The National AAU Taekwondo Program hosted the 2010 National Team Training Program in Stafford, VA the weekend of January 15-18. The Team actually consists of two separate teams, Junior (14-17 years of age) and Senior (18 years and older) each consisting of both male and female.
The 20 member Junior Team and 16 member Senior Teams are both chosen after an extremely rigorous selection process. To be considered each athlete must first qualify to participate at the AAU Taekwondo Program’s National Championship held each July, by placing at their local District or State Championship. From there the candidates must place in the top four spots at Nationals. Once they have distinguished themselves at that level, the top four finishers in each respective weight category (according to World Taekwondo Federation standards) are then invited to Team Trials where they must compete again in a round robin format which also includes the defending/current AAU Team member.
"These 36 athletes are the very best the AAU Taekwondo Program has to offer" says National Sport Chairman, Mike Friello. "They have endured and persevered through some highly contested competition and are now almost ready to represent the AAU Taekwondo Program at the highest level of International competition." The AAU Program has fielded International Teams for the past eight years and proven itself more than capable abroad. This year’s National Teams will be traveling to Alicante, Spain at the end of April to participate in the World Taekwondo Federation’s 'A' Rated Spanish Open.
Assisting with the finishing touches on the Team’s preparations will be the National coaching staff headed by Mr. Greg Tubbs of Plano, TX as well as Mr. Patrice Remarck (Alexandria, VA), Ms. Barbara Kunkel (Colorado Springs, CO), Ms. Arlene Limas (Stafford, VA), and Mr. Georgie Martinez (Aurora, CO). Joining this outstanding coaching staff will be Team Manager, Mr. Skip Valle of Elk Grove Village, IL.
"The AAU Taekwondo Program has assembled the very best coaching staff available in the United States", said Mr. Friello. "They include past World and Olympic Champions and have proven their coaching abilities through the training of dozens of Junior World and World Champions from among their own personal stables of Taekwondo athletes. In hand picking this coaching staff we were only interested in finding the very best this country has to offer visa vie the past results of their own personally trained students."
Some of these outstanding athletes will be representing the United States at the World Junior Championships scheduled for Mexico March 6-7 including Ms. Haley Kong, James Samotshozo, Seth Wolfe, and Nicole VanCleave.
Joining this very prestigious group of athletes will be the 2010 National AAU Cadet Team. These twenty-two 10-13 year old male and female Black Belts earned their spot by capturing the Gold Medal in their respective Weight categories at the 2009 National AAU Taekwondo Championship in Fort Lauderdale, FL last summer. "The AAU Taekwondo Program has taken a monumental step forward in the creation and assembly of the National Cadet Team. We are the first national Taekwondo organization to focus attention and resources on a National Team this young. By providing this kind of recognition and training, we are hoping to fully develop the grassroots athlete 'pipeline' which will be necessary to compete at the International level in the future" said Mr. Friello.
We are all very excited about this training weekend and its' future prospects. Mrs. Limas has been extremely generous and helpful in putting this weekend together by offering her magnificent training facility as our venue and providing local logistical support. We can't wait to get to Stafford!