International Taekwon‑Do Federation

Staged in Thessaloniki, a city located in Central Macedonia, Greece; a three-day International Course for European Umpires and Coaches was conducted recently from Friday 31st of January to Sunday 2nd of February, 2020.

Approved by ITF and organised under the umbrella of EITF, the course was conducted by the EITF President and Deputy Chairman of the ITF Umpire Committee Grandmaster Michael E. Prewett. The venue for the whole itinerary was Santa Resort Hotel. A well-received initiative of the Athletic Taekwon‑do Federation of Hellas (AOTE) and the Bulgarian Taekwon‑do Federation (BTF), the course included umpires and coaches from Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia. The event was attended by the Deputy Mayor of the Thermaikos area, Mr. Panagiotis Trokanas.

The participants spent three days with international umpires led by Grandmaster Michael E. Prewett, Master Vergilij Sitnilski, Deputy Chairman of the EITF Umpire Committee and Master George Papadiotis, Chairman of the Umpire Committee of the Athletic Taekwon‑do Federation of Hellas (AOTE) in final preparation for the upcoming EITF Championships in Prague, going over the laws of the game, brushing up on match management techniques and electronic scoring system applications. Umpires and coaches were actively involved with the updated rules and regulations through discussion, role play, engaging activities, short quizzes and on tatami practice.

“We wanted to create a supportive and professional learning environment which models good practice and enables umpires and coaches to lead, contribute, participate and learn from each other in their pursuit of excellence”, said Anastasios Valasiadis, the President of the Athletic Taekwon‑do Federation of Hellas (AOTE) which hosted the event. President Valasiadis was satisfied that many of the objectives of the sessions were accomplished and encouraged the umpires and coaches to give of their very best during the upcoming competitions.

“The utility of such seminars can be felt when we start working at various competitions. We make proper notes of it, go back, and check if everything we learned has been implemented. We remind each other about our learnings here so that we are all on the same page. The objective is to get people to think alike, have a common objective and ensure that we speak the same language worldwide”, said Panagiotis Fitzios, Secretary General and Chair of the Education Committee of the Athletic Taekwon‑do Federation of Hellas (AOTE).