The official National Governing Body for Taekwondo in the UK recognised by Sport England and UK Sport is The British Taekwondo Council (BTC Ltd) which assists with the relevant instructor and member insurance, provides proper training and governance for instructors and member organisations, and trains and qualifies member organisation specific trainers. Other groups are misleadingly claiming to be National Governing bodies but the official body is the BTC.
For the BTC to be recognised as a National Governing Body and receive funding they must abide by very strict codes of conduct, administration and regulations under constant review and management. BTC Safeguarding, training and recognition is considered one of the highest in the country and is one of the reasons why member organisations are permitted to display the Child Protection In Sport logo.
In today’s world any instructor has a responsibility to be appropriately trained and qualified to teach their subject and to be working with their students and client base. They also have a duty of care and need to abide by any legislation including national and local regulations and have appropriate Public Liability insurance cover for themselves and member to member insurance for their students. Simply being a black belt does not automatically make a person a good and responsible instructor, and that is one of the reasons for the need of a proper governance structure.
Instructors mostly join an organisation that suits their style and way of thinking, or they may have come through the ranks of a club within an organisation. There are numerous organisations in the UK which may operate slightly differently but there is still a need to ensure that these organisations have properly trained instructors or coaches and this is where a National Governing Body comes in, where they can obtain funding and training through sources such as Sport England and UK Sport. Although some instructors may insist that their Martial Art is not a sport, for governance and training purposes it is classified as a sport.
What can the BTC offer clubs
Many schools, sports centres, church halls and council owned premises require that clubs who rent their premises be recognised by the National Governing Body because they recognise that the instructors should be appropriately trained, vetted, insured and adhere to recognised safe practices. Additionally many grants require that the applicants be part of the National Governing Body structure, as such not being part of the National Governing Body can be prohibitive. In contrast people and premises owners often view NGB members as being higher qualified, recognised and with access to ongoing training so give preference or exclusivity to NGB clubs.
Furthermore, being a member of an NGB recognised group is good for club marketing and gives potential and existing students a sense of security in their instructor, club and member organisation knowing that they are in safe hands by a nationally recognised club.
How does the our organisation the UKTDC fit in with the National Governing Body?
As a member organisation UKTDC General Secretary Grand Master Christopher Davies represented the organisation on the membership committee for many years and since joining are a full member of the BTC. GM Davies is also a non-executive director of the Board of British Taekwondo Council.
UK Sport and Sport England are also working with CIMPSA on a Workforce, Governance and Registration Scheme to have all coaches of all sports registered through them with the idea that you can only register via a National Governing Body. This should ensure that all coaches have the required training and qualifications to teach, and also allow the general public to check if an instructor is on the register. CIMPSA would provide the relevant training courses instructors need to the National Governing Bodies.