Announcement of the 2024 NCTA High School Championship Excellence Scholarship

The National Collegiate Taekwondo Association (NCTA) is excited to announce the NCTA High School Championship Excellence Scholarship. This award aims to recognize and reward outstanding achievements in taekwondo among high school athletes.

Purpose and goals of the scholarship:

The scholarship program aims to support the continued pursuit of excellence in Taekwondo by high school athletes who reflect NCTA’s values, demonstrating exceptional sportsmanship, dedication, and achievement during their high school Taekwondo career.

Scholarship Details

Name of Scholarship: NCTA High School Excellence Scholarship

Amount: $500 per winner

Number of Winners: 2 (1 kyorugi athlete / 1 poomsae athlete)

Frequency: Awarded one time

Important Dates

Application deadline: April 6th, 2024

Announcement of winners will occur on April 13th, 2024

Eligibility Criteria

The following criteria must be met by the applicant to be considered eligible for the scholarship:

  1. Currently enrolled in high school
  2. Participation in the 2024 NCTA High School Championship
  • High competitors in the High School Championship division must be born in the years 2005 through 2010 and be currently enrolled in high school.
  • High school athletes must verify High School student status via the 2024 NCTA High School Eligibility Form and Email a clear photo or nctaeligibility@gmail.com by March 29, 2024.
  1. Must hold rank of Black Belt

Application Process

  1. Submission of a video application explaining how you are using the lessons from taekwondo to better your local community. Consider including: 
    1. What achievements are you most proud of, and why?
    2. Describe a time you demonstrated leadership through Taekwondo
    3. What are you looking forward to most about continuing Taekwondo in college?
  2. Submission of proof of participation in the NCTA High School Championship 
  3. 2 letters or videos of recommendations (minimally one recommendation from Taekwondo)
  4. Submission of a current unofficial transcript

Application Instructions

To complete your application for the scholarship, please complete the two steps below.

  1. Submit your video application to this Google Form.
    1. Applicants should upload their video applications to YouTube.
      1. Set up an account on Youtube.com
      2. Click on “Create” → “Upload video”.
      3. Title the video in the following format:
        “[First Name Last Name] - 2024 NCTA High School Scholarship Application”
        Example: “Jane Doe - 2024 NCTA High School Scholarship Application”
      4. For Visibility, Save or publish the video as “Unlisted”.
      5. Save the video and copy the Video Link to include in your Google Form response.
  2. Email the following to ncta.contact@gmail.com:
    1. Proof of participation in the 2024 NCTA High School Championship
      1. PDF of email confirmation of registration for the 2024 NCTA High School Championship
    2. 2 letters or videos of recommendations
      1. Letters must be in PDF format and attached to your email.
      2. Video recommendations may be included as links or attachments in your email.
    3. Current unofficial transcript

Selection Process

A selection committee composed of the NCTA President and active coaches in the NCTA network will be formed to review all scholarship applications.

Criteria 

Applicants will be evaluated based on their demonstration of sportsmanship, dedication, and achievements in Taekwondo.

Factors that will be considered include: 

  • Strength of the application
  • NCTA High School Championship performance
  • Strength of referrals
  • Academic performance

Application announcement/submission period begins: March ##, 2024

Application deadline: April 6th, 2024

Application selection process begins: April 7th, 2024

Announcement of winners: April 13th, 2024

Award Announcement

Winners will be notified directly via email. Communications regarding award distribution will occur through direct correspondence with the winners.

Official announcements regarding the award will be shared on the NCTA website and through NCTA's communication channels. Potential media coverage or press releases associated with the scholarship may apply.

Disbursement of Funds

After successful notification of a scholarship award and verification, NCTA will provide payment of the award to the recipient directly. Check back regularly for updates as more details become available.

Scholarship Renewal

The scholarship is not renewable for multiple years. Applicants may apply multiple times, though winners may only receive the scholarship once.

Terms and Conditions

Scholarship recipients are expected to adhere to the principles and values of the NCTA. If the recipients are found to have exhibited or demonstrated any actions or behaviors contrary to the principles and values of the NCTA, the selection committee may rescind the awards prior to distribution. 

Any changes to scholarship details will be communicated in advance.

Contact Information

For inquiries related to the scholarship, contact:

Email: ncta.contact@gmail.com

Are scholarships from NCTA open to international or DACA students?

Our scholarships are currently open to U.S. Citizens, Permanent Residents, and DACA recipients only.

About the NCTA:

The NCTA was formed in 1970 by a group of collegiate martial arts instructors. It works to promote Taekwondo in colleges and universities and to create a better understanding of the culture and philosophy of Taekwondo.

NCTA believes in academic improvement and social progress through Taekwondo. The organization serves to promote, foster, and diversify the experiences that can be obtained in colleges and universities by providing avenues for competition and education for collegiate athletes.

2024 NCTA Championships to Be Held at University of California Berkeley

The NCTA is pleased to announce that the 2024 NCTA National Collegiate and High School Championships will be held in Berkeley, CA at the University of California, Berkeley on the weekend of April 12-14.

Preliminary schedule information has been posted on the 2024 NCTA Championships page. Please check back regularly for more information as it becomes available.

USA Collegiate Team Concludes Summer World University Games

The NCTA USA National Collegiate Taekwondo Team competed at the 2023 Summer World University Games from July 29 to August 4, 2023 and represented well! The team achieved one bronze medal in Mixed Pair Poomsae, and nine hard-fought 5th place finishes across the other divisions.

POOMSAE ATHLETES

Female Individual Adalis Munoz, Texas A&M University - 9TH/SEMIS
Male Individual Jason Dahlberg, University of Texas, Austin - 7th/PRELIMS
Mixed Pair Alex Lee, Stanford University & Adalis Munoz - BRONZE
Female Team Adalis Munoz, Zoie Munoz, Texas Christian University & Titania Thao, Gustavus Adolphus College - 9TH/SEMIS
Male Team Ryan Real, University of Pennsylvania, Joseph Yoo, Rutgers University & Brian Meagher, Northeastern University - 5TH/FINALS

FEMALE SPARRING ATHLETES
-46kg
Karine Leclerq, UCLA - 9TH
-49kg Caliana Fonseca, San Joaquin Delta College - 5TH
-53kg Melina Daniel, Seattle University - 5TH
-57kg Logan Weber, Johnson County CC - 17TH
-62kg Danica Deaton, University of Texas, Austin - 9TH
-67kg Ara White, University of South Florida - 5TH
-73kg Brianne Usserman, George Mason University - 5TH
+73kg Alena Viana, University of North Carolina, Charlotte - 5TH

MALE SPARRING ATHLETES
-54kg
Juancarlos Norzagaray, American Military University - 9TH
-58kg Christopher Allen, University of North Carolina, Charlotte - 17TH
-63kg Derrick Kwak, UCLA - 5TH
-68kg Adan Rivas, University of Texas, Austin - 17TH
-74kg William Smith III, UCLA - 5TH
-80kg Abou Sow, University of Maryland, Baltimore County - 9TH
-87kg Seyed Farhang Mousavizadeh, Santiago Canyon College - 9TH
+87kg Brian Choi, Rutgers University - 5TH

FEMALE TEAM SPARRING

Danica Deaton, Brianne Usserman, Logan Weber, Ara White - 9TH

MALE TEAM SPARRING

Farhang Mousavizadeh, Juancarlos Norzagaray, Adan Rivas, Abou Sow - 9TH

MANAGEMENT TEAM & COACHES
Daniel Chuang, Head of Team/Coach
Sung Kim, Team Director
Sherri Lashomb, Team Doctor
David Lee, Manager/Coach
Joseph Van, Head Sparring Coach
Stephen Lambdin, Coach
Lynda Laurin, Coach
Damian Villa, Coach

Successful 2023 NCTA Championships Concludes in Boulder, CO

Boulder, CO (April 16, 2023) The 2023 NCTA Championships concluded successfully with a full day of black belt sparring at the University of Colorado, Boulder. This year's championships had the second highest attendance in USA collegiate history, with 597 in the final participation account. This year saw the inclusion of a separate Summer World University Games team trials event, the return of the High School sparring and poomsae divisions, and the introduction for the first time of the collegiate breaking division and demonstration division.

First place in the Overall (black belt and color belts) as well as the Color Belt Division was the University of Texas, Austin. The Championship (black belt) Division was won by the University of California, Los Angeles.

The Male athlete of the year was Ian Lopez of the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the Female Athlete of the Year was Trinity Noble of Tarrant County College. The Male Poomsae Athlete of the Year was Brandon Cho of the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Female Poomsae Athlete of the Year was Sharlene Duong, also of the University of California, Los Angeles. Freshman Athlete of the Year was Xena Sawyer of Liberty University.

The Coach of the Year was David Lee of the University of Colorado, Boulder. Referees of the year were Megan Chan and Joseph Aguon III.

Complete NCTA Championships results can be found here.

Dan Chuang Re-Elected NCTA President

Congratulations to Dan Chuang, who was re-elected NCTA president on April 14, 2023 by unanimous vote at the NCTA General Assembly in Boulder, CO. President Chuang saw the collegiate taekwondo community through the pandemic, creating a series of online taekwondo events that kept collegiate clubs engaged and active, returning to in-person competitions in 2022 and record collegiate taekwondo competition attendance numbers in 2023. Chuang led two USA teams in international competition, one to the 2019 Summer Universiade in Naples, Italy, and the other to the 2022 FISU America Games in Merida, Mexico.

Chuang said, "I'm grateful for the trust and support of our collegiate leaders. I look forward to growing a national infrastructure for collegiate taekwondo, achieving our best performance as a country in international university competitions, and growing the next generation of taekwondo leaders. Thank you to everyone who supported NCTA during these challenging years!"

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