Congrats to the athletes at the 2015 Pan American Cadet and Poomsae Championships and at the 2015 Pan American Open in Aguascalientes, Mexico from September 9-13, 2015!

At the Cadet and Junior Championships, Team USA earned an incredible 13 medals in the 12 divisions we contested, including an impressive 10 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medals. Some late changes by the organizing committee meant that individual divisions were separated by Dan rank. While unexpected, this division of competitors allowed Team USA to have more opportunities to earn gold and they took full advantage.

At the Open, our senior Team USA members did a fantastic job in some very deep divisions that included some world medalists and world champions from Mexico. We had great depth from the US, showing multiple medals in many divisions, earning 9 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals across 15 divisions at the Open. Including all USA athletes, we earned an impressive 18 gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze medals.

Congratulations and great job to team USA!

Hayley Jue – GOLD, Cadet Female Individual
Priscilla Jo – GOLD, Cadet Female Individual
Ryan Real – GOLD, Cadet Male Individual
Kyle Tanimura – GOLD, Cadet Male Individual
Sharlene Duong and Jacob Gonzaga – GOLD, Cadet Mixed Pair
Ryan Real and Karyn Real – SILVER, Cadet Mixed Pair
Janet Choe, Priscilla Jo and Andrea Zamora – SILVER, Female Cadet Team
Andrew Lee, Ethan Sun and Kyle Tanimura – BRONZE, Male Cadet Team

2015 Pan Am Junior Championships Results 

Rikki Jao – GOLD, Female Junior Individual
Angelica Jensen – GOLD, Female Junior Individual
Alex Lee – GOLD, Male Junior Individual
Angelica Jensen and Alex Lee – GOLD, Junior Mixed Pair
Rikki Jao, Eurissa Cosmiano, Frances Santarina – GOLD

2015 Pan Am Poomsae Open Results

The schedule for the team trials has been posted at:

http://www.teamusa.org/USA-Taekwondo/Features/2015/July/14/Poomsae-Team-Trials-Schedule-Announced

and registration is now open on Hangastar (https://www.usat.hangastar.com/).

Some questions have been asked regarding the 2015 National Team Selection Process. Some answers from Head Coach Dan Chuang are here:

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Since there is no World Poomsae Championships this year, what are the reasons to go to team trials and qualify for the national team?

There are many reasons to attend team trials this year and try out for the 2015 National Poomsae team.

First and foremost is the opportunity to represent USA at Pan Am Cadet and Junior Poomsae Championships and Pan American Taekwondo Open as part of the USA national team. While it is true that the Pan American Open is an open event, athletes will travel with, be trained by and coached by the national team staff, and will wear the national team uniform and warm-up during competition.

Also, for the first time, athletes will have sufficient sponsorship from funds raised by the national coaching seminars that their uniforms, team warm-ups, entry fees and several other items will be paid for.

The national coaches will endeavor to create other competition and training opportunities for the national team during the intervening year that will be available to the national team members.

Finally, I have been told by USA Taekwondo’s performance staff that members of the 2015 National Team will receive a waiver to the 2016 poomsae team trials.

What is the format of team trials?

For the traditional poomsae divisions, these trials offer the unique opportunity to be judged comprehensively across all 8 forms for a thorough assessment of the best player in a division. The total score of each competitor will be used to determine the winner. The forms will be randomly ordered and posted at least a day before the competition.

Freestyle divisions will be performed according to the cut-off system, the same as the 2014 World Championships.

What opportunities will be available to the freestyle division winners of the national poomsae team trials?

Currently there is a national team event for the junior team freestyle division that has been listed at the the Pan American Cadet and Junior Poomsae Championships. Should that division be contested, our 12-17 freestyle team members will compete at that event.

Furthermore, the national team staff is committed to creating opportunities for our freestyle national team members following the Pan American events, whether that opportunity would be another competition or a training opportunity geared towards our national team members.

Are the team trials costing USA Taekwondo a lot of money?

The costs of the team trials should largely or entirely be covered by the entry fees, poomsae camp registration and other revenue from the event, so rest assured that other efforts at USA Taekwondo are not being impacted.

In fact, these trials are a forward-looking move on the part of USA Taekwondo – by holding a more rigorous selection process for the poomsae team much as they do for the sparring team, it is recognition that the poomsae competition discipline is just as demanding and deserves its own team trials. The coaches are grateful for USA Taekwondo’s recognition of poomsae by holding this event.