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Puerto Rico Seeks to Become Caribbean Taekwondo Hub with University Program
On a recent mission to Korea, Puerto Rico Taekwondo Federation President Louis Arroyo and Federation General Manager Tony Avecedo sought to build links with taekwondo academia on the sport’s home turf, and lay the groundwork for a stronger poomsae squad. Their strategy to upgrade the sport in the U.S. Territory is based on establishing an academic program that will become the Caribbean’s hub for taekwondo excellence.
Taekwondo on the island dates back to 1968; today, the federation has around 10,000 practitioners under its wing. The island boasts Junior World Champion Myrllam Vargas, and World Cadet Championship medalist Isabella Diaz. Among Puerto Rico’s senior players, rystal Weeks is an Olympic qualification hopeful, while Luis Colon took fifth place at the Worlds in Chelyabinsk and bronze at the Pan Ams in Toronto.
Looking ahead, the island’s taekwondo chiefs have bigger plans. Prior to establishing taekwondo as an option at Central University of Puerto Rico, Arroyo and Avecedo are in discussions with Korea’s most famous institutes of higher learning for taekwondo – Kyunghee University, Yongin University and the National Sport University – to consult on curriculum development and faculty hire.
The program is expected to begin in 2017 as a certification option in the Sports Department before becoming a degree course. Once it gets underway, Arroya and Avecedo anticipate students coming from elsewhere in the region, such as Dominica and the Virgin Islands, as well as from Puerto Rico. In addition, the university is offering two scholarships, each of US$50,000. for Koreans who want to undertake four-year degree programs.
As a stop-gap before the academic program opens, Arroyo hopes for visits from expert instructions supplied by the Taekwondo Peace Corps. “We have already had two Peace Corps missions, but each time it was only three months, so we have asked President Choue for six months and he said it was possible,” he said. “We hope to get poomsae, kyorugi and some Korean language. They tell me this will be this summer. “
To bring his squad up to scratch, Arroyo insists on having a Korean coach. “We are looking to hire a poomsae instructor from Korea and set up a team – well, we have a team already, but we need to upgrade it,” he said. “We can go to the Olympic committee and say we are prepping for 2019 so that we can have funding; this will start this year.”
Again, as a stop gap, the Puerto Ricans are sending local coaches to train on poomsae seminars with Korean masters in the USA, as well as dispatching instructors to the annual Kyunghee University Summer Program. However, he recognizes the need for full timers – and for doers as well as teachers. “The thing is, when you teach poomsae, it is not just what you know, it is how you perform,” he said. “Students follow you, so you can have knowledge, but if you cannot perform correctly, you cannot show it.”
So the plan proceeds. Given their strategy, taekwondo’s future in Puerto Rico is, Arroyo hopes, will be bright as the Caribbean sun.
Source: WTF
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