As the Jackets battled the Caps Saturday night, a group of Taekwondo experts came together to bond over their love of the Korean martial art up on suite level.
Chris Hershberger, the president and CEO of the Mansfield-headquartered Black Belt Pro Fitness, hosted the Jordanian Taekwondo Federation for their first-ever National Hockey League game. The team consisted of four athletes, a referee, high performance director and the national team coach. Hershberger's relationship with the Federation began in 2019 thanks to a special initiative set up by the U.S. State Department.
"We were invited by the State Department to go to Jordan for a Sports Diplomacy Exchange program in 2019," Hershberger said. "We had a strong affiliation with Olympic taekwondo, but in 2019, we got the chance to spend time and establish a relationship with their group. Now, in 2022, we finally got them [to Ohio] and we're excited to have them here and to have them at a Blue Jackets game, which came about because of a dear friend, [CBJ Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer] Kathryn Dobbs."
Hershberger's connections run deep in the world of taekwondo. His daughter, Natalie Hershberger, is an eight-time national champion and has a goal of competing in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Saturday was her first NHL game, too, and there's no one else she'd rather enjoy it with than the JTF.
"It's been awesome," Natalie said. "I love hanging out with them. We went to Jordan two years ago and I'm glad they got the chance to come here. This is also my first Blue Jackets game, so I'm really excited to be here too."