Scottish Referee James McBeath Promoted to IJF International (IJF A)
Scottish referee James McBeath has been promoted to the highest level of referee recognised by the International Judo Federation at the Almaty Asian Junior Cup in Kazakhstan last weekend. James successfully completed his examination under the supervision of IJF Head Referee Directors, Daniel Lascau and Armen Bagdasarov to become an IJF A Referee.
James on his promotion said “This event and exam was a pinnacle for me, I knew it would be a test and it's a big weight off my shoulders to have been successful.
“I’m glad of the support I’ve had from British Judo and JudoScotland, as well as from friends, family and my refereeing colleagues. It’s important to continue to improve our refereeing and I hope to use this as an opportunity to share what I’ve learned and to support the development of our referees across the UK.”
JudoScotland would like to extend our congratulations to James on this incredible achievement.
Read the full story of the BJA website here.
News From the Chair
A Brief update from the Chair of some key events and recent news from March:
Hi Judo Community,
It’s an exciting time for JudoScotland as we launched our new strategic plan for 2023 – 2027, Judo For All, this month. We developed our plan following an in-depth consultation with our stakeholders and members to encapsulate our collective goals. The plan reflects some fantastic opportunities for the organisation and the sport. If you haven’t had a chance yet, I would encourage you to read through it here.
I am also thrilled to welcome two new independent directors to our Board this month Lynne Glen and Sandy Hodge. Lynne and Sandy bring a wealth of experience from their roles within Scottish sport. I look forward to working with them both as well as our other directors, JudoScotland staff and members to bring Judo For All to life.
I was saddened to hear of the passing of three significant members of the Scottish Judo family in March, Eddie Ainsworth, Jimmy Mcquade, and David McSkimming.
In happier news, there have been some great success for our performance Judoka in March with Nordine Adrif (-60kg) and Ollie Short (-73kg) both taking their first senior international tour medals with a Bronze at the Riga Senior European Cup. Kirsten Taylor (J2 +70kg) took a step towards her Paris 2024 Paralympic qualification with a Bronze medal at the IBSA Egyptian Grand Prix earlier in the month.
Also, I would like to congratulate Sean Allan from Castle Douglas Judo Club on his selection to represent Special Olympics GB at the Berlin 2023 World Games in June.
And lastly, on the 2nd April, I had the privilege of being at the Dan Grading event hosted by JudoScotland at Ravenscraig, Motherwell. With 100+ participants it was one of the UK’s largest gradings of its type. Congratulations to all of those who succeeded and for the others, keep trying!
Thanks
Marc
Scottish Judoka Selected to Represent Special Olympics GB at the Berlin 2023 World Games
Special Olympics Great Britain has today secured participation in the Judo competition at the Berlin 2023 Special Olympics World Games, with Scottish Judoka Sean Allan being selected as the sole British athlete who will compete on the world stage.
Sean (20) lives near Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway. He attends Dumfries & Galloway College and Better Lives Partnership, and trains regularly at Castle Douglas Judo Club. He will be part of the Team Special Olympics World Games delegation of more than 80 athletes in June, who will compete alongside more than 7,000 other athletes with intellectual disabilities from around the world.
Joining Sean in Berlin is coach Luke Struthers, who runs the Castle Douglas Judo Club and Dumfries Judo Academy and also works as West Scotland Regional Development Officer for JudoScotland.
“Sean has been on an incredible journey since he first came to the Judo club as an eight-year-old in 2011,” said Luke. “He was initially quite shy and struggled to adjust to the different environment, but his confidence levels have soared and he’s a very popular athlete within the club.
“Being able to compete at a Special Olympics World Games is a fantastic opportunity for Sean. Whilst he has previously medalled in the East Scotland Special Needs Judo Championships, competitive opportunities for him can be limited and he has been waiting a long time for this opportunity. Everyone at the club is very excited for him and will be following his progress closely.”
Sean trains at Castle Douglas Judo Club three times a week, whilst also honing his skills at home. Judo is a big part of his family life with his brother and foster brother currently volunteering as coaches at the club, and his foster mother acting as the Welfare Officer.
As Sean’s coach, Luke has been running Castle Douglas Judo Club as a volunteer since 2001 with the club founded originally by his father Robert Davidson in 1981. He has been a qualified coach for 23 years and he works with 107 athletes at the Castle Douglas and Dumfries clubs.
Colin Dyer, Chief Executive of Special Olympics GB, said: “We’re delighted to confirm Judo as our 17th and final sport for Berlin 2023, and to give Sean the opportunity to be part of Team Special Olympics GB and compete against other athletes with intellectual disabilities from around the world.
“However, none of this would be possible without volunteer coaches like Luke, who are giving up their time to provide the necessary support that allows our athletes to enjoy what is potentially a transformational experience away from their families and home.
“Taking a team of more 80 athletes, with intellectual disabilities, to compete overseas does present many challenges and we are also incredibly grateful to Jingle Jam for raising money to sponsor and support our operational costs for the event.”
Special Olympics GB was last year announced as one of 12 charity partners of Jingle Jam, the world’s biggest charity gaming event. The 14-day-long gaming-fest in December raised more than £200,000 to help the Special Olympics GB send its team of athletes, volunteer coaches and volunteer support and medical staff to Berlin 2023.
Across the country, Special Olympics GB is the UK’s largest provider of year-round sports training and competition for children and adults of all abilities with intellectual disabilities. More than 6,500 athletes are currently registered and are participating at one of the 95 accredited programmes within Scotland, England and Wales, which are delivered by a devoted team of around 3,500 volunteers.
Obituary: David McSkimming
JudoScotland is saddened to learn of the passing of David McSkimming, 6th Dan of Milton Judo Club at the age of 58.
David was a very active member of the Judo community both with his club, as a JudoScotland Board member and as an IJF referee. As an International Judo referee David officiated many top judo events including European and World Cups.
Our thoughts go out to David's family and club at this time.
Commonwealth Judo Championships 2023
Judo South Africa is hosting the 2023 Commonwealth Judo Championships from 2nd to 6th August. The host town of Port Elizabeth is based on a long stretch of coastline and has an array of white beaches and game reserves including Seaview Lion Park, Settlers Park Nature Reserve and the Island Nature Reserve.
We’d like to share the opportunities available to our members and the process for approval of JudoScotland as the recognised National Federation.
Details of the Championship that will incorporate Veterans, Visual Impaired, Pre-Cadet, Cadet, Junior and Senior categories, can be found here. If you would like to represent Scotland within any of the categories, you must be able to evidence that you meet the required eligibility. It will also be the Judoka’s sole responsibility to cover entry fees and other costs associated with participating in the Commonwealth Judo Championship.
Within the Pre-Cadet, Cadet, Junior and Senior categories, JudoScotland will consider the approval of applications for judoka currently within a JudoScotland or Scottish institute of sport pathway / performance programme. Should there be more notes of interest submitted than places available, a panel consisting of JudoScotland’s CEO, National High Performance Coach and National Talent Development Manager will make a decision based on the suitability.
For Cadet and Junior entrants only, JudoScotland can arrange travel & accommodation (although costs will need to be covered by individuals) and will provide a staff member to accompany the judoka provided there are more than 6 entrants across these categories.
Within Pre-Cadet, Senior, Visual Impaired and Veteran categories, logistics will be the responsibility of the entrant or their parent / guardian. For Pre-Cadet entrants and any Visual Impaired youth judoka, accompanying adult support will be required.
If you are interested in applying, please check that you meet the Championship eligibility criteria and the approval guidance outlined by JudoScotland. Following the above, please submit a note of interest form to JudoScotland by 16th April 2023.
After this stage, those with approved places will be contacted to supply the relevant information and entry fee to enable JudoScotland to make applications.
Should you have any questions at all, please contact info@judoscotland.com or call 0131 333 2981 to speak to a member of our team.
Amartuvshin Dashdavaa Masterclasses
🥋 World Silver Medallist
🥋 3 x Masters Medallist
🥋 1 x Grand Slam Champion
🥋 7 x Grand Slam Medallist
🥋 6 x Grand Prix Champion
🥋 11 x Grand Prix Medallist
JudoScotland are delighted to welcome world-class Mongolian Judoka Amartuvshin Dashdavaa to run a set of masterclasses for Scottish Judoka! A highly decorated Judoka with World, Grand Slam, Masters and Grand Prix titles throughout his career, he will share his wealth of expertise through a set of masterclasses.
Masterclass East
Venue: JudoScotland NTC
Date: 2nd of April 2023
Time: 2.30 pm – 4 pm
Glasgow Masterclass
Venue: Pro Judo City Venue, 50 West Campbell Street, G2 6QQ
Date: 3rd of April 2023
Time:
Children u12’s: 6-7 pm
Youths & Seniors: 7:30-9 pm
Judo For All: JudoScotland Launches New Strategic Plan 2023 - 2027
It’s an exciting time for JudoScotland as we launch our new strategic plan for 2023 – 2027, Judo for All. Our plan reflects the ambitious direction of the organisation and has been developed following an in-depth consultation with our members and stakeholders to encapsulate our collective aims.
The new plan presents a range of fantastic opportunities for the future putting inclusivity at the core of the sport.
JudoScotland CEO Judith McCleary said “We are hugely grateful for all the input we have had and for the support and trust provided by sportscotland who have committed significant funding to help us deliver our Strategic Plan. Our JudoScotland staff team has been working behind the scenes to create Operational Plans that will bring our ‘Judo for All’ strategy to life.
We are committed to offering bespoke club support and you will find an increased number of direct club communications from our team as we offer help & guidance on a range of things including player, coach and volunteer recruitment & retention.
We recognise the need to modernise and as such, we will shortly begin the recruitment of a Digital Communications Officer as we progress our digitalisation services to be more efficient as an organisation and most importantly, to make things simple for our clubs and members.
Over this next period, we will be sharing guidance for clubs on how to implement technical & tactical, behavioural and physical development tools from the JudoScotland Player Development Framework. All of this is with one aim – to support everybody involved in a judoka’s development, whether that be recreational or competitive.
Within our Talent Development programme, you will start to see more physical and behavioural benchmarks being implemented as players are supported to prepare themselves for the Performance programme and as we strive for Scottish athlete success.
We are delighted to have received investment support from sportscotland for a part-time Disability post. We know there is great work already happening across many of our clubs and we want to expand on this and ensure we have appropriate pathway support in place to enable participants with a disability to maximise their potential and make judo their chosen sport for life.
We will also be reviewing our gradings and membership offerings, both of which are big projects but with the aim of ensuring high quality and valuable packages. We will be seeking your feedback so please do take the time to share your views when asked!
We will continue to offer a calendar of events that will include a range of competitions and up-skilling events for our workforce. We have working groups established for a number of our competitions, focussed on providing the best possible experiences for our members.
We couldn’t deliver or achieve our aims without our volunteers, and we will endeavour to provide training and guidance that will contribute to an even better and more diverse workforce to meet the needs of our membership. Within this next year, you will see us launch our Young Leaders programme with our long-term ambition to enable every club in Scotland to have a young leader. This is part of our work to ensure youth voices are heard and positively influencing our direction as a sport. We will be striving to increase our female representation within the sport too; an area where we know we have work to do, but where there are great opportunities.
By 2027, we aim to grow a more diverse membership comprising of over 10,000 individuals. Having an increased membership will enable greater opportunities in the development of the sport including but not limited to bigger pools of judoka to support competitions, national gradings and player development. There is huge potential for the sport and all our goals are aligned to JudoScotland’s vision to be a Scottish Governing Body renowned for excellence, enabling people of all ages and abilities to realise their potential.
Whilst I have only shared a few areas within our Operational Plans, I hope it gives you a flavour of what is ahead. We have a fantastic team of staff and volunteers who are ready and excited for the next chapter as we focus on Judo for All.”
Forbes Dunlop, CEO at sportscotland commented “Judo For All is a clear strategy that will enable people of all ages and abilities to realise their potential within judo. The values of Judo have the inherent ability to not only create better athletes but a better society. I look forward to seeing JudoScotland put this plan into action to deliver a truly inclusive sport.”
The success of the strategy will require collaboration, not only from our key partners sportscotland and British Judo, but the whole Scottish Judo community including the dedicated volunteers, coaches and clubs who make our sport happen.
MSP’s Visit Carnegie Judo Club As Part Of Their Inquiry Into Female Participation In Sport And Physical Activity
Last week the Cross-Party Health, Social Care and Sport Committee visited Fudog Martial Arts and Carnegie Judo Club with Fighting Chance Project (Scotland) in Dunfermline as part of the Inquiry into female participation in sport and physical activity.
The Committee’s inquiry into the health and wellbeing of children and young people highlighted a significant decline in participation of girls in sport and physical activity as they reach adolescence. This can have a significant negative impact on their physical health and mental wellbeing. Based on these findings, the Committee agreed to undertake an inquiry into sport, looking specifically at barriers to female participation, including the intersectionality of additional barriers to participation, such as ethnicity and disability.
The visit was made by members of the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee Gillian Martin MSP (Committee Convener), Evelyn Tweed MSP, Stephanie Callaghan MSP, Gillian MacKay MSP and Tess White MSP supported by Ewan Masson (Participation and Communities Team), Heather Galway (Assistant Clerk to the Committee) and Sarah Swift (Scottish Parliament Information Centre). They spent time hearing the opinions of females and young people from across the various classes taught in the dojo, including Team Scotland Birmingham 2022 athlete Kirsty Marsh as well as former performance judoka, Connie Ramsay and Kirstene Feenan.
Jim Feenan Director at The Fighting Chance Project (Scotland) and Head Coach at Carnegie Judo Club said “We were delighted to host Gillian Martin and her cross-party team to the dojo and the chance to speak to a representative group of women and girls from the local area. This was a fantastic opportunity for us to showcase the benefits of judo and other martial arts in helping improve participants overall physical and mental health. For sure, there was quite a buzz as our guests left.”
If you would like to find out more about the work of Fighting Chance Scotland click here.
Photo Credit: Ross Hart from Dunfermline Press and Dave Wardle
Obituary: Jimmy Mcquade
JudoScotland is saddened to learn of the passing of Jimmy Mcquade, 5th Dan, formerly of the Glasgow Sen-I judo club, on 17th March at the age of 79 years.
Jimmy was a physical and skilful judo player, winning medals at Scottish and area championships over many years. He was a Scottish International and competed at the Dutch open in the 1970s and was part of the first Scottish team, who competed against and trained with in the USA in 1976.
He was a strong supporter of Masters judo and competed at the World Masters Championships in Vienna in 2008, and in Japan at the Kodokan, in Tokyo in 2003.
Jimmy had an interest in Scottish local politics and was elected as a Councillor for Ward 11 (Erskine & Inchinnan) on Renfrewshire Council at the 2012 local government elections.
Jimmy Mcquade will be missed across Scottish judo circles and we send our best wishes to his wife Simone and all who knew him.
Jimmy Mcquade’s funeral will be held on Monday 3rd April at Dalnotter crematorium, Clydebank at 9.30am.
JudoScotland Appoints Two New Independent Directors
JudoScotland is pleased to announce the appointment of Lynne Glen and Sandy Hodge as Independent Directors to the JudoScotland Board. Together they bring a wealth of experience from the Scottish sport environment, which will significantly benefit the direction of the organisation and Judo in Scotland.
Lynne Glen
Lynne brings her expertise in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, with experience as a volunteer and professional in sports development. Inspired to join the Board through working with JudoScotland in a professional capacity in her role as Pathways Manager at Scottish Disability Sport, Lynne saw first-hand the positive change Judo can produce.
Lynne commented, “Physical activity and sport should be available, welcoming and inclusive for everyone, regardless of their age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex (gender), sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity and marriage and civil partnership.
I feel very strongly about that, and this is what drives me in both my professional and volunteering roles.
I am delighted to be appointed to the role as independent director and very excited to be part of a great, forward-thinking organisation. I have witnessed first-hand the difference judo makes to peoples’ lives.
I look forward to working with the CEO, Board and Staff (organisation) to achieve more diverse representation within the sport of judo with the end result being more people from more backgrounds participating, coaching and officiating in judo.”
Sandy Hodge
With over 25 years of experience in the Scottish sports landscape, Sandy brings a wealth of understanding at all levels. Until recently Sandy worked as our Partnership Manager with sportscotland before moving on to his new role as CEO at the Scottish Football Partnership. His decision to join the Board after being involved with the sport over the past several years is a testament to the direction of Judo in Scotland.
Sandy Commented “There were three broad reasons why I applied for the role;
1.The project excites me, I am enthused by the progress that has been made at JudoScotland over the last 18 months and I buy into the direction of travel. I also believe there is lots of headroom for the organisation to grow and develop and that is something I want to be a part of.
2. I feel I can make a positive contribution and play a part in the development of the sport and the organisation over the next few years. I have significant experience working with many SGB Boards and I feel I can use that to positively impact on JudoScotland.
3. I align very much with the values of the sport and the organisation, whilst not being a judoka myself I admire the moral code and all it stands for.
The role is hugely important to me for many reasons. It’s a great honour to accept the role of Independent Director at an organisation like JudoScotland, to be trusted to contribute to and shape the future of the sport is a privilege I will not take lightly and I look forward to playing my part in the future success. I believe we can use the power of Judo to positively impact on people’s lives at all levels of the sport and that we as a Board have a very important role to empower the team to maximise that impact.
I am an ambitious person and I see no reason why JudoScotland should not strive to be the best SGB at all levels. From positively impacting communities to supporting elite athletes to achieve on the world stage, Judo and JudoScotland are well placed to achieve great success over the coming years. I also believe that we can be sector-leading regarding corporate excellence. I personally want to see the people, sport and organisation flourish and grow whilst playing my part in that journey. I am motivated by empowering and supporting others to achieve their potential and look forward to seeing the great people at JudoScotland grow and develop.”
JudoScotland Chair, Marc Preston added, “Sandy and Lynne are fantastic additions to the JudoScotland Board with their knowledge, experiences and fresh independent viewpoints. The calibre and volume of applications for the Independent Director Vacancies was outstanding, making it an exceptionally difficult task for the Nominations Committee to choose just two new directors and we are delighted that Sandy and Lynne have accepted our offers to join us over the next 4 years. It is an exciting time for JudoScotland and I am looking forward to seeing the positive difference this Board can make.”