Chris Canning Award Nominations Due June 1

This year represents the 6th annual presentation of the Chris Canning Award of Excellence. This award and scholarship was adopted in honor and tribute to Christopher James Canning, an accomplished martial artist who died accidentally in June of 2001 at the age of 15. The first award was presented in conjunction with and part of the USA Taekwondo National Awards program adopted in 2005. Previous winners include Aimee Callison in 2005, Maia Eubanks in 2006, Jermaine James in 2007, Paige McPherson in 2008, and Matt Dunlap in 2009.

 

Chris was a young man that excelled in all aspects of life. He was an honor student, a star athlete for his school in football, basketball, and baseball, played classical piano, worked at an animal shelter, and helped the homeless. In just four years, as a martial artist, he was a first-degree black belt, member of 11 state teams, won 15 state titles, three national titles, an AAU All American, member of the U.S. Elite team training at the Olympic Training Center and invited back as a member of the U.S. Gold Team. As a result of his contributions and accomplishments, in and out of martial arts, he has been honored over 100 times, nationally and internationally, establishing a legacy throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia, Great Britain., Germany, Ireland, and other parts of Europe.

 

Martial arts honors have included:

• Honored by the United States Olympic Committee for, “living his life representing the Olympic ideals and for his personal, academic, artistic & athletic excellence”
• Two U.S., two World, and 10 International Hall of Fame Inductions including categories of :

            Junior Martial Arts Legend, World’s Outstanding Jr. Martial Artist, North America’s

            Outstanding Jr. Martial Artist, Outstanding Junior Martial Artist of the Past Decade

     *    18 Martial Arts Legends worldwide paid tribute to Chris and 12 special organizational awards, from around       the globe, have been given to the Canning family for his achievements

• Six national and international martial arts magazines have published 12 major articles &

            featured Chris on the cover of the 2009 Spring Issue of USA Taekwondo News magazine

• Ten competitor awards and/or scholarships are given at national, international, and world competitions annually To date, 57 world class athletes have received a Chris Canning “Outstanding Competitor Award” at a major championship or a Hall of Fame event throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, & Australia

Personal Tributes include

• The Secretary General, of the 2008 Youth Assembly at the United Nations in New York, honored Chris with the “Legacy of Service Award”, the only individual honored with this award out of 1,000 outstanding youth in attendance from 63 countries worldwide.
• U.S. President Bush sent a personal letter of tribute to the family and Senator Dick Durbin made a speech in his honor on the U.S. Senate floor in Washington, D.C. Also, Illinois  Governor Pat Quinn issued a proclamation recognizing his life accomplishments and  House Representative Bill Mitchell honored him in the Illinois General Assembly with the passage of House Resolution 467 which honored his life achievements and contributions.
• Received two National Service Organization President’s Awards for his humanitarian efforts given by U.S. President George W. Bush and the President of the U. S. National Points of Light Foundation
• The World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame named Chris as a finalist for the 2010 induction

 

At this year's USA Taekwondo National Championships and Jr. Olympics, the Chris Canning Award of Excellence will be presented to the one martial artist who most exhibits what Chris represented and achieved. The recipient must have achieved martial arts excellence, maintained an outstanding academic record, given back to their community and demonstrated the attributes of a world class human being. From the submittals received this year, there will be a number of martial artists selected as finalists and they will be announced prior to the event. In addition, they will be presented an award plaque indicating their status as finalists during the opening ceremonies of the Junior Olympics. Immediately following those awards, the winner will be announced and be presented  the Chris Canning Award of Excellence Trophy and the $1,000 dollar scholarship. This year's presentation will be made by Grand Master Joon P. Choi, member of the USAT board of directors and co-chairman of the USAT Marial Arts Commission.

 

Should you know of an outstanding young martial artist deserving of such an honor and recognition, please submit their information to USA Taekwondo in care of Bill Kellick, Director of Communications, Bill.Kellick@usa-taekwondo.us on or before 6/1/10. The information sent should include documented academic achievement, a martial arts resume indicating years of training, rank, medal placements at state, national and international competitions, letters of recommendation indicating how they have given back to their community through project work or activities and describing the personal attributes of the candidate. A candidate must be 14-22 years old (both included), be an active member of USA Taekwondo for at least one year, be a competitor at the 2010 U.S. National and /or Jr. Olympic Taekwondo Championships, be in attendance at the Junior Olympics opening ceremonies and be a first degree black belt or higher. The person making the submittal should include all their contact information in case a clarification is necessary on information sent in. 

 

Chris Canning Award of Excellence Information & Application

Check out the Chris Canning MySpace page and YouTube videos