News

Clubs in our Scottish judo community have been invited to become affiliated with the BJA. The affiliation process for the 2024/25 season is now open, offering your club the opportunity to be officially recognised and endorsed by the British National Governing Body for judo.

Affiliated clubs will proudly display the British Judo Affiliated Club status, signifying a commitment to excellence, safety, and the values that make judo a remarkable sport.

National Recognition
Affiliating with British Judo opens doors to national recognition. Your club will be part of a network that spans across nations, allowing your members to connect with judo enthusiasts from diverse backgrounds.

Official Certificate:
Displaying the British Judo Affiliated Club certificate adds a prestigious touch to your club’s identity. It signifies that your club aligns with the highest standards set by the BJA in terms of coaching, safety, and sportsmanship.

Access to BJA Resources:
Affiliated clubs gain exclusive access to a wealth of resources provided by the BJA. This includes coaching materials, training programs, and educational resources that can enhance the skills and knowledge of both coaches and athletes.

Event Opportunities:
Affiliated clubs have the chance to participate in and host a variety of BJA-sanctioned events, tournaments, and championships. This not only provides valuable exposure for your club but also allows your members to experience the thrill of competitive judo at different levels.

Hi all

Just a short note to end the year, one which has been hugely successful for JudoScotland.

During that time, our Board has gone from strength to strength and, with the addition of new staff, we’ve never been in a stronger position.

A special mention must go to Judith McCleary and her team. Judith has been truly inspirational and we are absolutely seeing the fruits of her labours. Thank you also to all the volunteers and officials who tirelessly give up their time. Your efforts don’t go unnoticed.

Financially we’ve never been in a better position and as always we are looking for ways to maximise our potential. With this in mind, I’d like to thank the clubs, coaches, members and the wider judo community for their tremendous support during 2023. We absolutely need you all on board on this journey.

During 2023 our membership has steadily grown and we’ve now surpassed our target figure for the year, with membership currently sitting at around 8,500.

It excites me to think about what we can achieve in 2024 if we keep on this trajectory. I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. At JudoScotland, we can’t wait to get started! Let’s smash 2024!

As an organisation, we are committed to achieving corporate excellence and our Board and Staff are continually challenging what we can do better.

One of the things identified by the Board a number of months ago was the need to have clarity on the criteria, selection and approval process for JudoScotland Lifetime Membership and Hall of Fame Awards.

Following work undertaken recently, we are delighted to now share our new policies.

We encourage members to nominate individuals who meet the criteria and who they think are deserving of these prestigious awards.

The nomination forms for both the JudoScotland Hall of Fame and Lifetime Membership can be found below:

Our Chairman, Marc Preston, said: “JudoScotland Lifetime Membership recognises an individual’s exceptional contribution to judo in Scotland whilst our Hall of Fame awards recognise an individual’s exceptional achievements within judo. Both are awarded based on not only an individual’s contribution and / or achievement but based on the individual consistently demonstrating the values within judo’s moral code. We haven’t had a clear process in the past and I’m absolutely delighted to have these new policies in place that provide greater transparency to our members. As always, we may not have thought of everything so we welcome any feedback that can be taken into consideration when we review the policies.”

Guidance for the forms can be found below:

Following a thorough recruitment process, JudoScotland is thrilled to announce Laura Kirkhouse has joined us as a Club Support Officer. 

Laura, who comes from a sporting background, will work alongside Sam Ingram in supporting judo clubs across the country. As part of the business development team she will assist the organisation to achieve its mission to ‘maximise the contribution of judo to Scotland’s communities through the provision of safe, inclusive and inspiring clubs based on judo’s values.’ 

On her appointment, Laura said: “I’m excited to be part of an organisation that shares the values of what I am most passionate about – the power of sport to transform individual lives and shape communities. 

I’m delighted to join the team at JudoScotland. Judo is a sport that has the distinct ability to combine its high-performance pathways with an engaging development programme which grows participation and exposure to the sport.  

I’m looking forward to meeting, and building a relationship, with more of the clubs and individuals who are the heartbeat of the Judo community in Scotland. I’m excited to continue to find ways to grow Judo, provide bespoke support to clubs and fulfil the sport’s potential to positively impact local communities and the wider Scottish society.” 

Laura strongly believes in the positive impact clubs can have on individuals, saying: I believe clubs are such a positive way for anyone to get stuck in, grow in confidence, and build relationships. They are places that are safe, inclusive, and it’s about giving people the opportunity to try new things in a healthy way. I’ve got a good handle on club structures, I know that in the judo community, clubs are such a driving force for the growth of the sport across Scotland. They’re the touchpoints for kids getting involved in the sport and I can’t wait to get out to clubs and see how we can positively support them and find new ways for them to engage with their local communities.” 

Laura enthusiastically shares her commitment to promoting female involvement in judo, “I’m really passionate about female participation in both how we can create positive pathways for girls who are already in the sport and how we can attract more women into judo that maybe didn’t get the opportunity when they were younger. I can’t wait to help shape a positive female development program that is in line with the Judo For All strategy. I want to make the experience as positive as possible for young girls across the clubs, knowing that they are supported and represented within the wider judo community.” 

If you would like to discuss the landscape of your Judo club in Scotland further, you can contact Laura at laurakirkhouse@judoscotland.com. 

🥋 Keizoku 2023 🥋

What an event! Thanks to everyone who made this year’s Keizoku so special 🙌 This event is designed to give everyone as much time on the mat as possible with fun activities in between.

We hope we created a positive environment for all young judoka who took part and we can’t wait to see you all again next year!

We want to thank everyone that helped make this year’s Keizoku event so special. It served us as a great reminder of why we love the sport, seeing so many young judoka beginning their judo journey while having lots of fun along the way. Below we have uploaded all pool sheets from the event:

After over 50 years involved in the sport, James Thomson is stepping back from judo.

It was only after finishing his rugby career that James sought out a new sport. For 23 seasons his main priority had been scrums and flying into tackles, but upon hanging up his boots, he decided to venture into the dojo at Alloa Club: “Once I got onto the mat, you could not get me back off it. It was as simple as that, I was hooked.”

“I was very fortunate to train with the Bridge of Allan Club and also the Stirling University Club. I was welcomed by both, and it meant that every night of the week, I had some sort of judo to go to.”

“It wasn’t just the sport itself”, James says, “It was the whole attitude, I realised that judo was definitely for me and it was something I should’ve started 20 years earlier.”

He credits Andy and Margaret McKenna of the East Kilbride Judo Club for giving him several years of enjoyable judo.

He then moved to Lanarkshire, although his passion did not diminish. Training at the East Kilbride Club as well as attending sessions at Stonehouse to get as much judo as he possibly could.

Not satisfied with just the three clubs, he joined John and Eric Kane. James admits that even before stepping on the mat with either of the brothers, he knew he would be in for a rough time due to them having some of the best judoka in the country on their team.

“It was the love of the sport that kept me going. It was the friendship that came with it that made me determined to keep going”

Although his enthusiasm never dwindled, James decided to replace his gi for a referee’s uniform. “Twelve years ago I decided I wanted to train as a referee and I was made very welcome straight away by Neil Malone and the rest of the referees and I’ve never looked back thanks to their help.”

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all my time refereeing but unfortunately health factors have prevented me from carrying on. I am disappointed in having to stop nevertheless I can’t complain because I’ve got an awful lot out of judo in my time and I certainly have a lot to look back on.”

When asked to pick out some highlights during his 50 years, one stands out: “I think like everyone else, the idea of a black belt was away in the distance but when I did eventually get it in 1977, I think I didn’t take it off for three days!”

What motivated James to keep going was also his grandson, Scott Thomson, following suit and making the British squad: “I keep telling him he is still not as good as I used to but I suppose it’s difficult to tell now!”

His message to anyone thinking of taking up refereeing in judo is simple: “Absolutely 100% do it. I’ve been involved in other sports and I have enjoyed them but there is nothing like the camaraderie you get with judo and I would recommend it to everyone”.

We are excited to announce our fantastic outline for the forthcoming weekend’s JudoScotland Talent Development Squad.

With Georgian, Polish and Irish judoka joining our Scottish Pathway Squad, there will be over 80 judoka on the mat, providing these young players with increased exposure to international training and development together.

Our Talent Development Programme focuses on supporting individuals with their technical, physical and behavioural development as they aim to fulfil their performance aspirations. We have a group of highly experienced and inspirational Talent Development Support Coaches working with individuals at weekly sessions and in wider squad training environments.

On Friday night, Assistant High Performance Coach Taka Kitahara, having just returned from a three week training camp in Japan, will be sharing some of his expert technical guidance. All players are encouraged to be self-aware and to use self-reflection to consider how any information and guidance could benefit their style and performance.

Saturday will revolve around valuable mat time at Tulliallan, offering crucial opportunities to apply and integrate our learnings. Additionally, the group will have some off-mat moments dedicated to social media training, aimed at guiding individuals in thoughtful content creation, sharing, and optimal use of social media platforms.

On Sunday morning, we’re thrilled to announce that double Olympic Champion Shohei Ono will be present to enhance our randori session, engage in conversations with players, and provide personalised advice when needed. What an incredible opportunity for our Talent Development Squad!

Our National Talent Development Coach Gary Edwards said: ‘It’s brilliant to be getting repeat international judoka coming to train with us here in Scotland. They always love the atmosphere created by our group and it gives us strong training partners to challenge ourselves. It will be fantastic to have Shohei join us on Sunday with many in attendance determined to get to the Olympic Games.’

A Brief update from the Chair of some key events and recent news from October.

Hi all

As I mentioned in the last report, The Gathering took place over the last weekend in September/first in October. I’d just like to reiterate what a magnificent event it was, featuring a world-class line-up. A big thank you goes to Shohei Ono, Masashi Ebinuma, and Kana Ebinuma as well as to Mike Callan and all the staff involved in organising it. This is a particularly busy period for JudoScotland and I was delighted at how well this sell-out event was delivered.  

October was a busy time for JudoScotland and for our sport in general. Amongst other things, the final Grand Prix event was hosted by Highland Budokan in Inverness. The feedback I’ve heard was very good and again, congratulations to all those involved in the organisation and to those who entered – you are what the sport is all about.   

We announced our Coaching, Officiating and Volunteering Award winners, had the Scottish Masters sessions at Ratho, The East of Scotland Adaptive Judo Session, NTC Open mat sessions, and much more ……. well done to everyone involved in helping to grow judo in Scotland.

From a performance aspect, I was delighted to see 3 Scots selected for the GB team at the European Championships in the Senior and U23 categories – congratulations to Stuart McWatt, Ollie Short and Finlay Allan who are all great ambassadors as well as athletes.

In October I joined a session in the Scottish Governing Bodies Chair Network, chaired by Ewen Cameron of sportscotland. The idea of the forum is that Chairs of Scottish sports have the chance to get together to discuss topics of common interest, gleaning ideas and experience from other sports and people in similar roles. This time we discussed board diversity, succession planning and how our various sports can best work together. I have to say it was a very positive and collaborative session – very interesting to hear where other sports are on their journeys and to benefit from their experience.  

In terms of succession planning, we are seeking feedback from our young members and club leaders to help shape our Young Leaders Programme. If you haven’t already, please provide your input – it does make a difference.

Looking ahead to November, I will be representing JudoScotland at the upcoming British Judo AGM at which Ronnie Saez will be stepping down as British Judo Chair after 12 years in post. We at JudoScotland wish Ronnie all the very best with whatever he decides to do in the future.  

Marc Preston

6^th Dan