold, Teigan McVey gold, Lyndsey Brown silver, Nathan Kerr bronze, Laura Sweeney bronze, Carla Summerhill silver & bronze, Ewan Harrison bronze, Ash Bash Knox gold & gold, Dilexsan Francis Aloysious silver & bronze, Lily Arenas gold & silver, Rebecca McGowan gold, Shannon Ramsay gold, Caitlin McEneaney gold, Daryl Johnston gold, Connor McPhail bronze, Murray Donaldson gold and Jack Hamilton silver.

Scotland saw the arrival of another Taekwondo legend this weekend Grand Master KyTu Dang. This world renowned Taekwondo perfectionist passed on his knowledge, inspired young and old, white belts to master grade black belts.

Thomas and Dilexsan, sponsored by Caledonian University, spent 3rd & 4th December in London working as Olympic Young Games Makers as part of the Unity Taekwondo team. This wonderful opportunity came about because of their years of continued hard work, dedication and their proven ability to conduct themselves politely and professionally throughout the world. Their jobs at the London Games will be to be the flag bearer for the taekwondo athletes as they take to the mats. Good luck boys.

Paris Open

Ewan Harrison was off to France for the Paris Open. The club has been attendsing the event on and off since its inception. Ewan was competing as part of the Scottish National Team. A good performance by Ewan but the scoring did not go his way. Ewan's match can be found on Dartfish.

Finally, thank you to all the coaches: Laura, Dale, Muriel, Steven and JC for their work throughout the year in teaching, coaching and developing the club. Thanks also to Ewan, Robert, Carla, Ash Bash, Dr Des and the rest of the guys that have taken time out to help the club grow.

Special thanks to Liz Williamson: fund raiser extraordinaire. She has raised enough money and sponsorship to buy a Daedo Electronic body system and new pads for the clubs. Her work is not always known by everyone but appreciated by those

Thanks to parents who kept encouraging their kids to attend, work hard and aspire.

Finally, thanks to all of those who have worked hard and did their bit (and probably much more) in helping the club. Their support of the club is always appreciated!

2011 - A Summary