Dear friends of Karate,

These are truly unprecedented times and I want to first say that I hope you and your loved ones are safe and well through this difficult time. Like many of us personally and professionally, the Canadian sport system has been struggling with how to ‘Return to Sport’, particularly with team, group, and combative sports. Your provincial sport federations have been working hard to help craft guidelines that are specific to your region and Karate Canada has likewise provided information on this from its medical experts, technical leadership and coaching experts. Please note that the best information on Covid 19 will always be found from your local health authority.

The Board of Directors of Karate Canada has continued to evaluate the evolving situation both nationally and internationally and wishes to advise that Karate Canada will not be participating in any in-person events, either domestically or internationally, until at least September. This means that Karate Canada will not participate in the Junior Pan American Championships, scheduled for Mexico in August.

The World Karate Federation has informed us that they are planning a reduced schedule in 2021 which will likely exclude Series A events and most Youth League events. It is also expected that all WKF events up until at least December 2020 will soon be officially cancelled. The Senior World Championships due to take place in 2020 will likely be postponed to 2021, and the next Junior Worlds is now expected to be in 2022.

Unless there is a substantial change in the Covid 19 situation over the next few months, Karate Canada will not host its annual Summit in Toronto at the end of September. Instead, it is hoped that a Senior and U21 event can be held in Calgary in February or March which would select for 2021 Pan American Senior Championships, the Olympic Qualification Tournament , and possible selection for 18-20 representatives to vie for a sport for the Pan American Youth Games. Karate Canada is still planning to hold a combined (Junior and Senior) National Championship in July of 2021, to select a new Team Roster for the ensuing season.

I wish to once again comment on the concept of Safe Sport within Karate Canada:

Karate Canada is committed to providing a quality sport experience free of abuse, harassment or discrimination to its members/registrants. Karate Canada takes any situation involving misconduct very seriously and believes everyone should be able to enjoy karate in a safe and respectful environment.

This includes discrimination based on the colour of one’s skin.

Sincerely,

Craig Vokey
President