AContinental&RegionalDevelopment&ActionPlanfortheITFDearmembers,AswellasimplementingthefirststrategicplanningdocumentfortheITF,whichwillclearlyoutlinethegoalsandtargetstodevelop&growITFandbringustothenextlevel,togetherwithyourcollaboration,anotherkeygoalofmineforthisnextperiodistocreateandimplementaContinental&RegionalDevelopment&ActionPlanfortheITF.ThisPlanwilloutlinehowwewillgoaboutdeveloping,growing,increasingthetechnical,structuralandadministrativelevelsineachcontinent&regionandtocontinuetodriveourITFforwardandintherightdirection.ThisdocumentwillbeanactionplancreatedbytheboardbutwiththecollaborationoftheITFmembersincludingthosefromtheregionsandcontinentstobedevelopedandhelped.Together,wewillidentifythespecificneedsofeachcontinentandregionandputtogetheradevelopmentplanforeachregionwithshort,mediumandlong-termgoalstogetherwithcleartimelinesandstepsoutlininghowthesegoalswillbeachieved.Itwillinvolveinvestmentaswellascreatingleadershipanddevelopmentteamstoworkwithandineachcontinent&region.Wewilllistencarefullytothosewithinthoseregionsandusetheirfeedback.Asanalreadywellestablishedexample,theITFoverthelastnumberofyearshasinvested100,000EurotohelpwiththedevelopmentofAfricaandmembercountrieslocatedthere;thisinvestment,togetherwiththedonationsofourmembersandundertheguidanceofGrandmasterWeiler,hasenabledITFtobecomeestablishedinanumberofnewcountries,conductseminarsandcourses,establishadevelopmentteamandhelpthatcontinentandregiontogrow.

Inthenextperiodthroughthecreationofourdevelopment&actionplan,wewillsetbudgetsandtargetsforotherregionsalsoandcreatedevelopmentandleadershipteamstohelpITFmembersinthoseregions.Eachofyouwillhaveanopportunitytobepartofthisprocess,aswewillsetoutaclearandtransparentselectionprocessforthosewhowishtobeinvolvedandpartoftheseteams.Wewillalsocountonyourinputandcollaborationinthecreationoftheactionplan.Eachcontinentandregionhascommonbutalsouniqueneeds,dependingonthelocation,economicstatus,religionandculture,whetherITFalreadyexiststhereornot,thelevelandexpertiseofexistingclubs,instructorsandassociations.Thereforethedevelopmentandactionplanwillgivethespecificsupportsneededdependingonwhere,whatandwhowearehelping&developing.Forexample,foranalreadywell-establishedregionlikeEuropewhichhasacontinentalfederation,theAETF,inexistencesince1979;isagoodexampleofawellstructuredcontinent,withstrongnumbers,annualcontinentalchampionshipsandcups,manyregionalopens,hostingalotofofficialITFeventsetc.Wewillcreateacloserlinkstothecontinentalboardsofregionslikethisinordertoensureweareworkingtocommongoalswhicharemutuallybeneficialandmakesurestrongregionslikethiscontinuetogrowandflourish,beitthroughsupportingettingmoremembersrecognisedbytheirgovernment,attractingnewmembersandsupportingwellfunctioningcontinentalandnationalboardtodoevenbetter.Wewillputinplacedifferentplansforregionsandcountriesthatneedsupportatdifferentlevelse.g.Africa,CentralandSouthAmerica,theCaribbean,Asia;beitwithseminarsandcourses,helpwithadministrationandstructure,etc.dependingontheneedsidentifiedinouractionplan.Itisalsoanaimtodevelopaplanandcourseofactiontoestablishandre-establishITFincountriesandregionswherewedonotcurrentlyhaveanymembers,byattractingoldmemberstoreturnorstartingafreshatgrassrootsleveltobringtheITFtoallpartsoftheworldandmakeourwonderfulmartialartaccessibletoeveryone.AswiththestrategicplanfortheITF,thiscannotbedonealone,wemustworktogetherforthegrowth,developmentandbettermentoftheITFforallTOGETHERWEMOVEFORWARD!Yourssincerely,GrandmasterWillemJacobBosCandidateforITFPresident