The Bhutanese Leading the way.
For the youth who find a dearth of things to-do for the winters, this year too as it does every year the Taekwondo federation under Bhutan Olympic Committee (BOC) will organize and conduct a coaching camp.
Coaching sessions started from 3 December and will continue till the first week of February where the participants will be engaged from 9 am till 8 pm every day except Sundays. The time is divided among the coaches and practice is done batch wise.
The coaching is still open and it is free except for the uniform which one has to buy.
As of now, the registered member of the coaching is 145 but more than 250 to 300 are expected. The coaching is for youth who are 16 years and below.
For the children aged between 13 and 14 years, the training is being continued and based on their performances, selection for junior national team is also underway and later the same will be done for the senior team.
Many parents said they are very happy with the winter coaching session and that such activities are a good way to keep the youth engaged.
One of the parents of a participant, a teacher with Lungtenzampa Middle Secondary school (MSS) said that it is a very good initiative by the taekwondo federation.
Nishan Mongar, 11 a participant for the second time in the winter coaching camp said that he is learning a lot and hopes to be part of the national team some day. “I want to continue next year also,” he said.
With many junior championships coming up, in order to prepare for the international events, basic and advanced technique of taekwondo will be taught at the camp.
Senior National Coach of Taekwondo federation, BOC, Master Dema Wangchuk said “The main objective of conducting such coaching during the winter is to engage youth in sports, develop discipline, prepare for international events, pursue as career and promote sports in the country”.
He said one of the advantages of pursuing Taekwondo is that if you are a very good fighter, and take the practice very seriously, it helps you “earn bonus points for further studies”.
Till now Bhutan Taekwondo Federation (BTF) has provided scholarship till classes 11 and 12 but gradually there will be scholarship till degree level.
As of now, only one student has been offered scholarship to pursue degree in the Royal Thimphu College (RTC) and BTF is working with BOC for scholarship for those who excel in Taekwondo but cannot pursue their education.
Eligibility of the scholarship for student will solely depend on the performance in Taekwondo discipline.
Bhutan has represented the Taekwondo discipline in many international events and has also won many medals. BTF which is affiliated to World Taekwondo Federation and Asian Taekwondo Union came into existence in 1985, and as of now there are 23,000 Taekwondo members actively taking part in 14 Dzongkhags.
