Medals from the European Karate Championships for Cadets, Juniors and Young Seniors are a constant for the Montenegrin team, which won six bronze medals before today's final day in the Polish city of Bielsko-Biała.
However, the first European championship final after eight years of acquiring certificates and licenses from the European Karate Federation will be judged by Toko Raičević. He obtained the highest European A license - "Referee A" in Poland.
"I have a busy day of judging ahead of me, but whatever! I am very happy that I have rounded off a long period of work and learning with the A license. It is the highest, fourth level of the European ranking, and my goal is the highest world title. This is the next step, because Montenegro now only has one license, since Miodrag-Mijo Radunović did not renew his due to his obligations as director of the Montenegrin national team," Raičević tells "Vijesti".
Only by acquiring the title did Raičević complete his karate sports biography, after being a successful competitor and now a coach, and the Karate Federation's Referee Commission provided four European referee licenses in three years since his participation in it.
"The biggest success of that period is Veljko Brnović's world license, but we also have 20 Balkan licenses. It's a difficult journey, you need money to travel and judge on different continents. All of this would not be possible without the great leadership in the Federation headed by Predrag Perković. Last year, we judged 15 international competitions, and for the first world level, I need to judge at the World Youth League in the Emirates in two weeks. We'll see, that requires a lot of sacrifice and expense. The conditions are also met by judging in the Premier League, which are held on three continents, in order to acquire and confirm the license," explained Raičević.
Only after a successful competitive career - a junior European bronze medal in the Yugoslav national team, a club European bronze medal in BC Budućnost, and then as a national champion and senior national team player, Raičević decided to pursue a karate refereeing career alongside coaching.
"That competitive experience when judging means a lot to me, just as I now administer justice to the best karatekas of today, and contacts with their coaches and colleagues contribute to my work in coaching. I am up to date, I follow trends, and this sport is making great progress. In my Vukovi, where I train young karatekas, several of them have earned the status of cadet and junior national team members," concluded Raičević, not without pride.
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