Taekwondo gaining traction, says Lumwachi
Regional Team Master Voiya Lumwachi has hailed improved standards of taekwondo in the country as the one-day Nairobi County taekwondo Junior championships ended at Kasarani at the weekend. “Taekwondo in the country is making headway and I must say that the country has a plethora of talent. This martial art, like the others, requires discipline and commitment which is increasingly being showcased by our exponents.
“Going by the current standards, I believe Kenya shall compete among the best in the region and beyond,” he said.
Lumwachi — who is one of the top taekwondo instructors in the region — thanked the participating teams for showing discipline and sportsmanship.
He particularly singled out Burundi for being a regular participant in the event.
However, he said that inasmuch as the standards of taekwondo in the country were encouraging, the major challenge remains the inadequate funding. He urged the government to be steadfast in securing sponsorship towards the sport.
While hinting at how best he has made personal efforts to salvage the sport from the financial crisis, he went on to say: “The Ministry of Sports should not relent in its efforts of securing sponsorship for taekwondo and it’s only this way that the game shall make headways.”
He noted that he had made numerous endeavours and approached friends in Europe for sponsorship for their future events because, according to him, he acknowledges that it’s expensive to host a tournament without adequate resources.
He also mentioned that he had pledged some uniforms for winning teams but he still has challenges with clearance.
Lumwachi, who is a dab hand at taekwondo, observed: “The next event in our calendar is the International coaching seminar for referees whose dates will be announced in due course.
We also have a junior tournament in April which is among the many events on our calendar, hence the need for funding.” The 10-team tournament, graced by Team Jaguar from Burundi, attracted a huge turnout from the sports fraternity.
