#71: ITL Annual Report 2024: Gian’s Message And Thanks
Another year flew by. And dare I say, it was one of the most challenging ones I ever faced.
Challenges were expected since the sole objective we had was to surpass the achievements of last year.
Now that the end of the year is nigh, let’s stop for a moment and take a look back. I think it’s only fair for us to sit and appreciate what we’ve managed to pull off.
1: We Got 71 Medals From 17 Competitions
ITL players celebrate at the Lot et Garonne Open in France.
ITL athletes competed in 17 competitions this year, averaging between one and two events per month. And if that’s not enough, let it be known that we medaled no less than 71 times.
As for what competitions we hit this year, here’s the list:
Open de Liege (Belgium) in February, 2024 with one gold medal.
Sofia Open G1 (Bulgaria) in February, 2024 with one bronze medal.
Lot et Garonne Open (France) in March, 2024, with five gold, two silver and three bronze medals.
Tirana Open E2 (Albania) in March with one bronze medal.
Tirana Open (Albania) in March with two gold medals.
Belgium Open G2 (Belgium) in March.
Games of the Small States of Europe (Estonia) in April with two golds and one silver.
Asteriks Open E2 (Serbia) with one gold medal.
Asteriks Open (Serbia) with one gold, silver and bronze medal.
European Clubs Championship (Albania) with one bronze medal.
Wales International Open (Wales) with one gold and two bronze medals.
British Open (Great Britain) with one gold.
European Grand Prix Qualifiers E3 (Serbia) with one silver medal.
Dracula Open G1 (Romania) with one bronze medal.
Invitational Games of the Small States E1/G1 (Malta) with 13 gold, 12 silver and six bronze medals.
Brussels International Open (Belgium) with two gold, three silver and six bronze medals.
This, no doubt, is a new record for the club, both as ITL and as Santa Venera Taekwondo; and an immensely difficult goal to surpass next year (not that we won’t try).
I would also like to give a very special mention to our competitive debutants, some of whom even took it a step further and went international:
Sherzod Bazarov
Emma Gellel
Nina Gellel
Adam Bileci
Jade Bileci
Fatma Azzam
Matteo Cassar
Alexandros Litviakov (who also started assisting me with coaching)
Sinan Koruk (who became our first-ever poomsae competitor)
Emma Lautier and Dwayne Micallef, a European vice-champion and champion both got gold in France this year; and silver in Belgium.
Some of the younger kids showed their stuff too, with Emma Lautier, Dwayne Micallef, Kieran Vella, Eva Mifsud Calleja and Ella Schembri bringing home some international gold, while almost every other member was able to bring in a medal either international, or at the Invitational Games of the Small States.
To cap it off, we had Michela Scerri and Jean Schembri, who broke into some serious competitions (European Grand Prix and Junior World Championships).
2: ITL’s Outreach Program Reached Record High
ITL’s grading conducted together with Chiswick students.
ITL continued to branch into various organizations, with separate branches even starting to compete against one another in monthly test matches.
Over the course of the year, ITL established itself in no less than ten institutions:
ITL Santa Venera
ITL Chiswick House School
ITL St Edward’s College
ITL QSI, Malta
ITL St Michael’s Foundation
ITL San Andrea School
ITL St Catherine’s High School
ITL Junior College
ITL University of Malta
National Sports School, Malta
Our program was specifically designed to help propagate Taekwondo in Malta, with the scope that they can find love for the sport and perhaps even enter the competitive fray, some day.
A special mention goes to the National Sports School (NSS). This year, it saw two of our boys join two already established students there. Matteo Cassar and Brayden Micallef made the cut, together with Jean Schembri and Robin Zammit, who attended the school in the years prior.
Robin Zammit, Brayden Micallef and Jean Zammit are three ITL and NSS students who won gold at the Invitational Games of the Small States 2024.
These boys made me very proud this year when they showed their quality at the Invitational Games of the Small States, having won three golds and one bronze medal between them.
3: We Continued Smashing OCRs and Races
ITL players donned the red and black colours of the club as they stormed the valley during The Grid Kids
ITL players took part in eight races during the year 2024. From the Grid, to the Spartan, to charity runs across the streets of Malta.
These are the events:
The Grid Kids OCR (March) with 20 participants.
The Grid Classic (May) with one participant.
Olympic Day Run (June) with 20 participants.
The Grid Kids OCR (October) with 31 participants.
The Grid Sprint (October) with three participants.
The Spartan Sprint (October) with three participants.
The Spartan Kids (October) with three participants.
Colour My Run 5km (October) with 20 participants.
4: We Raised The Bar With Several Training Camps
National coach Ditmir Vodinaj led a Maltese contingent comprising Alycia Cassar (ITL) and Michela Scerri (ITL), as two of 750 athletes attending the annual Snow Camp in Kozani, Greece, where they got to train with some world-renowned coaches.
ITL’s Fight Camp II then set the tone for this year’s competitive agenda, of which the results speak for themselves. It featured sparring sessions, test matches, team-building activities, and some cheeky fun on the side.
Come February, I took all NSS players (including two ITL players) to an Albanian training camp run by more great coaches. The camp - Tirana Challenge Taekwondo Camp 2 - welcomed over 250 athletes from Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Kosovo, Iran, Turkey, and of course, Malta.
A group photo from our camp with Prof. Andreas Christidis and Dora Tzatzaki.
In May, I co-lead a training camp together with Professor Andreas Christidis and Dora Tzatzaki in what came to be known as the Island Fight Camp. Over four days (9th till the 12th of May), we delivered several remarkable sessions incorporating creative play. A big win for the kids.
Michela Scerri at the Team GB Olympic Centre, which we visited in August 2024.
Later, we hosted our friends, Taekwondo Club Villeneuvois - Lovent (France), for a two-day camp in Santa Venera. Representing the French club was Club President Amar Dif, together with five athletes and their families. Also in attendance was eight-dan Grandmaster Seung-Seok Ryu (Dan VIII), President of Ryu’s Taekwondo (Munich).
Come August, ahead of her participation in the Junior World Championship, Michela Scerri and I attended a training camp in Manchester and worked with Team GB and the French National Team.
Even Alycia Cassar attended her own event. This time, in Naples (Italy), in December. It became a crucial step in her recovery, as she looks to return to the competition mat after sustaining an injury.
5: Two ITL Fighters Triumphed Over Major AdversitY
Ashik Sunil Bindhu and myself in Cardiff, Wales.
In July, ITL’s Ashik Sunil Bindhu stood on a podium in Cardiff (Wales) with his second-ever international medal. A feat in its own right considering the training involved. That medal, however, is only half of his actual triumph.
The real kicker here, is that Ashik claimed his podium finish off the back of a stunning 31kg weight loss in as little as five months.
Another immense comeback story came from ITL’s Alycia Cassar, who found adversity when she sustained a major injury in May, 2024.
Alycia Cassar with coach Gennaro Buonocuore in Naples, Italy.
Alycia was operated for a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament in May. She could’ve given up, but instead she saw this injury as an ‘opportunity’ to get the rest of her body in peak physical condition.
As the months rolled on, she put in the hours; pumping iron in the gym as often as possible.
By September, she had already put-on 6kg of muscle mass.
One month later (five months post injury), she was back in the dojang.
Her efforts had her travel abroad for a training camp in Napoli where she trained with one of Italy’s top teams.
She now eyes a return to the competition mat early next year; as early as February.
6: ITL’s Michela Scerri Scored Some Major Honours
Michela claimed ten medals in eleven total championships this year. She even landed a sixth-place European ranking. The highest ever achieved by a Maltese athlete.
If that’s not enough, Michela attended the most prestigious taekwondo event of her age: the Junior World Championships in Chuncehon, South Korea, bagging a win against Portugal in the opening round.
Michela Scerri after qualifying for the ETU GP Finals in Nis, Serbia.
One week later, she made history again with a second-placed finish at the E3 qualifier for the ETU Grand Prix, meaning a spot at the Junior Grand Prix finals was waiting for her.
Together with another ITL athlete - Jean Schembri - Michela later took part in the ETU Grand Prix Finals, marking Malta’s debut at this incredible event. She even bagged a win there, against a team GB athlete.
Jean made his own debut at the cadet edition of the GP finals, having faced Cyprus in the opening round of his respective group.
Michela Scerri and Jean Schembri featured in the Junior and Cadet GP Finals, accompanied by National Coach Ditmir Vodinaj and MTA President Anna Vassallo.
7: New Milestones For Association President Anna Vassallo
Apart from being a European Taekwondo Union vice-president, a World Taekwondo Council Member and the President of the Malta Taekwondo Association (MTA), ITL’s Anna Vassallo was elected as vice president of the WT Commonwealth committee.
The election took place in Chuncheon, South Korea during the 2024 Taekwondo Junior World Championships, and Vassallo was voted-in unanimously.
Anna Vassallo and ITL/MTA’s Joanna Scicluna photographed with the newly-formed Commonwealth committee.
Taekwondo is a popular sport across the Commonwealth. In fact, 88% of all Commonwealth countries practice the sport and even have an established national association.
This could mean great things are coming to Malta, in terms of competition, in the near future.
8: 94 Students Graded With Three New Black Belts
From left to right: Ditmir Vodinaj, Suela Trushi and myself post-grading.
This year, ITL had 94 students achieve a new belt, with three achieving a black belt. Mamadou Balde and Suela Trushi achieved their Dan I, while Ditmir Vodinaj achieved is Dan II.
Keup belt examinations took place over four sessions across the entire year:
January 2024: 3 students achieved a black belt (Ditmir Vodinaj, Suela Trushi and Mamadou Balde)
January 2024: 13 students graded (best performer: Sinan Koruk)
May 2024: 24 students graded (best performer: Dailen Barbara).
June 2024: 29 students graded (including Brayden Micallef as black tag and ITL’s youngest yellow tag - Noah Barbara).
December 2024: 25 students graded (best performer: Sherzod Bazarov).
9: Our Coaching Team GOt Some Serious Reinforcements
This year, we saw the inclusion of two new (well, sort of) faces to our coaching team.
Coach Jovo Mirkovic and Sinan Koruk.
Jovo Mirkovic joined us in the final third of the year, bringing his expertise in the field of poomsae to our members. Not only that, but he also managed to bring in our first poomsae trophy during the Invitational Games of the Small States (held in Malta) in November 2024.
He did this together with one of our aspiring poomsae athletes - Sinan Koruk.
Coach Jovo and myself also comprised the MTA technical board, together with Kukkiwon poomsae coach Zhang Qi, during the Dan Grading session held in October, 2024.
Our growing demands and hunger for competition necessitated the inclusion of another coach in our ranks. Luckily, the universe provided us with one in our time of need.
Coach Ditmir and Czarek together with his Cypriot opponent and his coach at the invitational games of the small states (November 2024).
ITL’s Czarek Poczobutt Odlanicki returns to Malta, and for good.
Many know the aspiring Pole for his work with the club over the past two years. He now returns as a fully-qualified taekwondo coach with a Dan II certificate.
Czarek may be part of the administration team; but he will continue to train with the senior team as one of our most promising prospects.
To rubberstamp his ambitions, he achieved a gold medal at the Invitational Games for Small States (Malta) and a bronze medal at the Brussels Indoor Open (Belgium) just a few months after his return here.
10: Thanks To my Amazing Team, I was Able To Raise The Bar Too
Me after sitting in the corner of young athlete Eva Mifsud Calleja.
In 2021, I turned my back on Taekwondo. A sad move since Taekwondo was, is and always will be more than just a sport for me.
I left for a good few reasons, none of which I’ll mention here because firstly, it’s not important anymore. And second, because those who need to know, know.
Somehow the universe conspired to bring me back in late 2022, actioning through my fellow coach and friend Ditmir, along with a merry band of kids with big dreams. To all, I thank you: because you brought me back from the dead.
I had to start from scratch, but in doing so, I dived into the Masters circuit and tasted competition again. Proudly, I can now say that Malta’s first-ever Kyorugi Masters athlete came from ITL.
To be afforded the chance to compete again is nothing short of amazing.
Throughout the year, and thanks to the immense help I got from this fine establishment, I was able to hit the following events:
Open de Liege, Belgium (Gold Medal)
Lot et Garonne, France (Gold Medal)
Wales International Open, Wales (Gold Medal)
British Open (Gold Medal)
Invitational Games of the Small States, Malta (Gold Medal)
Brussels International Open, Belgium (Gold Medal)
I was even awarded an IZIBET Elite Athlete award in April 2024; a first for a taekwondo player in Malta.
Even the dojang got some love this year, with the inclusion of punching bags, bobs, hexagon dumbbells and storage units.
ITL’s new punching bob, colloquially known as ‘Jeff’.
These achievements are one thing, but they pale in comparison to the project of my main focus this year.
In the beginning of the year, conforming with the regulations imposed by the Authority for Integrity in Maltese Sport (AIMS), ITL has transitioned itself to a registered company.
The conclusion of this process will now bring with it several key projects in 2025. As early as January, one could expect to see several initiatives such as:
A new Refugee Team
An Elite Scheme (for high-level athletes)
A ‘Taekwondo for over-35s’
A poomsae team
11: My Message To You
I don’t like touting success. Success in sports is often subjective, fleeting and between one another, our goals are very different (if not also constantly changing).
My message to you this year is but one: unity. Unity is what made us, makes us, and continues to strengthen us. Without it, we are nothing. I assure you that it is not me solely, or any coach’s individual effort, neither your effort alone that has made us into what we are today.
Rather, it is us as a collective.
Remember that small acts of kindness (even if it’s just shaking your friend’s hand) done often no longer remain small. So be mindful of your actions and how they may reflect on the team as we continue to walk the path.
All the technical skills in the world cannot substitute how readily we:
Help one another
Support one another
Quash any jealousies towards others
Stay humble and remember where we started.
ITL members during one of our outdoor training sessions this year.
So in conclusion, I urge you all to be mindful.
To all players; look to your left and to your right, and remember that the boys, girls and parents there are all a crucial part of your journey. Without them, any prospect of success is forlorn.
Our strength lies in one thing - unity - so going into 2025, remember that.
Remember that we, the coaches, will always have your back in whatever endeavor you wish to pursue. We are here for you.
Thank you for giving us - ITL - such a fantastic identity with so many priceless memories. Because of you all, I count myself as one of the luckiest men on earth.
It was nothing short of a pleasure to work with you all!
I regard you all as family; as young brothers and sisters. But speaking of family, I cannot end this note without mentioning my own: Kimberly, Noah and Mila, who patiently put up with my long hours of work, if not also my trips abroad. Not to mention all the work you do behind the scenes. You are pillars of support to me and I am so lucky that thanks to you, I get to continue doing what I’m doing. Your work and support are often done in the shadows. But let it be known that your efforts are always greatly appreciated.
