OTFA Unification Announcement 2019
December 5, 2019
Dear Members of ITF AAs in the United States:
As you all know, for the past year the leaders of the three AAs recognized by the ITF: ATFI, NTA and OTFA, along with Red Tiger TKD, have been working together in order to merge into a single and stronger AA in the USA. We would like this letter to inform our members about this process.
The Merger Committee has decided to formally join the existing Original Taekwon-Do Federation of America, OTFA, a legally registered 501.c.3 entity in the USA, and an approved ITF Allied Association. Eventually, we will change the name in order to reflect this newly unified position and you as a member would be part of that process. As a consequence, ATFI and NTA would be dissolved according to their own constitution and by-laws by the end of 2019.
The Merger Committee has structured a new leadership and a 2020 plan which we think will be welcomed by all of our members:
First, we have an Interim Board of Directors. They are: Masters Ruben Suarez and Carlos Ramirez from NTA, Masters Vincent Affatigato and Brian McNamara, from OTFA, Masters Travis Young and Don Kerner, from ATFI, and Master Marcello Cancelliere and Mr. Charles Foley, from Red Tiger. The interim President will be master Fabian Nunez. In addition to this
Board, we appointed two operational non-board positions, Secretary General, Master Scott Saccareccia and Treasurer, Mr. Edward Davila.
Second, the Interim Board is in the process of updating our processes and procedures, to allow us to optimize the economies of scale associated with an organization of this size, as well as to accommodate the needs of incoming members/groups. Further, we are defining and approving an Open Election Process to put in place a newly elected Board of Directors. This election is expected
in calendar Q2 2020 and we wish all members to participate, utilizing simple and secure online voting technology.
Finally, your new interim Board will outline a 2020 operating plan to deliver significant value to our membership, turning over to the newly elected Board a solid plan with high degree of success. No matter where you are in the US, you will have easier and more open access to:
- Local/Regional Seminars
- High-level Instructors and Masters for Examinations
- Competitive Training Sessions
- Open tournaments with some of the best competitors in the country
Know that this has been no small effort and is the culmination of over a year’s worth of discussion, negotiation, and cooperation from the leaders of all of the groups mentioned. For you as students and instructors, little will change except for increased access to resources, and greater support. There is no action required of you at this point; the first will be in January when memberships are processed with the newly unified organization versus the separate organizations – and you’ll receive advanced notice on this. Until then, you keep teaching and practicing the most wonderful martial art in the world, and feel free to ask for help/support from any member of this newly unified group – even if they were formerly in a ‘different AA’.
We realize that you have many questions; we will shortly be publishing an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) which will also be available on the websites of all current organizations to make this process simple and transparent to you.
Very truly yours,
Master Fabian Nunez
ATFI
Master Ruben Suarez
NTA
Master Vincent Affatigato
OTFA
Master Marcello Cancelliere
Red Tiger Taekwon-Do