3 Flushing Taekwondo student eyes trip to Paralympics
QUEENS WEEKLY, MARCH 17, 2019
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
Flushing Taekwondo
martial arts fighter Ismael
Oumarou Gouzae isn’t letting
his disability deter
him from achieving his
dream to compete in the
Tokyo 2020 Paralympic
Games.
Fighting with one hand,
18-year-old Gouzae competed
in the U.S. Open
Championship held in Las
Vegas on March 1, winning
a bronze medal. Over 2,400
athletes from more than 80
countries participated in
the international competition
to pave the road for
the Summer Olympics in
Tokyo in 2020; it will be the
first time the Paralympics
will be included.
“Ismael won against a
USA athlete he once lost to
in Morocco, and he lost a
close match against a No.
1 ranked Mexico Player,”
said Andrew Park, head
coach of the Team Eagles
Training Center, located at
42-27 162nd St. in Flushing.
A native of Bosso, Niger,
Gouzae lost his right hand
(wrist down) at the age of 12
from a grenade explosion
caused by the Islamic terrorist
group, Boko Haram.
“He was a hero that day,
as he tried to throw the grenade
away from a crowd of
people, it exploded in his
hand,” said Park, on behalf
of Gouzae who doesn’t
speak much English. “He
ran to wash it off with water
since the acid was spreading,
then someone from the
street wrapped it around
to stop the bleeding and he
went to the hospital.”
With no family in the
U.S., Gouzae resides at a
shelter in Manhattan and
attends Bronx Regional
High School. Every day,
he commutes two to three
hours to the Flushing Team
Eagles Training Center,
where he has been training
regularly three to four
times a week. On weekends,
he trains late until
11 p.m. or later, according
to Park.
Currently, Gouzae is
ranked top 10 in the world
and will most likely participate
in the Tokyo Olympics,
according to Park.
He previously participated
in African Games and the
World Championship in
Morocco, where he earned
valuable ranking points
along with his medals to be
eligible to compete at the
Paralympics.
“He has a heart of a lion
on and off the mats,” said
Park. “He is well mannered
as our taekwondo sport promotes
integrity, courtesy,
perseverance, self-control
and indomitable spirit,
which are five tenets of
taekwondo. Our cadet and
junior athletes learn from
his disciplined training
method, dedication, and
sometimes reminds us how
fortunate we are.”
Gouzae has expressed
his gratitude to Park, who
has sponsored him with
equipments, uniforms,
warm-ups, flights, hotels,
competition registration
fees, and much more from
fundraising events.
The team is preparing
for the New York State
Championships this weekend
and will be competing
in April at the National
Collegiate Taekwondo
Association High School
Championships in Texas.
“He will be representing
Niger and we’re very
thrilled,” said Park. “It
would greatly help if outside
sources of sponsorships
recognize his passion
and dedication for his
Olympic dream.”
Reach reporter Carlotta
Mohamed by e-mail at cmohamed@
schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at (718)
260–4526.
BY BILL PARRY
For more that 60 years,
St. Demetrios Preparatory
School in Astoria has
been a bastion of learning
for the neighborhood’s
Greek-American Orthodox
community, where
100 percent of its graduates
go on to colleges and
universities.
Now the private Christian
school is opening its
doors to any students in
Queens, Manhattan and
the Bronx, and it has
nothing to do with declining
enrollment.
“The decision was
made to open our doors
to anyone who wants to
receive a faith-based education,”
a top administration
official said. “We get
an awful lot of phone calls
from parents who are
aware that our tuition is
$200 less per month than
at your average Catholic
school so affordability is
a very big component but
we are also classical humanities
based learning.
So many schools are now
so focused on technology.
We try to make it an
interdisciplinary holistic
type of education for
a child.”
St. Demetrios Prep is
comprised of three separate
schools serving students
kindergarten through 12th
grade, with an elementary
school at 22-30 33rd St., a
middle school at 30-03 30th
Drive and a high school at
30-03 30th St.
The school offers a traditional
college-preparatory
liberal arts curriculum.
“We recently received
a grant for close to $20
million from an anonymous
benefactor that allows
the school to keep
its tuition low for middle
class families,” the
administrator said. “But
our class size is also a factor
where we have 15 to 18
students to one teacher,
and most of our faculty
has advanced degrees
and teach at colleges particularly
in math and science.
Plus, we offer both
athletic and academic
merit scholarships.”
St. Demetrios will hold
an open house event on
Saturday, March 16, from
12 p.m. to 2 p.m. for parents
interested in enrolling
their children. The
school also features Welcome
Wednesdays where
a child can shadow a student
through classes.
For more information,
visit sdprep.org.
“For more than 60
years we were a little
known secret here in
Astoria for Greek-Americans
speaking the old
language,” she said.
“Now nothing could be
further from the truth.”
Editor’s note: The
school administration official
requested to have
their name withheld for
this interview.
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by e-mail at bparry@
schnepsmedi a .com
or by phone at (718) 260–
4538.
(From l. to r.) Team Eagles Training Center head coach Andrew Park (r.) with Ismael Gouzae,
18, who is training to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. Courtesy of Andrew Park
St. Demetrios Prep in Astoria welcoming new students
St. Demetrios Prepartory School is now welcoming any students from Queens, Manhattan,
and the Bronx. Courtesy of St. Demetrios Preparatory School
/sdprep.org