Dear fellow referees,

The USANKF delegation just returned from the Pan American Championships that was held in Curacao. It was an extremely exciting tournament which was held over 3 days, Thursday May 28 to Saturday May 30. The US team had the best performance of recent years; I must say it was a break thorough year concerning PKF. Our team finished first in the medal count at the tournament and we are back on top again. This is due to the diligent work of our athletes, coaches and, of course, our referees. This success now puts us in our rightful place on the top of the Pan American program, this is the first time since 1999. Congratulations to the entire delegation of the USANKF with an excellent representation of our karate program and our country. This victory came at the perfect time, right before our nationals, hopefully the momentum will carry on to our team selection in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, July 17-19.

Our referees did an excellent job representing our country as well. Our referee team, under the leadership of Mr. Cleve Baxter, worked very hard. I am sure we would all agree that any successful karate program is affected by the referee program. This can be testified by all the countries that have successful international competitor programs, their referee program is just as strong. Our referee program in the US is doing better than ever as we now have over 500 referees listed. This can be credited to the hard working referee committee who are making huge sacrifice’s traveling every weekend conducting seminars for referees, athletes, coaches and Sensei who are interested in sharpening their skills. Since the beginning of this year, you can hardly find any weekend where there isn’t a referee seminar being conducted somewhere in the US. That is why our referee program has achieved the success of having the highest number WKF karate referee, PKF karate referee and NKF referees in the history of US karate. In regards to senior referees,  we are number one in the PKF, number 2 in the WKF. These numbers are something for all of us to be proud of and this achievement is due to the contribution of every referee around the country.

The election for the referee director position, who will serve on the directing committee of the NKF is approaching quickly. I would like to encourage all of you to stay tuned and vote for the candidate that you think will represent you the best, it is so crucial for all of us to learn from past experiences and bring the necessary changes, making sure that the right people represent us. Please take time to study the candidates and their contribution, success, and experiences in recent years.

I would like to encourage all of you to participate at our upcoming Nationals to be held in Fort Lauderdale Florida. These tournaments are only possible with a large number of volunteers, organizers, staff, coaches, referees and most importantly our athletes. Remember none of us is better than all of us together.

Alex Miladi
WKF Karate Referee
USANKF Referee Committee member