UTICA – Utica College je privatni institut u kojem se godišnje upiše 3.550 studenata iz 40 raznih država te amerikanaca koji u većini također dolaze iz raznih država svijeta. Na tom Collegu obrazuju se i dvije Kladuš(č)anke, naturalizirane Amerikanke, sestre Ena i Tea Latić, o čijim sportskim i poslovnim uspjesima piše posljednje godišnje izdanje Magazina Utica i posvećuje im svoju naslovnicu. Van svake sumnje, Ena i Tea mogu biti iznimno ponosne na ukazanoj časti u tako jakoj konkurenciji. U tom se godišnjem Magazinu objavljuju najvažnije i najznačajnije vijesti odnosno događaji, a ujedno je i reklama za upis budućih studenata. Ugled cura Latić na College je porastao kada je Tea otvorila gofoundme stranicu za pomoć maloj Dalal o čemu je Redakcija ReprezenT-a posebno pisala, a tada su mnogi profesori novčano podržali akciju i danas pomno prate tok liječenja male Dalal.
U Magazinu piše kako je odluka Olimpijskog komiteta da karate sport uvrste u olimpijski sport, curama Latić promijenio smjer života. „Familija Latić je imigrirala u Uticu 1998. godine dok su cure Latić još bile male. Njihov otac Sulejman Latić, inače bivši jugoslovenski karate reprezentativac, odmah je odgovorio izazovu i otvorio Školu karatea „Dragon“ u kojem sestre i danas treniraju ali i rade i pomažu ocu kao treneri. Nakon provedenih dana i noći u dvorani, počeli su se nizati rezultati najprije na regionalnom, potom nacionalnom a u posljednje vrijeme i svjetskim takmičenjima i na svima njima one postižu izvanredne rezultate. Posebno se ističu rezultati u Japanu, Australiji, Njemačkoj, Italiji, Rumuniji…“. Van ringa cure Latić, Ena i Tea, su napravile puno u radu i rezultatima njihove Škole karatea „Dragon“. Uz to, obadvije su studentice Utica Collegea. Ena je na četvrtoj godini i usavršava sportsku medicinu dok je Tea na trećoj godini ekonomije. Pored odličnih zanimanja koja će steći završetkom obrazovanja, nastavit će, kako kažu, očevim stopama i ostati u karate sportu. Tea kao ekomomista kaže da želi svojim novim znanjem najprije ustabiliti a potom unaprijediti i proširiti vlastiti biznis dok Ena planira raditi na sportskim povredama i mentalnim stabilnostima sportista. Sestre kažu da je karate njihov život, i nastoje unaprijeđivati ono što su roditelji napravili i ostavljaju im u naslijeđe. Cure Latić žele ostvariti (i na dobrom su putu) američki san! U nastavku donosimo originalan tekst iz Magazina, naravno, na engleskom jeziku. Esad ŠABANAGIĆ
Queens of the Ring
Ena Latic ’18 and her sister Tea ’19 are typical college students–and international karate champions with Olympic dreams. Ena and Tea Latic were glued to Twitter during the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. But it wasn’t a particular event or athlete that had them wrapt. It was the future of a sport not yet part of the official games: karate. Despite outcry from martial artists around the globe petitioning for the sport to be officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee, karate remained on the outskirts of the games. In the past, IOC officials had cited redundancy: boxing and taekwondoe, long parts of Olympic competition, were too similar, they said. That is, until August 3, 2016, when the IOC announced that karate would be an official sport in the 2020 summer games in Tokyo.
“I screamed,” says Ena, a junior at UC, who recalls watching the live stream of the announcement with her sister, Tea, a sophomore, and Sulejman, their father and coach. “My dad cried. We had never even seen him tear up before,” she says. “We both said ‘We have to. We have to do it.” With dozens of medals and national and regional titles under their black belts, the sisters from Utica now had their sights officially set on Olympic competition. The Latic sisters don’t remember much about life in Croatia and the refugee camp where they spent the first years of their lives. Their parents, along with their two older sisters, fled their homeland of Yugoslavia during the violence of the late 90s. They spent several years in the camp, and by 1999, when Ena and Tea were barely toddlers, the family immigrated to the United States, settling in Utica, New York. Soon, Sulejman, who was once a Yugoslav national karate champion himself, captured his own piece of the American dream when he opened a karate studio. Dragon Karate School on Bleecker Street in downtown Utica became a haven for young children of fellow refugees, eager for both the discipline of karate and a safe place to spend the after-school hours. As kids, Ena and Tea were surrounded by karate. They spent hours in the studio, located just downstairs from the family’s home, watching their dad train kids and adults, and soon get involved themselves. “My dad never really imagined his kids would be seriously interested in karate,” says Ena. “It actually made him a little nervous.”
But it soon became clear that Ena and Tea had their dad’s gift for the sport. In 2005, at nine years old, Ena competed in the AAU Junior National Championships in Miami. At 12, she competed with adults in a karate event in Osaka, Japan. She placed first. “When I came home and showed my mom the gold medal, she was crying,” says Ena. “That was the moment it hit me—I could go somewhere with this.” Tea’s moment came years later at Nationals, where she earned second place at the national kumite championships in the AAU Junior Olympic Games in Detroit (kumite is a Japanese form of sparring). She’s currently the no. 2 kumite fighter in America. Since then, the sisters have competed—and won—in karate competitions all over the world; in Australia, Italy, and Germany within the last five years alone. And of course, there’s the hope of traveling to Tokyo in 2020 for the summer games. With the prospect of Olympic competition on the horizon, Ena and Tea have focused their training on the mental aspect of karate. “Our dad teaches us that it’s all about how you talk to yourself before you step into the ring,” says Tea. “If you have a clear mind, that’s it. Nothing else matters.” Outside the ring, the challenge for Ena and Tea has been balancing school with time spent in the karate studio. Both sisters chose their UC majors with a future in karate in mind. As a physical therapy major, Ena hopes to work with athletes and help them recover after injuries. From personal experience, she says, “I know the mental aspect of not being able to do something you want to do. I like the idea of helping someone regain strength.” For Tea, studying business economics will help her understand the financial side of the Dragon School and to expand the school’s reach. “I want everyone to see what we do,” says Tea. “And see how awesome our kids are.” The sisters’ ultimate goal is to take over Dragon School and run it together, with Tea handling the business side and Ena working with athletes—a continuation of their parents’ American dream. “Karate is already our life,” says Ena, laughing. “It might as well be our career, too.” Even now, the sisters spend hours each day working at the Dragon School, teaching nearly 160 students in karate classes at every level. Mostly the children of refugees, their students come from all over the world, including Russia, the Dominican Republic, Burma, Korea, and countries in Africa and the Middle East. Instilling confidence in their young pupils is a form of giving back—especially for kids with busy working parents who “don’t always have someone to talk to,” says Tea. “When I was younger, I was a shy kid, but as I did karate, I started talking and opening up. I want to do that for other kids.” Ena nods in agreement, describing how she and her sister often help their students with homework and check report cards. “We see ourselves in our students,” says Ena. “And karate helped show us what we were capable of.” (Magazin Utica College)