UCLA Taekwondo: 2023 Collegiate Nationals

About UCLA Taekwondo

We are a fully student-run club sport that practices and competes in the traditional Korean martial art, Taekwondo. Since its establishment in 2005, UCLA Taekwondo has grown into one of the largest club sports on campus. It continues to provide a space for around 90 members of all backgrounds and levels of Taekwondo experience to come together through their shared passion in Taekwondo. Many of UCLA Taekwondo’s members come from diverse backgrounds, including undergrads, medical students, PhD students, and foreign exchange students. Moreover, members range from those beginning with no martial arts and athletic experience whatsoever to those who have represented the United States on the international stage in Taekwondo. This diversity in the makeup of our team contributes to an extremely tight-knit community and a group of people that many members call their family within UCLA.

UCLA Taekwondo competes in the PacWest Taekwondo Conference as well as the National Collegiate Taekwondo Association. The team attends multiple regional and national tournaments each year, with the most recent being the UCI Collegiate Taekwondo Open where our members accrued 12 gold, 6 silver, and 2 bronze medals, the highest total out of all attending schools.

When not practicing or competing, members in UCLA Taekwondo are committed to serving the community inside and outside of UCLA. Each quarter, we host multiple community service events including beach/campus cleanups, blood drives, and card-making for healthcare workers, to name a few. Most recently, in Fall 2022, members also participated in an event called Light the Night to raise awareness and funds for blood cancer patients and research.

How You Can Help

UCLA Taekwondo will be attending the 2023 NCTA Collegiate Championships in Boulder, Colorado from April 14 to 16. This event is the most important tournament of the year and is the culmination of all the hard work that our members have devoted to Taekwondo on top of their busy schedules. For our beginner members, this tournament serves as an opportunity for them to demonstrate the skills they have developed throughout the year and be proud of representing UCLA on a national level. For others, it serves as an opportunity to continue to perform at a high level and possibly to win a spot on the USA Collegiate National Team. However, despite our members’ strong desire to attend, the tournament has many fees associated that pose a barrier to their participation. UCLA Taekwondo receives little to no funding from UCLA besides member dues, so we need your help to turn our members’ dreams of attending Nationals into a reality. 

Funds collected from the SPARK Campaign will go towards purchasing sparring gear and uniforms for athletes as well as covering transportation and lodging fees associated with traveling to Colorado. Every donation, no matter how small or big, matters and means a lot for our team!

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Should this fund reach the campus minimum required for the establishment of an endowment or quasi-endowment, The UCLA Foundation reserves the right to convert this fund to an endowment or quasi-endowment. Please click here to learn more about how the UCLA Foundation invests and manages its endowments.