UK ITF participate in sportsscotland and the Active Schools programme. View all articles
UK ITF Scotland,
region 1 Instructor Brad Robertson recently performed ITF Taekwon-Do taster
sessions to Primary School children in his local area as part of the Active
Schools programme. Brad applied to the Active Schools coordinator who brought
him onto the programme based on his achievements within the martial art and his
experience as a top competitor. Active Schools is a sportscotland
led programme designed to encourage children and young people to get active and
stay active. Sportscotland
works in partnership with local authorities and associated partners, who have
all committed to Active Schools.
On the ground, a network of managers
and coordinators work within every local authority area to increase the number
of good quality opportunities for children and young people to get
active.
The sessions brought
back memories for Brad as he had to liaise with various members of staff at his
old school, Dunbar Primary, many of whom remembered his enthusiasm for the
Martial Art when he was a pupil at the Primary. Other Primary Schools in the Dunbar
catchment area that benefited from Brads experience were West Barns, East
Linton, Stenton & Innerwick.
Brad was asked to
discuss with the children the dedication, focus and effort that enabled him to
become a junior World & European Champion as well as the current adult
World Champion. He also discussed the effort required to consistently remain at
a high level within the Taekwon-Do competition circuit talking through some of
the training that he had done and the sacrifices he had made to achieve his
goal. The highlight for the pupils was when he talked of the feeling of being a
World Champion and what it meant to him when the gold medal was placed around
his neck.
The demonstrations consisted of some Taekwon-Do kicking techniques, which
the children actively participated in, some patterns and then an open floor
question and answer session where the children could ask Brad whatever they
wanted. They took great
pleasure in putting him on the spot, especially the students of Taekwon-Do that
Brad already teaches.
Each of the schools
were so impressed with the interaction and engagement that Brad and the pupils
had that they have invited him back to promote Health Week at the Primary’s
within the Dunbar catchment area in the coming months.
Brad hopes that this exposure through the Active School programme with
Taekwon-Do will lead to other opportunities to coach and mentor children and
young people to achieve their own goals and maybe one day become a World
Champion.
Taekwon
Written by: UK ITF Scotland, Region 1 - 21st November 2014
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