Exclusive: British Taekwondo President Hails Membership Increase

Adrian Tranter, salve President of British Taekwondo, medic is delighted with the increase in membership and participation that the sport has enjoyed off the back of London 2012. 

British Taekwondo has reported a 20% increase in membership and a near 50% increase in participation. 

Speaking exclusively to iSportconnect, Tranter enthused: “It’s everything I wished for. It’s like having Christmas, your birthday and everything at once. It’s just been an amazing summer culminating in more people doing more sport more often! 

“The Olympics exceeded not only my expectations, but my wildest dreams in terms of enjoyment, tension and utter joy – every emotion you could possibly consider really. 

“We had fantastic Games with great results, but what’s more important is that our sport demonstrated what a wonderful and dynamic Olympic sport it is. This gives us a great platform for us to build up a solid case for us continuing to be an Olympic sport in 2020 and we in Great Britain are looking forward to working with Dr Choue Chung-won, the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Council and WTF family in securing that position.” 

To carry on the momentum generated by the Olympics, the governing body has designed a plan of action and conjured up various initiatives, including the development of a coach education programme and a club development programme. 

In addition, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed with Doncaster college, who will be responsible for managing media operations and producing cutting-edge teaching aids on federation’s website, in order to not only teach members the discipline, but also enable the coaches and the clubs to pass on essential techniques and skills. 

With plans to further increase participation levels, the federation have now logically set their sights on improving the governance of the sport by appointing two Non- Executive Directors (NED) to their Executive Board to project the sport to a greater audience at a faster pace and secure a sustainable future. 

Tranter added: “We see the potential for attracting sponsors, but we need to do it properly and professionally, which is why we need some high-level professional input, which is why we need to appoint a high-level NED.” 

For British Taekwondo, the legacy of the Games naturally concerns getting more people practicing the sport at a young age and helping them transition into a top-level athlete, with the hope that they too can someday follow in the footsteps of Olympic gold medallist Jade Jones. 

Tranter concluded: “Firstly, it’s getting more people to do more Taekwondo more often, which means that we have to make sure our coaches can deliver our product in a cohesive and professional manner. We’re also making the clubs welcoming and safe, as well as a pillar of good work within their local communities. 

“Linking into that, it’s also to open up pathways to our local team through the cadets and juniors so that we’ve got a better pipeline of athletes coming through the system and that what they’ve been taught at a very early age is the right and proper delivery of our sport to a high level by an additional system of coach education for sport.”