SHADOW TEAM CAMP

This weekend we will have a shadow team camp in Canberra -- after which the final team for Oceanias will be selected:) Wish me luck! I can't wait to get in the mix of everything again. Insallah all goes well

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Sydney Morning Herald : http://www.smh.com.au/news/beijing2008/fight-goes-on-for-athletes-despite-funding-being-chopped/2007/10/30/1193618884227.html

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TAEKWONDO AUSTRALIA IS NO LONGER RECOGNISED BY THE AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE.

Please see the below article as advertised on the Aus olympic site.:
http://www.olympics.com.au/News/AustraliaNews/NewsArticle/tabid/223/Default.aspx?ArticleID=9645

News has already hit many newspapers, including the age, the herald sun, the sydney morning herald, the abc news and the brisbane times. The link to an article in my home town "The West" is shown below
http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=431769

The age: http://www.theage.com.au/news/Sport/Olympic-bosses-rescue-taekwondo-athletes/2007/10/29/1193618789527.html

The Australian: AOC kicks out Taekwondo body http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22669143-5013406,00.html

The Herald Sun: Olympic Taekwondo Hopes Back on Track
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22669844-2863,00.html

NEWS

I have officially heard that Daniel Trenton is no longer the acting head coach and that new staff are supposably being appointed to fill the positions terminated; head coach, assistant coach, and junior head coach.

As an athlete with enormous success under the current program I am deeply saddened at this loss to our sport and myself. We have not only lost a great leader and a superior coach but we have also lost the pathway to success at the Beijing Olympic Games and beyond.

It is not yet known our programs fate of whether or not we will remain in Canberra at the AIS. However, with no coach to guide us and no training program the end result is becoming blatantly clear. Taekwondo Australia has certainly made it obvious by not signing the proposed ASC agreement that they do not care about the success of athletes, only the success and rise of their clubs.

There is one week to go until a supposed shadow team selection camp for the final Olympic Qualification.

• I still do not know exactly where and when the camp is on. Yesterday we were told in Melbourne and to book tickets, but then not long after receiving that information we were told it might be in Canberra.
• I also do not know the format of the camp
• How to be selected
• Who is attending
• Which divisions are targeted
• WHO ARE SELECTORS?

With less than 5 weeks until the qualification it appears Taekwondo Australia knows absolutely nothing. The elite program has been broken down and our own Assocation do not have a successful back up plan.

All TA have to do is sign the contract the ASC have provided to them that ensures the program in Canberra will be fully funded until the 31st of August 2008! Why doesn't my association want to do that? And why do they not want the best for their countries athletes?

There are now so many options I must deal with and I am bought to tears by what has recently transpired to bring us here. The very thought of me now having to return back “somewhere” without a clear vision of how to make the Olympic qualification team or Olympics is devastating. I am literally, watching my dreams being flushed down the toilet and my own association are the ones pulling the lever.

1) The internal row that cost $1m
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22610182-5013406,00.html

2) Members Plotting a martial arts revolt
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22615909-5013406,00.html

3) Games over, Taekwondo Australia tells star
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22655675-11088,00.html

4) Olympic hopefuls forced to leave base
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22655194-5013406,00.html

COOKING LESSON AT THE AIS

Gary (the AIS dietician) taught us how to cook lasagne, blue berry muffins and beef rissoto. They all turned out very tasty! Now we know how to cook something healthy:)

9AM WITH DAVID & KIM

"Australia's number one Taekwondo athlete, 25 year old Tina Morgan, joined 9am to tell us exactly why she is Australia's greatest olympic hope. This is a great position for Tina to be in considering she recently underwent a rare procedure called allograft surgery, that saw a donor patella tendon transplanted into her knee." CHANNEL 10, FRIDAY 05, 2007