Watch Out East Coast, Here Comes Crofton!

The Junior Olympics team took a much needed spring break after dominating at the North Carolina State Taekwondo Championship on March 24th. Despite hailstorms and a six-hour drive, the kids showed up ready to compete and boy did they! Our girls came on strong in exhibition matches with competitors ranked far above their belt level and the boys racked up gold and silver medals. Yellow belt Jada Stowe brought her A-game to a match-up against a black belt with more experience and training, and resoundingly won the match.

 Team Results:

Athlete

Age

Poomsae*

Sparring

Red Belt

Sara Arlen

12-13

3rd

1st

Blue Belt

Kevin Bimson

14-17

1st

1st

Alaura Camp

8-9

1st

1st

Jodi Evans

8-9

1st

1st

Levi Kline

10-11

2nd

1st

Jaden Olley

10-11

1st

1st

Green Belt

Jack Frey

10-11

1st

1st

Tristen Rogers

12-13

3rd

1st

Tyler Vuong

8-9

1st

1st

Tommy Williams

12-13

2nd

1st

Yellow Belt

Cole Hazard

8-9

1st

1st

Andy Kittleson

10-11

1st

1st

Chris Smith

10-11

2nd

1st

Jada Stowe

8-9

1st

1st

Cassisus Waller

6-7

1st

1st

 *The Korean term (meaning "form" or "pattern") used to refer to a series of martial arts techniques/moves choreographed in a sequence of defense and attack movements. In competition, poomsae are evaluated by a panel of judges who base the score on many factors including energy, precision, speed, and control.

The team will travel down to Manassas to showcase just how hard they they've been working and to give the kids a chance to show Virginia how we do it in Maryland:)

It's been amazing to watch the kids get stronger, faster and fitter every week thanks to the speed and agility training they've been participating in. Led by their instructor Mike O'Brien, the kids have been conditioning to increase their endurance and round out their training. It's amazing to see a group of kids that started out at all different fitness levels come so far. They can run forever, have so much energy and are just performing amazingly! I wish we could get all kids their age out and moving just as much as these kids do. It's just incredible to watch them learn how to unlock their full potential.

Krazy Otto's is just crazy enough to have us

We made a promise at the beginning of the season that we would find a way for any child who committed to the Junior Olympics season to go to Dallas to compete. We didn't care if they'd come in first place, we just wanted to show them that you can achieve amazing things when you dedicate yourself to your goals. This means that we're sending 25 kids with coaches to Dallas for a week of competitions. As such, we've planned a series of fundraisers in the coming weeks to raise the funds to ensure every child will have the opportunity to compete in July.

Our first fundraiser will take place tonight (April 20th) from 5 p.m.-9 pm. at Krazy Otto's. Located at the intersection of Route 424/Route 450 by Staples Corner, Otto's is one of Crofton's longstanding watering holes and incredibly generous partner for a number of Crofton charities and fundraisers. They've help us put together a fun evening, that beats the pants off a car wash. Come out, have a beer, play a little pool and help us support a great group of kids who are learning to not only be athletes, but leaders in their schools and community.

Great Scott!

We are also excited to announce that Scott Financial Services has come on board this year to donate $5,000 to the kids. We are so excited and proud to receive such a show of support from a local company. Crofton resident and President and CEO of CGI North America (Scott Financial's parent company) has long been a supported of the kids, as well as other community fundraisers. From all of us, thanks Scott!

Next Stop: Maryland East Coast Open, May 12, 2012

Our next tournament will be the Maryland East Coast Open Taekwondo Championship on May 12, 2012. Not only will the kids compete, but they will also be apart of a special anti-bullying ceremony at the event. We'd love to have some of our local fans come out and cheer on the team. Information is avaialble at: http://www.marylandtaekwondo.org/ 

That's all for now! Let us know what you want to hear about in our next blogs!

Team Mom

vuongscompteam@gmail.com