Newsletter Newsletter 2/2017 World Cup 2020 Candidate City Visit

This week, ITF Finland had the great pleasure to host Master Coos van den Heuvel, Chairman of the tournament committee as part of the checking of the premises proposed by the Organizing Committee for the bid of the World Cup 2020.

Tuesday:
Master van den Heuvel arrived to Finland on Wednesday and after checking in his hotel, he visited first the premises proposed for the training of the teams and also checked the Special and power machines (already used for the Euros 2016) and proposed some alterations to improve the scoring procedures (easily applicable).

At 19.45, the city council represented by Mr. Pekka Paavola (head of the sports department of Tampere city) and Mr. Perttu Pesä (head of the major events office and "visit Tampere"), invited all the organizing committee (OC) to dinner at the superb restaurant Tiili Holvi for a "suprise dinner" menu combined with fine wine tasting. It was the opportunity for Master Van de Heuvel to appreciate the extent of the support from the city to the World Cup project as well as the ITF in Finland.

Wednesday:
Thursday was the actual heavy schedule day starting at 9.00am with all a majority of the hotels proposed (5 hotels were covered but of courses more will be added at later stage).

Lunch was hosted in Hotel Cumulus Hameenpuisto and was hosted by Tampere city Deputy Mayor Anna-Kaisa Heinamaki who also came to meet the Master and show her support for the event. The Deputy Mayor stressed the importance of such events for Tampere as well as the importance of Tampere as a city of Sports, informing us as well that Tampere was also chosen to host the 2018 World Under-20 Championshps ©IAAF as well as the 48th EKF Junior & Cadet U21 European Karate Championships in 2021. She also reaffirned the full financial guarantee from the city to the event, waiving both the OC as well as the ITF from any financial risks.

The afternoon was all about the Sports hall. First the Master revisited the 8200m2 hall used for the European Championships 2016 and was blown away to see the amount of work done by the OC to transform a multipurpose hangar into an amazing venue for an international event. But that was not the point, as also in the same compound, he got to see the scale of the actual hall proposed for 2020. A stunning 13200m2 combined with a 2300m2 dedicated to the warm up area.

The venue was used during the weeken for bus exhibition and the plain sight of seeing more 150 buses lined into the hall gave a real understanding of the magnitude of the hall proposed.

After the visit, a large to-scale map of the proposed layout was debated with proposals from both parties on how the set up should be done. Many ideas were thrown on the table and the session turned into a very constructive brainstorming session.

After a 2h rest, Master van den Heuvel was invited to attend an ice hockey match were the two local teams Tappara and Ilves battled a great show. The experience was actually unique as the City's Sport's Council manager Mr Pekka Paavola, invited us to the VIP box used by the city officials. T&he evening ended in a pub nearby were all present reinvented the world and imagined the great potential the ITF has as an amazing martial art and sport.

Thursday:
The trip back to Helsinki was a moment in which we realized the importance of social part Taekwon-Do brings to its members, as a genuine shared sadness was felt when it was time to say goodbye.

Thoughts of Master van den Heuvel: I was impressed of the professional approach of the work till now. And the big benefit of the support of the city council. Great and professional Organizing Committee.

The Organizing Committee:
Master Thierry Meyour: President ITF Finland
Ms. Heli Karjalainen: Head of the OC
Mr. Mikko Allinniemi: Structure and premises
Mr. Lasse Kuusisto: IT
Mrs: Laura Kuusisto: Accommodation and Transportation
Ms. Minna Minkkinen: Volunteers
Website: http://www.itfworldcup2020.fi
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/itfwctampere2020

Promoters:
The city of Tampere:
Mr. Pekka Paavola: head of the sports department
Mr. Perttu Pesä: Head of the Major events" and "Visit Tampere"

--
Master Thierry Meyour
7th Degree
President ITF Finland
Tel: +358 44 27 23 755 ma-pe: klo. 10-16