Saverio Curcio, a Year 7 student at St John’s Regional College in Dandenong, will represent Australia at the World Taekwondo Culture Expo in South Korea next month.By Paul Pickering
KEYSBOROUGH taekwondo prodigy Saverio Curcio is a young man who knows what he wants.
Having watched a senior club-mate from the Melbourne Taekwondo Centre fight her way into the Beijing Olympics, 12-year-old Saverio is determined to follow the same path.
As ambitious as that sounds, the St Joseph’s Regional College student is already poised to make his mark on the international taekwondo scene.
After winning silver medals in his category at last year’s state and national titles, Saverio has been chosen to represent Australia at an invitational event, the World Taekwondo Culture Expo, in South Korea next month.
He will be pitted against some of the world’s most promising young fighters, with competitors from more than 50 countries descending upon the martial arts mecca that is the Muju Taekwondo Park.
On arriving home, he will prepare for the national championships in Sydney in September, before flying out for the Philippines Open later that month.
In many ways, it is a charmed existence for a Year 7 student to be flying around the world to compete in their chosen sport, and Saverio knows how lucky he is.
“Apart from the competing, being with your friends and travelling is pretty fun,” he said.
But that’s not to say it has been easy.
In fact, Saverio no longer sees taekwondo as just a hobby.
“I started when I was in Grade 1 because I wanted to do it with my friends, but now I want to go into it as a career,” he said.
Saverio now trains four times a week in a bid to fast-track his rise towards the pinnacle of his sport.
In August, he will be keeping a keen eye on 22-year-old club-mate Carmen Marton, who secured her spot in the Olympics some eight years after her first international competition.
In that respect, Saverio already has a head start, as do his younger brothers Gerome, 10, and Giulian, 6, who have both followed him into the sport with some early success.
Gerome won gold at the state championships last year and is likely to follow his brother’s lead into international competition.
For now, though, the Curcio family is planning a trip to South Korea.
“We travel with the team, but my family comes along,” Saverio said.
“The competition usually only goes for three days, so the rest of the days we get to tour around the city.”
