World Junior Championship

February 6, 2024

Dear Parent/Guardian/Coach,

WAKO Canada is excited to watch the top Canadian junior aged athletes compete at the most prestigious international competition in the world. The WAKO World Cadet/Junior Championship will have over 3000 athletes from 70+ countries vying for the title of World Champion.

The selection, preparation and organizing of our national team is a major undertaking and one that is a priority of our National Board of Directors. We have just received communication from the Hungarian Kickboxing Federation about the accommodations for the World Championship. Budapest is regarded as one of the most visited tourist destinations in Europe. As the World Championship is being held in August it is still in the peak of the tourist season.

The Hungarian Federation is urging all countries to book their accommodations as soon as possible and is maintaining a rate till the end of February. All bookings by the Hungarian Kickboxing Federation through WAKO Canada. However, our Canadian Nationals is being held in April and our National Team selection camp is in May.  As our two primary selection tools are happening before the given date of February, this presents a challenge for WAKO Canada.

To address this situation our Board has created an Athlete Candidate Form.

We are requesting all coaches, athletes and parents/guardians with athletes that have concrete plans to try out for Team Canada to please complete the form and email it to the WAKO Office no later than February 12^th.

WAKO will review submitted forms to see if we have any divisions with more than two athletes vying for a spot.  The WAKO Junior World Championship permits a maximum of two athletes per country per division. We will notify the parent/guardian and coach of any athlete that can register early for the Worlds so that they can obtain get the cheaper accommodation expense. We will also contact those that have listed a division that has more than two athletes to determine if a selection mechanism can be established prior to the end of February.

In either case, the mandatory requirements of attending Nationals, the National Team Camp and subsequent provincial camps will still apply for all athletes.

The timing of this news is not ideal however, all countries are in the same predicament. We would rather try to find a solution so that our top athletes get a chance to represent Canada on the biggest stage in the World

If anyone has questions, please contact the WAKO Canada office at any time.

The Athlete Candidate Form is below as well as the Registration-Information Package for Team Canada Delegation members (athletes/parent-guardians/private coaches/officials):

Athlete Candidate Form

Team Canada Registration/Information Package