Galway & Athlone Taekwon-Do News

For more information on any of the news items, email modtkd@eircom.net
[Updated December 21st 2004]

A very Happy Christmas and Peaceful New Year from Mr Howard & Mr O'Donnell to all our Members & their families & friends

Christmas Breaks
The Christmas Breaks will be as follows: (Enjoy the break and we will see you all in the New Year!)

December Grading Exams
Congratulations to the following members who were promoted at the December gradings in Galway & Athlone:

Athlone "Little Dragons" News

AETF Umpire Course - Prague
An official AETF Umpire Course will be held in Prague, Czech Republic from 11 - 13 Feb 2005. The course is open to Black Belts II Degree and above. Full information pack etc can be found on the RITA website.

British Open Results
Congrats to Patrick Conlon, Conor Dunne and Barry Haddock from our schools who represented Ireland as part of the Irish Colour Belt team at the recent British Open in Sheffield. Well done to Patrick who won Gold in Patterns and Gold in Sparring and also to Conor who won Gold in Sparring and Silver in Patterns.

RITA Awards Night
Congratulations to Mr O'Donnell who was presented with the RITA's Black Belt of the Year 2004 award by Master Howard. Full listing of awards is available on the RITA website.

Recent News

ITF National Colour Belt & Black Belt Championships & Four Nations Event
Well done to everyone who took part in the Nationals & Four Nations recently. Sincere congratulations to the Irish team who did us all proud in the Four Nations event as well. Results from the Galway & Athlone Schools are as follows:

(Full tournament results available on the RITA website)

Maynooth ITF Tournament - Results
Well done to all the Galway & Athlone members who took part in the recent Maynooth ITF Tournament. We are very proud of everyone who took part to represent our schools. Special mention to the following members who did especially well:

(Full tournament results available on the RITA website)

Welcome New Members
A very warm welcome to all the new members who have recently joined the beginners classes in Galway & Athlone!

Black Belt Grading Results
Congratulations to Mr Rory O'Connell (Galway School) and Mr Joe Gill (Athlone School) on their recent promotions to II Degree at the recent Black Belt Grading in Dublin, and congratulations also to the Galway School's newest Black Belt, Mr Kieran Ward, who was promoted to I Degree at the grading - well done to all!!

Irish Colour Belt Squad for UK Open
Congratulations to the following members from our schools who were selected for the Irish Colour Belt squad at the recent trials: Barry Haddock (Galway), Patrick Conlon and Conor Dunne (both from Athlone)

RITA News:
Website:
The “Instructors Area” of the RITA website is now open for access by all members.  This page is especially useful for Black Belt members with all relevant forms and documents for gradings etc.
RITA Supplies:
Members can now order official RITA supplies such as Doboks, T-Shirts, TKD Encylcopedias, bags, belts etc directly from the RITA – order forms available on the RITA site or at class. Full list of stock with pictures on the RITA website.
Visit the official RITA website to find out more.

New Addition to site:
Visit our new articles page - the first of which is a students guide to preparing for gradings written by Mr O'Donnell.

GALWAY SCHOOL - NEW TRAINING VENUE FROM SEPTEMBER 8th
As the hall in St James’ National School is no longer available to rent out from September (due to refurbishment works starting shortly), classes will be moving to:

The Renmore Centre (Beside the Kingfisher Health Club).
Training times will be the same i.e.:
Mondays & Wednesdays:
7.30pm – 9.00pm (9^th Kup and above)
7.00pm – 8.00pm (Beginners)

The last class in St James NS will be on Monday 30^th August and the first class in the Renmore Centre will be on Wednesday 8^th September. Apologies for any inconvenience with the change in venues, but we have no option other than to move and it is difficult to find suitable accommodation.

ATHLONE SCHOOL NEWS:

Mr Gill, Athlone's New Assistant Instructor

- Mr O'Donnell hands over Mr O'Donnell has handed over his teaching duties to Mr Howard due to personal commitments, but will still be one of the school's examiners and teach the occasional class. Mr Joe Gill is now officially the school's Assistant Instructor. This is in recognition of all the hard work he has put in over the last year. Mr Howard says: "On behalf of the school I’d like to thank Mr O’Donnell for the huge amount of teaching, work, sweat and mileage accumulated over the last 6 years.  He has succeeded in building a great school". Mr O'Donnell says: "I regret that I have had to forego teaching in the Athlone School due to personal commitments and I would like to thank Mr Howard and wish him and all the Athlone students every success in the future. I look forward to still seeing you all on a regular basis!"

- New Friday Class
The Thursday class has moved to Friday evening 7.30 - 8.30pm. The first Friday class will take place on the 3rd of September. This is to allow Mr Gill to travel over from Galway where he will be going to college. The class on the 3rd and 10th September will be from 7 - 8.30pm

- New Beginners Class:
will start on Saturday the 11th September at 11.00am. For further information, contact Mr Howard on (01) 8686220 or email robert.howard@dit.ie

Grading Results
Congratulations to the following members from Galway & Athlone who were promoted at the recent grading exam held in Athlone:

1st Kup: Alan Conway, Martin Mahoney, Gerard Fahy
3rd Kup: Andrew Kelly
4th Kup: Eimear Cole
5th Kup: Patrick Conlon,
6th Kup: Barry Haddock, Alan Canavan, Conor Dunne
8th Kup: Christiaan Momberg, Martin Faherty, Maurice Healy
9th Kup: Thomas Finnerty, Garrett Casserley, Michael Philbin, James Sheridan, Martin Corcoran, John Corcoran

Well done also to Mr Rory O'Connell, Mr Joe Gill, Kieran Ward, and Tim Collins who were successful in their preliminary gradings and will now go on to the National Black Belt grading at the end of September.

Group photo taken at the Athlone Grading 13/8/04

European Championships 2005 Website
The RITA has set up a special website (which will be online soon) for the 2005 AETF European Championships to be held in Dublin from 8-10 April 2005. All information and updates on the Championships will be posted on this site. Visit www.eurochamps2005.com

6th Junior & 1st Veterans World Championship - Malaysia
CONGRATULATIONS to the RITA team who represented Ireland at the recent Junior & Veterans World Championships in Malaysia under the guidance of National Coach, Mr Floyd Keane. The team put in a great performance to bring home 2 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze medals. Well done to all concerned. Full results are available on the RITA Website.

National Team Squad Training
Squad training for the National team under the national coach, Mr Floyd Keane V Degree will recommence in Stillorgan Taekwon-Do School on Saturday 14th August. Check the RITA website for details or contact Mr Keane on 086 8541889 for more info. All eligible members are strongly encouraged to attend to give their support for Euro 2005!

Squad Development News
The next Colour Belt Squad session will be in Scoil Mhuire, Carrick-On-Suir on Saturday 11th September from 11am to 3pm
Open to all RITA members who are 7th Kup to 1st Kup. This training is geared towards selecting a colour belt team to represent the RITA at the UK Open Championships on November 27th. Nominal fee of €10 per student for the squad session (or €5 if you have represented Ireland in the past 12 months).
For further info on the Carrick training session, please phone Mr O'Donnell on 087 7970646

Clarification: All Black Belts interested in Squad (and also any colour belts who hope to promote to Black Belt before Euro 2005) should go to the National Squad Training with Mr Keane, all other colour belts 7th Kup and higher should go to the Development Squad.

Photos from the ITF International Umpire Course

Participants pictured with Grand Master Rhee and Grand Master Leong

The Galway & Athlone group pictured with Grand Master Rhee and Grand Master Leong

Discounts on TKD products
Students of the Galway & Athlone Taekwon-Do Schools who wish to purchase TKD products on-line from the "Pro Shop" at www.itf-information.com can now receive a 10% discount on all purchases. A wide range of Taekwon-Do books, videos, DVD's, CD Roms and accessories is available. Check out the site for full product listing. Any members who wish to avail of this discount should email Mr O'Donnell for Instructor ID number.

RITA Squad Development Update 01/06/04
Congratulations to the Irish team that travelled to Glasgow to compete in the Scottish Open Championships on Saturday 29th May!   The team brought home a total of 18 medals. Special mention to Mr Joe Gill of the Athlone School who won gold in Patterns and Silver in Sparring, and to Alan Conway of the Galway School who won Bronze in Patterns. Full results of the Irish team members  for Scotland can be viewed on the RITA website - click here to view.
(Open Squad development sessions will restart in July.  Dates & venues will be posted here and on the RITA website when finalised)

The Squad Development Team with Mr O'Donnell & Mr Howard at the 2004 Scottish Open in Glasgow

Archived News

Open Letter from Master Howard - to all RITA members re. ITF situation

Galway Open ITF Championships 2002 - Full Results from the tournament

General Choi Memorial Service - Sept. 2002 - Tribute & photos from the memorial service

Training Weekend, Galway - August 2002 - Report & photos