A brand new, renovated space for a local club thanks to a grant from the Town of Whitecourt

After a couple of short years since moving into a new space, all on their own, Whitecourt Taekwondo has seen an explosion in interest, leading them to add to their square footage. “Typically, our spring classes are the smallest of the three sessions we run each year, but this past spring was the biggest ever in the history of Whitecourt Taekwondo,” explained Master Jim Rennie. Usually, 30 to 40 families would sign up for spring classes, but this year they had over a hundred. “Enrollment is huge.”

With a grant from the Town of Whitecourt, the club created a new gym in the space that used to be mainly for storage and warm-up. “When you walk in, you can see a second gym now. It’s a second room with closing doors, separate change rooms and separate washrooms.” As they look to a busy fall season, Rennie said he is glad to have the space in place. “We know we will have to split our classes this fall because we have limited time that you can teach after school before kids have to start getting ready for bed, and then you still have to squeeze in some adult classes. We will be able to do double the amount now.”

Since COVID, Rennie said that some clubs are no longer operating and that those that are, their numbers have increased. “I’m the director of membership for the Alberta Taekwondo Association, and about one-third of the clubs have disappeared forever. Of the clubs that stayed, they are larger than before COVID. The net amount of students in Alberta is more, but the number of clubs offering it is less.”

One of the most significant parts of their success at the Whitecourt club is having a space to call their own. “Groups that were in a school are done. The ones that survived were the ones offering zoom classes and one on one and being very creative,” he said. “We are fortunate for an unfortunate time, and now we are ready to take the next steps forward. We could never have done it at this time because as a non-profit, how would we have done this renovation, so the Town of Whitecourt’s support is huge.”

Rennie said that the Town investing in community services, especially recreation, can be expensive but that it will be “reinvested over and over for years, and the community will benefit from it.” On top of the Town of Whitecourt, Rennie credits Home Hardware and KAP Builders. “They helped us accomplish what we were trying to accomplish, and we appreciate them immensely.”

The renovation brings Whitecourt Taekwondo from 1500 square feet of useable space to nearly 3000. “It’s big. We are so happy. That took a lot of hard work. We did a lot of fundraising, and we had some very dedicated instructors that made it work. I’m so excited to see what September will look like.”

With clubs in other communities folding during restrictions, Rennie said they had seen an uptick in people travelling to Whitecourt to take classes, with roughly twenty percent of students travelling in. He said they have also had families move to the community. “Today, I’ve got two families brand new to Whitecourt. I know one of the families moved here because they’ve been training here because their school in another community was closed. They’ve been here every second weekend for a year, and about three months ago, they asked me to tell them more about Whitecourt and ended up moving here, a family of five. They moved because of the opportunities for them here.”

It took three weeks to do most of the work, with only the finishing touches left. The first group to walk in and see the space was shocked. “They walked in, and all of them stopped. It was fun for me to watch because I waited to see their reaction. We still have stuff to hang and some painting to do, but it already looks great.”

The group went from using shared school spaces to their own space in the summer of 2019, a massive leap for a non-profit to make. A few years down the road, Rennie said he was glad they did it. “My dad and I talked about it for years, having our own place. When he passed away, Master Tara Rennie and Master Jeremy Wilhelm ran with the idea and did the heavy lifting on it. Those two deserve the credit for getting us into this space. It was their decision, and I look back now, and it was clearly the best move ever.”