ROME, Italy (Jun 5, 2022) - A little over six months ago, Amely Moras was appointed chair of the World Taekwondo Referee Committee. Not only did she become the first female chair of the Committee, but she also became the youngest chair of any World Taekwondo Committee in history. 

 

“My vision is to be able to grow and further refereeing. I want to be able to give opportunities so everyone can take advantage and take it back to their countries and hopefully grow, so that everyone is familiar with the rules.”

 

World Taekwondo recently introduced a best of three system which was successfully implemented at the recent Roma 2022 World Taekwondo Grand Prix. For Moras this change means making sure the referees are properly informed and equipped to adapt to the changes this system has on the way athletes fight. 

 

“The best of three system creates a very exciting match and everyone is really focused on winning that first round. If you don’t win then you have a clean slate for the next round,” she said. 

 

“There have been few changes to the rules, so you see more dynamics and exciting actions.”

 

“My job is to be able to guide and help the referees know how to interpret the rules and how to execute them properly so that we have a fair and transparent game. So yes these rules can be different and new for everyone. There are adjustments as we go along but overall the concept and the vision is there and we received a lot of great feedback from athletes, coaches and referees themselves on how much more action there is now.”

 

While Moras is focused on her job, there is no getting away from the fact that as a female chair she is inspiring others.

 

“For me I stay focused on the job I need to deliver. I feel very humbled to be given this job as the first female. One of the things I’ve heard a lot from female referees is that seeing me in this position has motivated and inspired them to pursue refereeing more. It has been encouraging for them that a female is watching out for them and that they can also grow within the sport on the refereeing side so that has been nice to hear.

 

“But it’s not about only male can do this or only female can do this. Both can equally do this and that’s part of my responsibility to coordinate that.

 

That contribution of men and women to the sport is what Moras explains originally made her fall in love with refereeing. 

 

“There was a time when I should have been competing. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to for some personal reasons but I wanted to stay involved in the sport so I was going to competitions and I wanted to be able to do something so I took a national referee seminar. They were short of referees and I started my first game the next day and I just fell in love with it. I really enjoyed being a part of something and contributing to the sport. 

 

Not just watching but really doing something. From that I started doing more events and more events and I really felt I can do a good job for the athletes so they can have a fair game. So the more I did it the more I enjoyed it and not only that I made a lot of friendships with the referees as this is the Taekwondo family and that is one of the things I really loved.”

 

Moras will be hoping that now as chair of the Referee Committee she can ensure more referees like her fall in love with the sport, and join the Taekwondo family.