• * East Hampshire
• * Winchester
• * Gosport
• * Fareham
• * Basingstoke & Deane
• * Rushmoor
• * Portsmouth

On the day competition was fierce yet friendly. Coaches, Team Managers and Referees meet prior to the event starting and agreed a code of conduct that was suitable for the youngsters participating. The was followed by all players and officials which helped the day be a success.

The event was fought as a “Round-Robin” so all teams competed against every other team. This allowed all teams to play all day and provided chances for all players on all teams to play.

It also resulted in an incredibly close competition, with Gold and Silver medal positions being decided in the very last fight at the end of the day!

Results:

• Gold: Badingstoke & Deane
• Silver: Gosport
• Bronze: Winchester, Fareham, East Hampshire

The Fair Play/Spirit of Judo award was presented to young Tom Howell of Rushmoor who competed with great spirit against much taller opponents all day. His performance caught the attention of several coaches who unprompted recommended that he receive recognition.

Three young people on the Hampshire Talented Athletes Scheme opened the event with short talks inspiring the participating children. The HTAS athletes also presented the medals to the medalists.
A large round of applause was given in thanks to the table officials and referees who ran the event and ensured everyone had a great day. Mr Steve Lainsley was also presented a gift in thanks for his running the scoreboard at all seven events that made up the event. Two medals were also presented to the St Johns Ambulance staff who worked all day at the event in thanks for treating the bumps and knocks some players took, including one youngster who suffered a suspected spinal injury but thankfully was given the all clear later by Hospital staff.

The event was a great success and without the support, time and energy of the Judo volunteers, local authority sport development staff and Sport Hampshire staff we would not have been able to give the children the sporting experience they have had.

A big thank you to all involved!

His election was made after a brief speech on the importance of athletic development of Juniors as opposed to trying to coach them how to win at Judo. Performance comes after the develop and in his role the intention is to develop the athletic abilities of the young people so that they can transition into competitive Judo when the time comes or into other sports due to their athletic abilities.

The youth games is the largest multi-sport children’s sports event in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight and this year Judo is being re-introduced. It is a unique opportunity for young Judo players to participate in a multi-sport event of this kind.

The event on June 11th, is to be held in Aldershot and the Judo on the day will be in the format of a teams tournament. Each local authority in the region will be eligible to enter a team of 10 players (10 players, 2 per weight category). The teams will fight on one mat with lots and lots of spectators cheering them on as a big celebration of  Judo!

In advance of the event on June 11th, local participation events are to be held as selection events for the local authority teams. These events will be pools of children matched by size and weight, who will fight in a round-robin format. These events are being arranged by the local clubs in partnership with their local authority Sports Development Officers.

The project is a fantastic opportunity for Judo clubs to build links with other clubs, schools and also with local authority sports development officers.

As part of the project Lance will be liaising with clubs and sports development officers to help arrange the participation events and will also be working hard to make the event on June 11th a big success.

We are currently contacting people and building teams of volunteers to help bring this ambitious project to a successful conclusion. If you are interested in participating as a volunteer or would like more information please contact lw@judocoach.com.

The Hampshire Academy is a project to prepare young athletes physically and mentally for the higher levels of the sport of Judo. The focus is on teenage athletes from 12-18 years of age. We have recently incorporated as a limited liability company so as to give us a legal structure.

Our goal is to help athletes, this takes time, energy, people and sadly money. As such the academy needs to generate revenue to invest in the coaches, athletes and support staff. To this end, we shall be working on events and merchandise and of course delivering Judo in schools and clubs.

It is our aim to work with hampshire clubs and the coaches in those clubs to help ensure that their players are able to travel a scientific training programme. A programme that allows the player to develop in their own time and way. A programme that is unique to the individual athlete.

In the coming months we shall be working hard to contact all the clubs in Hampshire to discuss the academy and how they can help their players extend themselves and move to becoming athletes. It is important to us that players remain affiliated and loyal to their clubs. The club that plants the seeds of success should (we think) benefit when those athletes grow beyond the club and start to aspire for international glory.

We will also be extending the work we do in clubs and schools. This will include the direct delivery of coaching into schools and clubs as well as less direct activities such as helping clubs and club coaches with long-term planning and session planning. We shall also look to help find new opportunities for coaches to do what they do best.

This will help the academy become a viable entity financially. It will also help hampshire clubs and coaches financially. This will support the development work we aim to do with athletes. We will also be putting on events, such as the camp we attempted to arrange previously, competitions and training sessions are also on the cards.

If you are interested in the development of young Judo athletes in Hampshire, then please do get in touch with us. We need people of all sorts to help the project take shape in 2011.

sorry for the silence, but we have been quietly working in the background. The academy project is still alive and well and taking shape. We have explored a few options and will continue to do so.

One option that we return to over and over is the idea of having an academy building somewhere in Hampshire. The Academy building would become the focal point for extra training for the young up and coming Judo athletes in the county. Obviously it would be a large financial investment and also require the time and energy of a large number of people to make it happen. Lastly, it would also require a building with D1 (or D2) banding, to allow us to use the building to teach Judo. These sorts of buildings are incredibly hard to come by and councils have proven in discussions quite concerned about change of use on industrial or retail units. If anyone has experience in this sort of thing please contact us.

On the athletes preparation side, we have plans in place to work closely with the hampshire squad managers. Watch this space!

Once again, if you have a young Judo player which you think has talent or are a young player with talent; please contact us so we can include you in our plans.

The cancellation of the camp is regrettable as we have been getting great support from not only the Hampshire area but from the BJA Southern area too. Sadly, the camp shan’t go ahead but the Academy itself is in a better position than before. The camp has helped raise the profile of the Academy project and people are now beginning to be aware of how we are building a pathway for young athletes to follow from club to elite performer.

We shall continue to work on the project and would ask that you stay tuned to this site and our Facebook group; we shall be updating with news of our plans soon!

On behalf of the Team,

Lance

Hampshire Judo Academy Development Camp 2009 Logo

The winter camp for the Hampshire Judo Academy is progressing well, we now have registration forms and a brochure online.

• 2009 Winter Camp Registration Form
• 2009 Winter Camp Brochure

We will also be in attendance at the Hampshire Split grade tournament (October 25th) to promote the camp.

The camp designed to introduce young Judo players to the pathway from recreational club players to elite performer.
The academy project is designed to educate and prepare the young Judo athlete, so that when they reach the appropriate age to move onto a higher level, they can do so.

The weekend camp will cost £80.00 and includes accommodation, meals and lots of Judo and other activities.
Judo coaches are being organised now and will include both Hampshire based and coaches from outside of the county. We also have planned to have a Tai Chi instructor, Sports Psychologist, Judo Referee(s), and other specialist deliver sessions that will inform players to the aspects of performance that are not just about being able to throw!

Spaces will be limited to approximately 25 players, so please contact us early.
Coaches are invited to attend also, this academy project is designed to help Hampshire Judo, so engagement with the entire Hampshire Judo Community is what we would like to achieve. Please contact  us for more details and to provisionally book places on the camp.

We have setup an event on FaceBook, ( CLICK HERE ) where you can follow progress and also indicate if you would like to attend. It is linked to our FaceBook page too ( CLICK HERE ).

As we get closer to the event we shall post more on this site and contact people via email and letters.

just a quick post to say that despite appearances on the site, we are actually progressing really well behind the scenes.

The schools Judo side of the project is proceeding the most quickly and easily. We have some classes setup for the new term already and potential for more. It is soon reaching the point where we shall need more coaches, which is great. The community sports club projects are moving along nicely, with a club looking to be started in Bishopstoke in a month or two, all things being equal.

The academy programme itself is the slowest moving, which is to be expected. The aim is now to launch with a development camp, we shall be writing to all the clubs and coaches and referees etc asking them to identify talented young Judo players at secondary school age. We will then send invites to these players specifically along with invites to their coaches. We shall also invite all the other clubs and players; but depending on venue and interest we may/will limit attendance to those identified as talent.

The aim of the camp will be to get to know the players and their coaches. We need to understand what the players and coaches are like as people and also we want to test them a little to see how they handle themselves in a camp situation. There are lots of clues to be picked up about a player by putting them into a camp situation and seeing if they thrive or dislike it; or both.

We will probably not be launching the camp until after the September 2009 Hampshire Judo Association Committee meeting and will need 2-3 months of preparation time, so as you can see the Academy Camp is still quite a way away.

But the ball is rolling and awareness of the project grows with it.

Lance

We would appreciate any assistance introducing Judo into your local school. Please do contact us if you think you can help.