GB Taekwondo is delighted to announce its latest additions to its ‘Talent Club’ initiative. Jeon-Sa Taekwondo, from Stockport, Quest Taekwondo, from Penistone and Premier Taekwondo from Huddersfield have all following a period of collaborative work been officially recognised as a GB Taekwondo ‘Talent Club’.

All three clubs have a history of delivering athletes to the GB Taekwondo Talent Pathway and can currently take pride in the fact that Aaliyah Powell, Charlotte Simpson and Alex Foster (all Quest Taekwondo) and Holly Kelly (Jeon-Sa) amongst others were recently named in the Cadet European Squad to travel to Romania in September 2016.

Jeon Sa’s Nick Brinklow receiving the club’s certificate from Performance Pathway manager, Steve Green.

All three clubs can evidence a history of working closely with local authorities, CSP’s and other funding agents to support development of structures, facilities and supporting their aspiring athletes.  They have also been able to demonstrate their effective measures of governance and safeguarding within their clubs.  From a playing perspective all three clubs regularly welcome new members and are committed to growing the talent pool in addition to delivering bespoke support to their highest potential athletes and providing opportunities for their athletes to regularly compete both in the UK and across Europe.

Quest Taekwondo was founded in 1988 by Mike McKenzie and is an established and well-known club within the UK.  The lead Quest training venue is based at Penistone Grammar School’s with other Quest venues operating in Bradford, Hull, Liverpool and Leeds.  At Quest Taekwondo their mission is to ensure people achieve their potential both in Taekwondo and in life.  Quest can also proudly boast being a South Yorkshire Sport Clubmark accredited club.

Quest’s Mike McKenzie receives the clubs certificate from Steve Green.

Jeon-Sa was established by Head Coach, Nick Brinklow in 2004 with classes initially at Priestnall Recreation Centre, Stockport and Parrs Wood High School, Manchester. Jeon-Sa Taekwondo opened its own full time venue in Stockport in January 2013.  The club and its coaches have worked closely with the GB Taekwondo Talent Pathway and have previously produced Junior & Cadet Team GB athletes and international medallists.

Mosy Bagherzadeh, established the Huddersfield Taekwondo Club in 2007. Classes were located at a number of different venues throughout the town and the club rapidly expanded. Since February 2010, the club has enjoyed its own fully equipped centre for martial arts. The primary site for the club is Birkby Premier Centre with the club being renamed in October 2011, to become ‘Premier Taekwondo’.

To learn more about each of the clubs please visit their websites using the links provided below:

http://www.questtaekwondo.org/

http://www.jeonsa.uk/index.html

http://premiertaekwondo.org/

Jeon-Sa, Quest and Premier now join Gurumu, Kang Han, Scorpion, Team Academy, British Taekwondo South (BTS) and Ultimate as a Talent Club and share with them the opportunity to contribute to the continued progress of GB Taekwondo and also benefit from a closer relationship with GB Taekwondo and its staff.

The Talent Club initiative has the aspiration of supporting a connected community of clubs and coaches that prioritise Sport Taekwondo and have a proven track record of developing performance potential and high performance athletes.  By bringing together forward thinking clubs and their respective coaching networks the vision is to support and enhance the existing learning and training environments that clubs provide for their highest potential athletes.  Selected clubs will have the opportunity to significantly contribute to the continuous progression of the GB Taekwondo developmental pathway from grassroots through to high performance. 

Everyone at GB Taekwondo applauds and congratulates all clubs on achieving ‘Talent Club’ status and look forward to working alongside them, their players, coaches and management in the future.