WAKO
and the ITF – Setting the standard of international tournaments
One
of the major attractions for top level fighters to international
tournaments is of course the standard of that tournament. Elite world
organisations such as WAKO for example pay close attention to detail
when putting together their international events. The same can be
said for some of the ITF groups also. The reason why WAKO and some of
the ITF groups maintain such a high standard of competitor is mainly
because they put the fighters and competitors first. They also put on
lavish shows with their events being held in world class venues with
all of the trimmings which attract the very best onto the mats.
So
what makes the very best tournaments in the world the very best? Well
in my opinion it comes down to three things, the venue/logistics, the
standard of umpire and the standard of opponent.
To
start, having a world class venue is everything. At the ITF (NK)
European championships in Bulgaria in 2012 the stadium was a purpose
built Olympic class venue with seating for 4,000 plus. The lay out of
this venue meant adequate training room and warm up areas for all
athletes. The podium itself was actually a purpose built stage that
measured at least 10 metres by 5 allowing international decorations a
long side huge plants and carpet as well as local Bulgarian design
and craftsmanship. The sheer size of the arena meant that 8 full size
matted areas could operate without cramp as well as a raised centre
ring for the finals. The same could be said for that ITF's world
championships in Estonia in 2012 which was held in the very
impressive Saku stadium in Taillin.
The
WAKO World Championships held in Ireland in 2011 was staged at the
City West Convention Centre. Anyone who has seen this venue knows of
it's world class facilities, grounds and support areas. The same
venue is used for the Irish Open International Kickboxing tournament.
At this years Irish Open I was kept up to speed on all rings via the
Irish Open online App, which sent me my fighter's draws, their rings
and the times they were on at. It also sent me results, and club
standings. It doesn't get much better than that.
Logistical
support for teams is also common at world class events. There is
nothing more reassuring than landing at a foreign airport to be met
by the organiser's bus shuttle service to your hotel, and from the
hotel to the stadium. This allows high level competitors and coaches
to remain focused on the task at hand without having to worry about
exorbitant taxi prices or having to try sort out public bus transport
in a country that may not use their language. All of this support and
organisation is the trade mark of world class tournaments. It also
shows the level to which the organisers are willing to go to make
sure their events attract the very best. It also shows where the
money is going. Tournaments that are run with the sole purpose of
filling the pockets of the organisers will scrimp on the finer detail
leaving the athletes to deal with logistics and other issues, this is not putting the
athletes first.
Let
me tell you from experience and from a coaches point of view, there
is nothing, I mean nothing worse than attending an international
tournament with a poor standard of umpiring. You and your team may
have spent weeks, if not months preparing for a tournament only to be
dealt a blow by inept umpiring. It is 'the' most frustrating thing,
and is so avoidable yet some organisations put up with it. To put it
into some context here is a tale of two tournaments, well actually
three. Again to draw comparisons, the ITF Euros in Bulgaria of 2012
had a database of about 200 international umpires, of which the very
best were invited and had their trip paid for. I had the priveledge
of seeing the list of umpires which spanned over the continent of
Europe, each one of them hand picked for their solid umpiring. It was
the exact same at the WAKO European championships in Poland in 2013.
Each of the WAKO umpires were selected and invited to the tournament.
On each ring not one umpire shared the same nationality as either
competitor, such was the level of organisation and fairness.
Master Robert Howard above was invited to umpire at the European Championships in Bulgaria, 2012. (pic www.rita-itf.org)
Compare
that to a World Championships that was held recently (2012), which
was in fairness a good tournament but was besotted with problems from
start to finish. At this tournament I witnessed some of the worst
umpiring I have ever seen. From complete ineptitude to blatant
biasness. As a coach I have never had to argue my competitors' case
more times than at this tournament. I watched umpires give decsions
for a competitor who actually landed and faced the wrong way ending a
pattern, I saw umpires give decisions to their own students even
though said student was not as good as their opponent and the icing
on the cake- one umpire fell asleep after being out on the town the
night before. In fairness to the organisers they battled hard to keep
things on the straight, but with under class umpires like that it was
a constant battle. Some umpires out there couldn't be trusted to
decide which is brighter, black or white.
World
class competitors are what essentially makes a world class tournament
and without the world class venue and the solid umpiring, world class
competitors just won't show up and could you blame them? It is
therefore unfortunate for aspiring fighters and athletes in some
organisations not to get opportunities that may land them a
respectable world or european title simply because their
international organisation is incapable of organising world class
events.
For
those that really want to test their metal and for those that really
want to stand out from the crowd, world class tournaments are where
you need to be. Don't be afraid of the standard because even exposure
to this standard will inevitably help your understanding of what you
need to do in order to achieve this level. It can be a slow process
and you need to be patient but if you have the will and the desire,
good results are inevitable.
