2026 Awards
Nominations for the 2026 Awards have been submitted by each region.
A panel of Grand Masters will review the nominations and vote to determine the recipient in each award category. The winners will be announced at the National Tournament and published below.
For details of the special awards presented this year, please see our Honours List.
2026 Award Nominations
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Gup Student of the Year
Auckland North: David Cruz (Hart TKD)
Counties Manukau: Dean Childs (Paul M TKD)
Midlands: Enoch Soon (Hwa Rang Tauranga)
Central Region:
Kristina Ostojić (Southern Cross)
Wellington: Jasim Adam (Legacy TKD)
South Island: Nhat (John) Tran |
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Dan Student of the Year
Auckland North: Frit Yu (Hart TDKD)
Counties Manukau: Glen Harding (Paul M TKD)
Midlands: Oliver Nasr (Hwa Rang Tauranga)
Central Region: Jacob Thomas (RTR)
Wellington: The Devine Family (Berhampore)
South Island: Dion Bennett (Mosgiel) |
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Instructor of the Year
Auckland North: Lin Swe Hlaing (Warrior TKD)
Counties Manukau: Glyn Jones (Ji Shin Maraetai)
Midlands: GM James Rimmer (Hwa-Rang Tauranga)
Central Region: Margot Bawden (RTR)
Wellington: Wei Ren (Courage TKD)
South Island: Dean Jenkins (Otago Uni) |
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Club of the Year
Auckland North: Hart Taekwon-Do
Counties Manukau: Ji Shin Maraetai
Midlands: Silla
Central Region: Southern Cross Taekwon-Do Academy
Wellington: Courage Taekwon-Do
South Island: No nomination |
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Sports Person of the Year
Auckland North: Caled Spain (Warrior TKD)
Counties Manukau: Amy Childs (TMT)
Midlands: No nomination
Central Region:
No nomination
Wellington: Kyla Walton (Berhampore)
South Island:
Lachlin Ellis (Ace Academy) |
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Junior Sports person of the Year
Auckland North: Richard Jagape (Warrior TKD)
Counties Manukau: Madison Isaia (Dragons Spirit Papatoetoe)
Midlands: Troy McMillan (Hwa-Rang Tauranga)
Central Region: No nomination
Wellington: No nomination
South Island: Red Balucas |
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Outstanding Official of the year
To be announced |
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Presidents Award
To be announced
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Each region nominates a single entrant for the following awards.
Dan Student Criteria
- Participation in events, regionally and nationally, as a competitor or official
- Achievements in gradings and/or tournaments
- Contribution to their club eh instructing, administration etc
- Contribution to the greater community, if any, like outside interests or community service etc
- Other relevant achievements
Gup Student Criteria
- Grading results over the past year
- Attendance at events
- Qualifications gained
- Contribution to the greater community if any, like outside interests or community service etc
- Other relevant achievements
Instructor Criteria
- Grading results of students averaged out
- All instructor qualifications current
- Instructors personal achievements/changes for the year if any
Club Criteria
- Club growth/changes (Difference between registered members previous Awards year)
- Student achievements/attendance at any event, including camps and tournaments
- Supporting Community, Social and environmental initiatives through club participation.
Junior Sports person
This category is based on competition results at regional events, prior year Nationals, Stars Series and international placing.
Sports person
This category is based on competition results at regional events, prior year Nationals, Stars Series and international placing.
Nominations
Each Region will nominate one person for each available category that is not the sole responsibility of an advisory group or Board. Regions may only nominate one person per category.
Regional Directors are responsible for managing the nominations process. It is up to the regions to decide how nominations will be received.
Regions can determine the final voting process to select their category nominations.
The dates for each nomination period will be from the 1st of April the previous year to the 31st March of the current year. Any other information included will not be considered as part of the nomination.
Each Region’s nominations shall include a description of each category nominee’s achievements, being no longer than three paragraphs and include a digital head and shoulders photo of the nominee.
