Master Tadeusz Loboda
AEFT President

On behalf of the Board of Directors of AETF and myself, I wish all of our members and supporters good health and all the best in the coming year 2011. Our thoughts and hearts remember the dramatic events from the beginning of the past year. In the tragic earthquake in Haiti, on 12th January 2010 we lost our President, GM Trân Triêu Quân. He was a visionary, very kind, a family man, competent, and a special person. It was a great loss for our community.

Promoted by him the formula of “democratic organization, which belongs to its members, works for its members and with them to ensure them support they need and expect.” and its principles have succeeded. Despite the great loss of such a strong leader as GM Trân Triêu Quân our organization is remaining and continues to develop. ITF is introducing new projects and is continuing those already started with much bigger engagement. This loss paradoxically made our organization stronger.

As is traditional, the year 2011 will start with the AETF Board of Directors meeting, where the report from the AETF activities in 2010 will be accepted and the aims for 2011 will be determined. We will also project all the expenses and accept the budget for 2011.

In March, at the ITF Congress, for the next time the new ITF Board of Directors will be elected using the democratic process. It is a big responsibility because we will decide who will be leading the ITF toward fulfilling its mission.

This is also the year of World Championships in a distant Wellington in New Zealand. I am sure that the championships will be a great success not only on the organizational level, but also on the sports level and that the countries from our continent will support World Championships by their presence, despite very high costs of participation. The International Taekwon-Do Foundation of New Zealand Inc. deserves such a level of support.

Next, especially important for European countries are the 17th Junior and 26th Senior European Championships to be held from the 21st – 23rd October 2011 in Bratislava, Slovakia.

I hope that the Euros 2011 will have a much higher number of participants and we will break the record from Euros 2002 in Czech Republic in which competitors from 32 countries took part.

In 2010 AETF cooperated with 36 National Associations. I hope that in 2011 new National Associations will join our community. More countries understand the role and the meaning of the strategic planning and are introducing projects in accordance with the principles of good governance, which is what is strengthening for AETF.

All Europe Taekwon-Do Federation will support the efforts and activities of ITF in its projects, in particular regarding the membership in SportAccord (former GAISF) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Traditionally, many countries will organize open international tournaments, seminars, camps, and conferences in their countries where the participants from other continents may participate. Also members of AETF will support ITF events being held on other continents.

The official AETF website will be one of our main tools for communication where we will publish information regularly on many subjects. AETF Board of Directors, members of the Revisory Commissions, members of AETF commissions and the employees of AETF HQ are always ready to help.

The year 2011 promises numerous wonderful and great events, with organizational, sports and legislative challenges. We will have many occasions to meet, make friendships, and exchange our cultural and sports experiences to “build a better and more peaceful world” as it states in our Students’ Oath.

Yours sincerely,
Master Tadeusz Loboda
President