TKU sports teams are boundlessly international! The TKU Soccer Team members are from 8 countries, and this is indeed unique in whole Taiwan. With their foot skills, they promoted soccer diplomacy by winning the 3rd place in the 3rd group in the 2008 College League Tournament Cup. They will go to Kaohsiung to take part in the 2009 College League Tournament Cup in the middle of this month. The TKU Taekwondo Society participated in the 12th Strong Bamboo Taekwondo Championship Tournament at Chiao Tung University on Nov. 28 and did well. Foreign students International Trade seniors Alfonso Andres Martinez, Luis Enrique Andres Verde and Chinese freshman Thomas Soukhahing won a gold, a silver and a bronze respectively.

The TKU Soccer Team was set up 56 years ago. As foreign students have been steadily increasing in recent years, the TKU Soccer Team has recruited members from foreign students from France, Germany, Portugal, Solomon, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Chad and Costa Rica. The chief coach of the TKU Soccer Team, Physical Education Activities Section Chief Yi-cheng Chen said that soccer is very popular in Europe and Americas. They love soccer very much, so some foreign students have reached agreement to join the TKU Team, breaking the language barrier through soccer. The coach has developed a unique training and exercising system suitable for foreign student members from different countries in order to cultivate their real capacities and skills.

The deputy captain of the Team, International Trade junior Ricardo Benjamin Abrego from El Salvador is crazy about soccer. He recalled that when he first came to Taiwan, it was difficult to adapt himself to the life here. But he made some friends through soccer as soccer was part of the culture of his country. He was happy that he could enjoyably play soccer in a foreign country. International Trade junior Carlos Fernando Mayorga Sequei from Nicaragua fell in love with Taiwan and TKU, and he introduced his TKU soccer experiences to his younger brother. In the following year, his younger brother International Trade sophomore Luis Fernando Mayorga Sequeira also joined the TKU Soccer Team. The two brothers had participated in many city soccer competitions in Nicaragua when they were very young. They will go with the Team to compete in Kaohsiung in the middle of this month. All team members are going all out to practice for the coming competition. Except for good achievement in the competition, they would also like to enjoy the beautiful scenery of Hsiao-Kang in Kaohsung! The captain of the TKU Team, Aerospace Engineering master freshman Zheng-lun Yu smilingly said, “They’re very zealous, greet others with embraces and show their wild joy by taking off their soccer T-shirt to cover their faces after scoring a goal.”

The TKU Taekwondo Society won a gold, a silver and a bronze. With 7 years of Taekwondo experiences, Alfonso Andres Martinez faced challenges from strong competitors from Chung Cheng University and Tunghai University, etc. He immediately recognized that his opponents’ basic actions were not solid and easily won the first two games. Finally he bumped into the Army Academy opponent who attacked very actively. He changed his strategy, turning passive actions into active ones. Finally he won the gold medal with 4:2. Luis Enrique Andres Verde and Thomas Soukhahing petered with their opponents to the last with unyielding perseverance, and finally won the silver and bronze respectively.

Alfonso Andres Martinez participated in the same Tournament and won the 2nd place when he was a sophomore, so he is an ever-victor in Taekwondo competitions. He missed the Tournament when he was a junior because he was injured. He happily said, “Taking the gold medal is my dream, and this year my dream comes true. My weekly hard trainings at Taiwan Normal University have the harvest finally.”

Luis Enrique Andres Verde comes from Belize as Alfonso Andres Martinez does, and he has had 3 years of Taekwondo experiences. He started learning Taekwondo because of Alfonso Andres Martinez. He said, “I feel I have made a lot of progress and I will continue to keep this hobby in the future.” The TKU Taekwondo Team captain, Mechanical and Electro-Mechanical Engineering junior Yong-xun Wang said, “As foreign students have very little opportunities to join Taekwondo clubs in their own country, they work very hard in learning Taekwondo when they come to Taiwan. Because of their hard work, they can achieve good results. Congratulations on their good achievements.” ( ~Dean X. Wang )