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Dear Fellow Collegiate Athletes, Coaches & Referees,

Greetings from NCTA!

I hope this message finds you well. I would like to draw your attention to recent developments with the group calling itself United States Collegiate Taekwondo (USCT). Although their stated purpose is to gain NCAA recognition for our sport, they appear to lack a clear understanding of the process for achieving that recognition from the University/Athletics perspective.

The NCTA has previously engaged in efforts to attain NCAA recognition for taekwondo dating back to when Dr. Ken Min was the president of NCTA in the early 1970’s. Those efforts met with little support and were eventually unsuccessful. However, this doesn’t mean that it is impossible, but there have been valuable lessons learned in that process that need to be considered as we go forward.

A major problem with the approach that USCT is taking in the pursuit of NCAA recognition for Women’s Intercollegiate Taekwondo, is the lack of transparency in the details of their proposal. This is especially concerning when you consider that their leadership has made promises and claims of progress without the majority of collegiate programs having any input whatsoever.

To compound the issue, they have enlisted the support of the Pan American Taekwondo Union (PATU) and the WTF in order to gain perceived legitimacy. Let’s be very clear on this issue; neither the WTF or PATU have any jurisdiction or authority to decide who should govern collegiate taekwondo in the United States. That power resides with USA Taekwondo and they continue to recognize the NCTA as the official governing body (NGB).

Finally, my most important point is that we stay united in our efforts to develop collegiate taekwondo under the banner of the NCTA. Although the motivations of the USCT may be good, the idea of a largely non-collegiate run organization dictating the future rules and structure of intercollegiate taekwondo without the direction of the official collegiate taekwondo NGB is unacceptable.

I encourage you to attend our Collegiate National Championships in Boulder Colorado on April 22-24th to participate in an informational meeting and open forum to discuss the pros, cons and process of taekwondo becoming an NCAA official sport.

Yours Sincerely,

President Russell Ahn and the Officers of the NCTA