World Taekwondo's Hope and Dreams Sports Festival brings Syrian refugee athletes together

A Syrian refugee taekwondo athlete competes in the annual Hope and Dreams Taekwondo Championships at Prince Hamzah Hall in Amman, Jordan, Monday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Lee Hae-rin

• Published Mar 3, 2023 8:22 AM KST
• Updated Mar 10, 2023 9:08 AM KST

Joint humanitarian sports initiative offers hopes and dreams to refugee athletes

By Lee Hae-rin

AMMAN, Jordan ― The second annual edition of World Taekwondo's (WT) Hope and Dreams Championships was held in the Jordanian capital Amman, Monday, bringing together around 300 young Syrian refugee taekwondo athletes sheltered in Jordan.

The competition was the closing event of a three-day festival titled, “Hope and Dreams Sports Festival,” organized by WT and Taekwondo Humanitarian Foundation (THF), and gave young Syrian refugee athletes a once-in-a-year chance to get out of the refugee camp, compete and interact with players outside of the refugee camps.

“I am so excited to be here! It's my first time visiting Amman,” 12-year-old Bayan Al-Yasain said in Arabic through the interpretation of an official from the Korean embassy in Jordan. “I made many friends from Za'atari camp and had a chance to compete against them!”

A total of 280 Syrian refugee taekwondo players competed in this year's event, including 125 from the Azraq camp and 90 from the Za'atari camp, which house 40,000 and 100,000 Syrian refugees, each.

Jordan is the second-largest host to refugees from Syria, where around 675,000 people had fled to escape the atrocities of the civil war since 2011.

On Monday, Prince Hamzah Hall in central Amman was filled with cheering athletes and their friends and families. The event featured taekwondo demonstrations, competitions and a joint feast among Syrian refugee taekwondo players across the country.

This year, the event expanded from a taekwondo competition to a multi-sports festival, joined by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) and the Association of Summer Olympic International Federation (ASOIF).

“We have always been clear that our commitment to empowering refugees goes beyond taekwondo and that we want to partner with other sports to expand the opportunities we are providing to those who need it most,” WT and THF President Choue Chung-won said.

“By implementing such humanitarian efforts, World Taekwondo plans to elevate taekwondo's status from a widely watched and enjoyed world sport to one that makes social contributions and spreads the message of peace worldwide.”

WT, THF and WBSC are members of the joint UNHCR and International Olympic Committee (IOC) “Sports Coalition” and share a commitment to improving access for refugees and displaced people to safe and inclusive sporting activities.

The event was the first joint initiative by the three organizations ― WT, THF and WBSC ― since the signing of a memorandum of understanding in March 2020 to promote humanitarian, social inclusion, peace and development-support activities through sports. The COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for the coalition to host any in-person events since signing the agreement, Jerry Ling, a senior WT official, explained.

“Sport is so much more than just a game; it teaches fundamental skills and principles that are critical to becoming a good global citizen,” WBSC head Riccardo Fraccari said. “The WBSC believes that everyone should have access to sports, regardless of their background, so we remain fully committed to continuing our partnership with the THF and World Taekwondo to provide opportunities for displaced people through sports.”

The multi-sport event created an unusual scene at the Prince Hamzah Hall, where four octagonal taekwondo mats were installed around a squared home plate area for baseball5, a?new?five-on-five, five-inning street version of the game of baseball and softball.

Amid the sports fever that filled the stadium, the refugee athletes demonstrated matches and the Korean traditional martial art's signature performance of flying jump kicks and shattering wooden boards. A demonstration game of baseball5 was followed by refugee athletes who learned the sport for two months at Azraq camp and in the baseball club in Amman.

Baseball5 is on the program for the Senegal 2026 Olympics and Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games.

Prince Rashid bin El Hassan, who chairs the Jordan Taekwondo Federation, as well as representatives from the ASOIF, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the International University Sports Federation, and the Korean embassy in Amman, also took part in the event.

Many testified that taekwondo has offered a chance to improve the lives of the war-ravaged people in Jordan.

“These refugee children, who have suffered traumas from the atrocities in their homeland, have learned hope, order, and respect for others through taekwondo. They have grown to become world citizens who can contribute to the rebuilding and development of their war-shattered country,” said Lee Chul-soo, the president of Korea Refugee Project and the person who established and operated the taekwondo academy at Za'atari camp since 2013.

Lee said he is proud of thousands of refugee athletes he had trained and lived together. Taekwondo not only improves the physical and psychological well-being of those affected by the traumatizing memories of the civil war, but also provides them with better job opportunities, as many have become taekwondo coaches and left the camp after securing financial independence. Taekwondo is one of the most popular sports in Jordan after its national player Ahmad Abughaush, who was then only 20 years old, brought the first Olympic medal to the country from Rio in 2016.

“As a nation that experienced the tragedy of war and recovered with the help of other countries, I feel we (Korea) are responsible for giving back to others in need around the world,” Lee said. “I tell my children (young Syrian refugees at Za'atari camp), 'You need education and should follow the taekwondo spirit of diligence, dignity and courage not to become a lost generation and revive your country.'”

Coach Asif Sabah from Azraq camp's taekwondo academy agreed with Lee. Refugee players face disadvantages in pursuing and developing skills in combat sports like taekwondo due to limited access to the outside world. And an event like this provides them with valuable opportunities to level up their skills and integrate with wider communities, the coach said.

“What I enjoyed the most from today was having matches against new players. I loved it!” Asia Khasim, a 12-year-old black belt holder from Azraq camp said at the stadium, showing her medal. “I also love that I am now able to protect myself from danger. I feel strong after training in taekwondo,” she said.