COSTA News Archive

 

 

Feb 26th USAT Referee Certification Seminar administered by Master John Sieber the USAT Head Referee Chairperson!

This is a great opportunity to get your 2011 USAT seminar completed with the USAT very BEST!  This seminar will be a refreser course for IR's as well as an opportunity for 1st time referees.  We ask that every COSTA registered school send at least 2 new Blackbelts ages 16 and up to become certified USAT officials.  The cost for the event with Master Sieber will be $60 payable to COSTA, your fee includes lunch and snacks.  All participants must be USAT registered in addition to the seminar fee. For more information on times please check the Colorado Google Calendar.  Please click on the link below to register: www.a-team-rocks.com/costa/usatrefereeseminar.html

 

COSTA Creative Events Festival Feb 5th 2011 Registration was a SPECTACULAR event. 

There is much we could all say about the USAT sanctioned Creative Events Tournament held at A-Team Taekwondo this Saturday and it woulld all be one story after another of achievement and true happiness.  Kids, Parents, Masters, and Referees had a BLAST!  We had 97 participants doing multiple events and it ran so smoothly we started at 9:30am and had completed all events except Sport Poomsae by 12 noon! We then had lunch and turned Sport Poomsae not only into a competitive event but also a clinic for the participants and referees!  The Colorado Referees were AMAZING on Saturday and their dedication made the event run so professionally, a sincere Thank You goes out to all of them.  There are many pictures which best tell the story so go to facebook and search for the A-Team Taekwondo fan page and you can copy pictures of your kids and team! 

  

Dec 4th Sport Poomsae Seminar Had 27 Participants!

A big THANK YOU goes out to Scott Serbin and Dan Rogers USAT Poomsae Referees whom led the Sport Poomsae Seminar at A-Team Taekwondo last Saturday.  It was a PHENOMENAL seminar with TONS of information!  Masters Serbin and Rogers were AMAZING on their delivery and ability to keep the seminar moving and very interesting!  There was so much information... we NEED to bring this seminar again in the late spring in 2011 perhaps in April!  I thank Master Robert McKenna the COSTA VP and CO Referee Chairperson whom was instrumental in putting this seminar together at my request.  I encourage all of Colorado to join the USAT Athletes United Group or the USAT Coaches United Group on Facebook and voice your opinions on this seminar and other USAT matters.  Thank you and Congratulations to all those whom went for certification!  Once results are in please inform me via email (Angel.Aranzamendi@gmail.com) so that I can update our Referee Corners Page!

 

The Martinez Family wants to inform friends throughout the Nation of their son Martin's Passing.

George and Diana Martinez's lost their second son, Martin, when he died Friday Dec 3rd 2010 after a long battle with a tooth infection that spread to his brain.  Martin and his family fought the illness since late 2009. Colorado has lost one of their Taekwondo sons way too young, and it is a tragedy too difficult to comprehend.  The Martinez family has been one of the pillars of the Taekwondo community in Colorado but I dare say Nationwide!  I remember meeting Coach Martinez Senior at the 1993 US Team Trials between one of my matches and seeing some very young respectful young boys sitting watching intently all matches.  I remember thinking what dedication because the family moved from ring to ring watching and cheering instead of running through the hallways and climbing under the bleachers....but that is who Martinez family is till this day, dedicated and ever helpful; it is whom Martin Martinez was.  Martin was an avid TKD competitor through his Junior National Years making the Junior National Team along with his older brother Georgie Jr,  and younger brothers Steven, and Chris; first time in history that a family wins 4 Gold Medals at a Junior National Championship in Sparring in the same year! 

 

Congratulations go out to Brian Gallagher whom fought this weekend at the 2010 Olympic Qualifier Team Trials. Brian represented Colorado and ESA with extreme courage and pride coming in second in a field full of talent. Brian lost a close fight with US Olympian and World Champion Mark Lopez.  After defeating several top fighters Brian then fought Mark Lopez again in the elimination round; and after a tough match Brian prevailed eliminating Lopez and advancing to the finals with Terrence Jennings.  Tj had been on fire all day and was the number one seed so Brian had to beat him twice.  The match was EXTREMELY contested as Brian kept growing in strength and confidence throughout the day!  The final match ended in overtime and TJ won with a skip cut kick that Brian blocked but contact was still made giving TJ the win.    I also want to point out that his coach and father Bob Gallagher made masterful use of the new protest card system, dartfish video review technology, all day!  There is a GREAT future for this Colorado athlete in the near future and It was a true priviledge to watch Brian come so close to making the USA Team which will go to Baku Azerbaijan to try to qualify the USA for the Olympics.

 

Master A also thanks all Colorado volunteers and Referees that assisted in the running of the 2010 USA Olympic Team trials.  A-Team Taekwondo and ALL TKD were instrumental in running the athletes to their rings and retrieving hogus, cleaning, and breaking down the event at the end.  Alyssa Roseman, Jorge Mejia and Johnny Kimmich and Rebecca Cremo all got to work on the new Dartfish video review systems and worked both days in a very important duties of the event. 

 

Sept 2010 USAT hosted a SPECTACULAR CIDP Level 2 Seminar at the Olympic Training Center.  The seminar was conducted by Mr. Eddie Yoon (USAT Coaching Education Director) and USAT National Coaches: Master Jimmy Kim (1988 Olympic Gold Medallist) Master Jean Lopez (1991 World Silver Medallist and current US Team Head Coach) Master Beneby (Peak Performance)  It was an informative 3 day seminar packed with non-stop learning! Congratulations to the following Coaches who completed  the seminar:

• Master Andre DeOlivera
• Master George Martinez Senior
• Master Chris Martinez
• Master Ramil Abratique
• Master Darin Carr
• Master Angel Aranzamendi
• Master Matt  Bailey

Don't miss upcoming USAT Coaching level 1 and 2 Seminars; we will keep you informed via the google calendar and you can also visit www.usa-taekwondo.us

 

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Congratulations to John Kimmich for winning a Bronze Medal at the 2010 World Collegiate Championships! John Kimmich was selected by COSTA President Angel Aranzamendi as the COSTA 3rd Quarter MVP Recipient.

 

 

 

 

Master A's Monthly Olympic Sparring and Referee Clinics are THRIVING in 2010!

Colorado keeps coming together on a monthly basis and providing a great opportunity for Colorado Taekwondo Athletes to get Olympic Sparring experience and Referee Training.  On Jan 16th over 70 athletes attended the Mejias Tkd Clinic, then On Feb 20th over 60 attended the KAT Clinic, on March 27th close to 65 athletes attended the Tri Lakes Clinic, and on April 10th close to 80 athletes participated at the A-Team COSTA Scrimmage!  Colorado is Rocking!  At all of these clinics, Master Robert McKenna and Master Larry Cain conducted two hour referee certification mini clinics.  These clinics have now yielded over 10 new referees for Colorado!  Keep an eye on the Colorado Google Calendar as these clinics will be starting again soon!

 

The 8 hour referee certification seminar on March 20th 2010 was yet another successful event. 

This event yielded 9 new referees for Colorado!  A special thank you goes out to Master Bob McKenna and Master Larry Cain for their dedication to improving the referee pool in 2010.  Add these to the mini referee clinic referees and we have over 19 new referees!

 

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2010 US Open Results:

The US Open in Las Vegas was SPECTACULAR!  There were active Olympians competing as well as World Champions from several countries.  Many countries brought complete teams and the fighting was amazing.  President Aranzamendi and his wife Dena had ringside seats as they volunteered along with many Colorado athletes!  A special thank you goes out to Master Raul Gutierrez who had the most volunteers working all four days!  Colorado was well represented by a well trained and coached state team, volunteers, and other athletes who gave their very best. 

The only GOLD medal achieved belongs to Eliezer Muñoz from Tegura Taekwondo.  Eliezer trains under Master Raul Gutierrez, and according to Master Gutierrez, Eleizer is one of his hardest training students with the highest of goals in Olympic Style Taekwondo.

Brian Gallagher from ESA won a silver medal in the Men's lightweight division!  Brian, who is the reigning four time USA Bantam Team Member, fought two weight divisions up and did so in spectacular fashion winning six matches before valiantly losing in the final against a very tall and talented USA fighter.  Brian used all of his skills to win in a division he normally does not compete in and he won one of his fights with three points scored on thunderous punches!  We will have to see what Brian does next, Bantam, Feather, Light? 

Alfonso Florez from Tegura Taekwondo won a Bronze medal in the 14 to 17 Blackbelt Juniors Division.  Poncho fought a contested match to a very talented and tall fighter from the Chinese Taipei Team.  The fight went into overtime after Poncho scored a spin kick with less than 5 seconds left in regulation!  The overtime was decided by the referee who gave Poncho two kyongo's for barely stepping out of bounds!  Rules were observed but everyone agreed that overtime should be decided by a kick or punch! Great job Poncho.

There were several other Colorado fighters who competed representing Colorado and as we gather their names and results we will post it here. Fighters like Ethan Tiburcio from Delgados Taekwondo - he had some phenomenal matches and displayed great skill in all of his matches. Ethan is sure to be one of Colorado's future champions.  Also, Jose Luis Flores who in his first US Open and 1st Blackbelt Adults competition took the 2009 US National Champion Jermaine James past overtime and lost to a referee's choice!  Junior and Poncho are both on the AAU National Team and will be competing in Spain this April!  The competitive level of this tournament was really high and our fighters gained valuable experience!