Mayor, Council Recognize Local Taekwondo Standout, Olympic Hopeful

The Fort Lee Mayor and Council issued a proclamation to Taekwondo standout, Olympic hopeful and Fort Lee resident Merissa Beth Pico at the governing body’s regular meeting Thursday.

The proclamation was in recognition of Pico’s impressive litany of achievements in the sport she’s been competing in since before the age of three.

“You may rest assured that if we were able to use 20 pages of information to fill this proclamation with all of the accolades, and all of the awards and all of the achievements, we would fill every single page,” said Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich.

Pico, who has been the subject of a number of Fort Lee Patch stories over the past year, was a student at until fifth grade; she now attends Dwight Englewood, from which she will graduate this year, according to Sokolich, who added that she’s also played Fort Lee town soccer and Fort Lee town baseball.

Pico has lived in Fort Lee all of her life “except for the first six months, when she was in China until [she was] adopted by her mom, Deborah,” Sokolich said.

“Deborah is a fellow colleague, a very well-respected attorney here in the Borough of Fort Lee, and it’s a very, very proud moment for our community,” the mayor said.

Pico has trained with Master Alvin Bernard, who was in attendance at Thursday—along with a large contingent of Pico’s family and friends—at in Fort Lee since she was just a little girl.

“During the week of Nov. 21, it was confirmed that Merissa made the cut for level seven of eight in the Olympic qualifying process so it’s her goal for one of two spots on the USA Olympic team,” Sokolich said. “Level seven will be a fight-off in January between approximately four women, and if Merissa wins this competition, level eight is the last fight-off in April 2012. This is fantastic stuff where we’re going to be able to potentially see Merissa on national TV representing the United States of America. I cannot tell you how proud we are of that.”

He said the winner of level eight earns a spot on the U.S. Olympic team; second place makes the team as an alternate.

In presenting the proclamation to Pico, Sokolich detailed one of the “whereas” paragraphs, which he said represented a “mere sampling” of her accomplishments:

Whereas Merissa’s accolades in Taekwondo go far beyond a parent’s dream for their child, a mere sampling includes:

• World Taekwondo Federation Olympic sparring since she was under the age of three
• Recently placing third at the USA Olympic trials for 2012 in London
• Named All-American by the United States Taekwondo Association in 2010
• Number one junior competitor in the country for the past three years in her weight class
• Winner of the New Jersey State Championships since she was five years old, which qualified Merissa each year to compete in the USA Junior Olympics every year thereafter through the present except for the year 2009, when she had back surgery

A humble-sounding Pico then thanked the Mayor and Council for the proclamation, saying, “It’s really an honor.”

“And I’d like to thank my friends and family for coming today,” she said. “I really appreciate it. I could never achieve this without all of your support.”

Sokolich also said Pico’s mother, Deborah Pico, also deserves “tremendous, tremendous applause,” after Merissa received a rousing ovation from her many supporters and others gathered in Council Chambers for the meeting.

“As a coach over the years, I’ve realized that we’re the ones taking them to practice; we’re the ones picking them up; we’re the ones finding the time in between the homework,” Sokolich said. “Every mother and every father here knows what I’m referring to so thank you for what you do.”