Official Team KUSA Blog

We were down in Atlanta this past Saturday for a small season opener tournament. In the past, the span from August to December was treated like an off-season. This year we’re keeping the team as active as possible as far as ring-time goes to see what impact that has on their performance as the larger tournaments roll around.

Needless to say, we rocked the house! Out of 14 athletes we brought home nine golds and one silver. Each division had some ups and downs as far as talent, but there were certainly some quality competitors sprinkled throughout. The 12-13 Black Belt division saw our own Ruth Mendez up against the 2011 USAT National Champion in the finals. We edged it out by one point to take gold.

Our other gold medalists: Connor Cole, Kenzie Cole, Elianna Vallianatos, Harrison, Andres, Will, Kate, and Leo!

Our silver medalist: Jackson Love

Gabriel Mendez, Arthur Miller, Abbey, and Wes Houser also fought, and fought hard, but it wasn’t their night. But even in their loss these athletes had some great takeaways from this event and it’s only going to make them stronger for the next one.

Most important, though, was that we had a handful of brand new fighters get their first tournament under their belt. Building a solid team means you’re constantly recruiting new talent and we’ve got some very promising up-and-coming athletes. And the good news for them is that they’ve got a rock solid crew of athletes above them who are going to make sure they reach their full potential in the coming months and years.

I’m so proud of the sweat and tears my team is willing to put into training so that we can consistently have outcomes like this. And our competition team parents deserve so much credit for getting our athletes to practices and bringing them to these events consistently. Without the support of the parents, we would be nowhere near where we’re at today.

That’s one more competition in the books for our team. Next stop is the Atlanta United Taekwondo Open on September 17th. We can’t wait!