It is October 2013, and Ellen Ince has just been crowned Best Overall Female in the junior section of the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF) World Championships in Benidorm. Ireland has claimed a total of 27 medals, including 10 gold. Out of the 58 countries competing, Ireland finishes second.
By any measure, it is an extraordinary achievement, perhaps one of the country’s finest performances at an athletic event in years. You would think, therefore, that it would receive plenty of media attention, this being a golden opportunity to raise the profile of a sport so obviously on the up. You would be wrong. Just two newspapers deem it sufficiently newsworthy as to merit coverage. The Sun dedicates a feature to the story, focusing in particular on Ince’s success. The42.ie, the sporting wing of online paper journal.ie, interviewed Stephen Ryan, Secretary General of the Irish Taekwon-Do Association. Apart from this, there is nothing.
Much has changed in Ince’s life since that incredible day on the eastern coast of Spain. In the intervening three years, she has completed her leaving certificate and begun a degree in European studies at Trinity. She has cemented her place in the ranks of Ireland’s finest young athletes with another World Championship success in addition to two victories at European level. As if this wasn’t enough, she is also “world champion in patterns”. To the uninformed, this is best described as a competitive performance of the various “moves” in taekwondo.
For Ince, though, now seated in front of me in a mercifully quiet Pav, some things have remained infuriatingly constant. The lack of media attention being one. “There’s a real lack of it, and athletes don’t really get the recognition they deserve for taekwondo”, she affirms. However, she is confident that this will change, and with this in mind, she has set up an Instagram, “a sort of diary”, which she hopes will bring tales of her exploits to a wider audience. She has been delighted with the feedback so far.
“My mam, too, she’s never had the chance to go and see me at Europeans or Worlds because of the expense of it, so now she will”
The Instagram page is far from a vanity project. Taekwondo as a sport is not only under-reported, it is also hugely underfunded. As an athlete competing on an international stage, Ince has had to travel abroad to participate in elite competitions. Yet she has received “absolutely nothing” in funding, relying on fundraising to pay her way. I look at her in disbelief. “Most athletes who are doing taekwondo have to have a part-time job on the side”, she elaborates. “We train like professional athletes, but we don’t get any government funding.” Self-promotion of the type previously mentioned is therefore vital for Ince. She has to get the word out in order to keep competing at the highest level.
Ince was elated when she heard the World Championships were to be hosted in Ireland in 2017. It is, she believes, due to Ireland’s superb performances in recent years. “The Irish team are taking over”, she announces proudly. “We’re dominating at European and world level, and I think that’s partly why we were awarded the World Championships this year.” She can hardly contain her excitement for the competition: “It’s the chance to perform in front of all your friends and family.” Ince seems almost as excited for her family as she is for herself, displaying a selflessness evident throughout the interview. She lists her mother and her grandfather as her biggest supporters. Her face lights up at the thought of her grandfather. “He’s my number one supporter, so he’s really excited”, she grins. “My mam, too, she’s never had the chance to go and see me at Europeans or Worlds because of the expense of it, so now she will.”
As someone so obviously at the epicentre of Ireland’s recent taekwondo success, Ince is better placed than most to offer an explanation for the country’s progress. Her analysis, however, is surprisingly simple. “It’s all down to hard work”, she shrugs. “We have a saying, ‘champions do more’, and I think it’s that attitude that’s helped us do so well.” A modest appraisal, but Ince clearly isn’t one to blow her own trumpet. Instead she points to the quality coaching she has received. “The standard of coaching is fantastic in Ireland”, she enthuses. “A lot of the coaches have competed themselves so they know what it feels like.”
They have defied the odds, the lack of funding and the almost total dearth of media coverage to place Ireland among the most successful countries in the world in taekwondo
One coach who hasn’t competed in taekwondo but who Ince feels has had an enormous impact on her game is Trinity Strength and Conditioning Coach, Ross Hamilton. In October, Ince was awarded a Podium level Sports Scholarship by the College, and she has been working with Hamilton ever since. She continually alludes to his influence: “I’m really enjoying my training programme with Ross, it’s brilliant.” Hamilton has also been helping Ince with her nutrition, which, in a weight-orientated sport like taekwondo, is “absolutely massive”. Ince will more than likely have better access to improved training facilities as well as better gear and equipment such as some of the best shoes for martial arts for example. Aside from this, she can now organise training around her busy college schedule, something she couldn’t do before. “I had to get up at half six in the morning, go training, go to college, and then come home about seven in the evening.” Even for Ince, accustomed to gruelling training regimes, this schedule was punishing, and she is much happier with her college-training balance now.
Ince is circumspect when I ask her about her motivations. She has won so much at such a tender age but is wary of overplaying her successes. “I just love it”, she insists. “There’s a lot of sacrifices you have to make, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I’m incredibly lucky.”
Her hopes for the future? “Two thousand and seventeen is a huge year, to have the Worlds and Europeans in the same year…”. She tails off for a moment, perhaps visualising herself winning on home soil, the dream for any athlete. Then suddenly, she is back in the moment, the consummate professional. “Preparations have already begun”, she smiles. “To say I’m living for these championships would be an understatement.”
Ellen Ince is a remarkable young woman. At eighteen, she is blessed with the maturity of a seasoned competitor. Taekwondo has taught her “values, what’s really important in life”. Most of all, however, she has learned “to never ever give up”. Well, quite. Thanks to Ince and her cohort, the sport in Ireland is in as good a place as it has ever been. They have defied the odds, the lack of funding and the almost total dearth of media coverage to place Ireland among the most successful countries in the world in taekwondo. It is high time we start treating the sport, and Ince, with the respect and admiration they deserve.
