SPOTSWOOD – Eight students from the Force One Competition Team, which trains at Fastkix Taekwondo in Spotswood, traveled with their instructor and head team coach, Master Charles Ferrone, to compete with more than 1,900 athletes in the 2016 AAU National Taekwondo Championships July 4-9 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
This year, Force One competed in 26 events and earned 13 medals, including six National Champion Gold Medals. The team competed against athletes from across the country.
Competition included forms/patterns, full contact Olympic-style sparring and point-style sparring.
The team members earned the following:
Aaron Zimmer – bronze in team forms;
Anya Shah – bronze in point sparring;
Daniel Edward – gold in point sparring;
Jaiden Shah – bronze in forms, bronze in team forms, silver in point sparring;
Mateo Rivera – gold in forms, bronze in team forms, gold in point sparring;
Saira Prasanth – gold in point sparring;
Sofia Shumsky – gold in forms, gold in point sparring; and
Sue Batko – bronze in forms, silver in point sparring, bronze in Olympic sparring.