Newsletter 3/2010 Battle of Utrecht 2010
Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern end of the Randstad, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands. The Ancient-city centre features many structures and buildings from the Middle Ages. It is host to Utrecht University (the largest university of Netherlands) and several other institutes for higher education. The city is well connected to the main roads (including two of the most important major roads which cross near Utrecht) and has got easy access to Schiphol Airport (30 minutes by direct trains service) and many countries in Europe. Utrecht has the second highest number of cultural events in the Netherlands (ranked only after Amsterdam).
On the 3rd of October 2010 Utrecht became the largest centre for Taekwon-Do where the following tournament ‘Battle of Utrecht’ took place. 360 competitors from 40 clubs from Belgium, England, Germany, Poland, Spain and Netherlands battled it out for honor in the pursuit of their victories, putting on a great display in front of a mass of spectators and supporters. 196 children, 65 juniors and 98 seniors were competing all day in patterns and sparring in front of 62 referees (54 from the Netherlands and 8 from elsewhere in Europe). The best club was Koguryo from the Netherlands who achieved 25 points.
Jamil Chami (member of Dutch National Team in the past and World Champion in sparring, Canada 2007) said that about 20 volunteers were helping in this event – he was one of them, and he said: ‘We were working all evening yesterday and started early morning today to make the hall ready for competitors, spectators and referees. Some of us train Taekwon-Do and some are parents of children competing today, but we are all a good cooperating team’.
Master James Tjin-A-Ton, organizer of ‘Battle of Utrecht’, told me about competition in the interview.
- This is not your first tournament 'Battle of Utrecht’. For how many years have you organized this competition?
I have organized this competition for four years. - Is it now easier to organise? What differences can you see between your first time and the competition this year?
It is very nice to see that we are growing. It is not only for a number of competitors from other countries but also for all other ITF organisations in the Netherlands to be involved. That’s why we have it all on paper so next year we can use the same information again. - Who is in the organising committee for this competition?
The committee is me and my wife Liesbeth. Also with help from our own club Taekwon-Do IN NAE DO KWAN. - Did you have any problems with the organising? If so, what were they?
The biggest problem is to have a lot of volunteers because we have to build all the hall and brake it up and find people to do security job. It’s always a big challenge to do that. - What would you like (if anything) to improve for the next tournament ‘Battle of Utrecht’?
I would like to improve three things: the weight in to be faster, temperature of the sport hall lower and to assist the umpires to be aware of contact that is too hard in some fields. - How many competitors are here today? From which countries?
360 competitors are here today. They are from Poland, England, Germany, Spain, Belgium and of course from the ITF Organisation of Netherlands. - You have your own school. Do your students compete today?
We have the biggest school of ITF Netherlands - 450 students. I’ve got about 20 students competing today. - Did you win some trophies?
I think so. I have no time to ask my coach about that. - Do your students help out at this event?
We prepared the whole competition. They helped us to make hall ready – the flags, mats, squares etc. - Do you think this competition is good preparation for competitors going to Bratislava?
This is very good for competitors because Bratislava is about in one month. All the people from the national team are competing today as well. - How do you consider the level of the competitors here?
The level, considering that the Battle of Utrecht is the first tournament after summer vacation, is quite good. - In Holland you have many more TKD organisations. Is this competition well known in your country among the other organisations?
Is very nice because this tournament ‘Battle of Utrecht’ is open to all ITF Organisations. So this is well known amongst the organisations in the Netherlands who are taking part in the competition. - Do you have any special guests today?
Yes, I have special guests like yourself, Master Jerzy Jedut from Poland, Master Thomas Denis from England and guests from Spain. - You attracted spectators with lottery today. What prizes can we win?
We’ve got four prizes. People buy an Entry Ticket with a number for the competition and later we draw the winning number. They could win a do-bok, taekwon-do bag, taekwon-do book or taekwon-do pad for training. There are just little things for the audience. - There are a lot of spectators in the grandstand. This is actually very nice surprise for them. Also it is very nice for competitors to have that many supporters here.
That’s why the grandstand has got a lot of spectators here. This is very good for taekwon-do as well and for aspirations. That is why we do it. -
I saw special chocolates for some people and very nice medals for coaches.
We have a Cathedral in Utrecht and these special chocolate have got this cathedral on it and special made. - Someone who got this chocolate told me that if you opened it you have to eat it in four days according to tradition. Is that true?
Hahaha. Hold on. That is only because it is not good any more. That’s why. - What advice would you give Taekwon-Do practicioners about the competition, to promote and advertise it to encourage them to take part next year?
Every year in the Netherlands and in Europe the ‘Battle of Utrecht’ is the first tournament after the summer vacation so all Taekwon-Do practitioners know that they can compete to see in what kind of shape at that moment they are in. Also, our tournament is perfect to prepare them for the European Championships next year.
From white belt to black belt and from child to senior, everybody had a great and fulfilling day.
