#67: Maltese Contingent Trains With Great Britain National Team

For a second time, Maltese club Iron Taekwondo (ITL) headed over to Manchester for a week-long training camp with the national team of Great Britain.

The camp featured some big names with athletes like Lauren Williams, Farzad Mansouri and Caden Cunningham in the athlete roster, and Olympic-level coaches like Nelson Miller, Martin Stamper and Torann Maizeroi leading sessions.

Renowned coaches and former national athletes Romaine Bailey and Jordan Gayle led the bulk of the training with the cadets and juniors.

Together with coach Gianluca Barbara, ITL visited Manchester with Cadet athletes Jean Schembri and Robin Zammit, and Junior athletes Alycia Cassar and Fergeson Galea.

The coaches focussed on specific themes of sparring and delivered their sessions in a technical or tactical format in bi-daily fashion. The program also included strength and conditioning in Team GB’s state-of-the-art training centre.

Beyond that, ITL conducted its own sessions after hours, at the Olympic centre at the heart of Manchester.

At the venue, a full British contingent also welcomed the Iceland national team and other athletes from Austria. All of whom are now preparing for the Spanish Open and the upcoming President’s cup.

Divided in to girl and boy teams, it was an unforgettable experience for the ITL’s athletes, who got the chance to train with not only the cadets and juniors, but even the GB seniors.

It was also a remarkable experience for Gianluca, the ITL coach, who became more involved with the team with the opportunity to work with the senior GB team and the sole Austrian player in the contingent.

While the training lasted a week, the most important occasion was the Test Match Day, held on Friday 18th April with ITL players taking part in two to three matches each, and even bagging some wins. But if not, no doubt it served as a learning experience.

This experience was the second of its kind, with ITL having flown to Manchester last August in preparation for the upcoming Junior World Championships.

For this great opportunity, ITL thanks British Taekwondo and its staff, and SportMalta, for financially assisting the team’s venture and development.

MTA thanks British Taekwondo, especially Romaine Bailey, Ruebyn Richards and Jordan Gayle, who made our presence at the camp possible.