ITF Scotland held their first national championships in two years, over the weekend of 21st & 22nd May 2022.
The national event was the first since the end of the pandemic and attracted some 507 athletes from 28 clubs across Scotland and 6 clubs travelling from England to compete at the event in Motherwell.
In advance of the championships ITFS Umpire Committee held two refresher training events for our umpires, the first of their kind. The first was a dedicated Centre Referee training hosted in Aberdeen, with the attendees being put through training by International Umpire’s Master Alexander Dunbar VIII Degree, and Mrs. Jacqui Wallace IV Degree. This event allowed four hours of dedicated match time experience for a small team of 20 Centre Referee’s some of whom had many years of previous experience, as well as a new generation of aspiring Centre Referees.
The second course was held online via Zoom the week prior to the championships, with Grand Master Gordon Wallace IX Degree, head of ITFS Tournament Committee. With 71 attendees covering the rules of the championships as well as the rules of ITF competition, that would be in place for the championships.
Both courses received positive feedback and will be a main stay in advance of future championships.
In preparations for the championships Sportdata was used to facilitate the entries, as well as live at the event, with for the first time in four years, that we had all 6 pattern & sparring rings running electronic scoring systems, as well as laptop recording results over 3 special technique and power rings. This new fully electronic system was managed over the weekend by ITF Scotland’s team of IT specialists; Mr. Craig Rennie I Degree, Mr. Chris Forbes I Degree, and Mr. Keith Graham, who were on hand to keep the system running flawlessly throughout.
Saturday saw the 13 years and under competitors take to mats across 3 disciplines: Pattern, Sparring & Special Technique. This was the first year that coaches were only permitted to be coloured belts, to facilitate a growing competition, and requirement for more experienced umpires. The event finished on the first day around 4pm.
On Sunday it was the turn of competitors aged 14 & over, as well as those with Additional Support Needs. It was encouraging to see the growth in the ASN categories with no less than 7 clubs entering competitors into the divisions.
For the second event in a row, the T & U Committee added an open weight sparring category for black belts aged 14-17 and 18 years plus. These were again received very well, with several highly competitive bouts being played out to have an overall sparring champion.
This year was also the first year there was a split in the Overall medal tables with the addition of an Overall Association, adding to the already Overall Club Title from previous years.
On behalf of ITF Scotland and its Tournament & Umpire Committees, we’d like to thank those Black Belts who gave up their time over the weekend to Umpire, and ensure the event ran as smoothly as it did.
OVERALL CLASSIFICATIONS
Overall results from the event can be found below.
Congratulations to Braveheart Martial Arts Overall Club Champions 2022, and winners of the Mr. Paddy Timoney Memorial Plaque this year.
OVERALL CLUB
1st Place Braveheart Martial Arts 22 Gold, 17 Silver and 9 Bronze
2nd Place MWBA 20 Gold, 18 Silver and 21 Bronze
3rd Place MH Taekwon-Do 13 Gold, 14 Silver and 21 Bronze
OVERALL ASSOCIATION
1st Place GMAC Martial Arts 44 Gold, 40 Silver and 53 Bronze
2nd Place Northern Taekwon-Do Academies 30 Gold, 31 Silver and 30 Bronze
3rd Place TKD Scotland 24 Gold, 25 Silver and 40 Bronze
OVERALL CHAMPIONS
OVERALL ASN <13 yrs CHAMPION
Thomas Reape GMAC Livingston 1 Gold and 1 Silver
OVERALL ASN >14 yrs CHAMPION
Claire Hislop Glasgow East 2 Gold
OVERALL <7 yrs MALE CHAMPION
Nikodem Borciuch GMAC Livingston 2 Gold and 1 Silver
OVERALL <7 yrs FEMALE CHAMPION
Tied – No award
OVERALL 8 – 10 yrs MALE CHAMPION
Thomas Hill MH Taekwon-Do 2 Gold and 1 Silver
OVERALL 8 – 10 yrs FEMALE CHAMPION
Tied – No award
OVERALL 11 – 13 yrs MALE CHAMPION
Tied – No award
OVERALL 11 – 13 yrs FEMALE CHAMPION
Sophie Heron Braveheart MA 3 Gold
OVERALL 14 – 17 yrs MALE CHAMPION
Joseph Burgess Master Gilmour BA 3 Gold
OVERALL 14 – 17 yrs FEMALE CHAMPION
Amy McNair NP Taekwon-Do 3 Gold and 1 Bronze
OVERALL 18 – 35 yrs MALE CHAMPION
Tied – No award
OVERALL 18 – 35 yrs FEMALE CHAMPION
Jaimie Singleton GMAC Wishaw 3 Gold and 1 Bronze
OVERALL >36 yrs MALE CHAMPION
Luke Thompson Tunbridge Wells 3 Gold and 1 Silver
OVERALL >36 yrs FEMALE CHAMPION
Lynda Efstathiou AETA 2 Gold and 1 Silver
ITFS Tournament and Umpire Committee
Grand Master G. Wallace IX
Master A Dunbar VIII
Master J McIlvaney VII
Mrs. G McIlvaney V
