Hi all,
It was fantastic to have 4 Scots announced in the GB Team for the forthcoming European Cadet Championships; our congratulations to Eva Ewing (Whitburn), Coen Gilbert (Sportif), Jack Macleod (Gairoch) and Kevin Gordon (Hibari-kan) who are busy with their preparations ahead of travelling to Bulgaria later in June.
Our Senpai Programme (Young Leaders) had a residential at sportscotland Inverclyde over the weekend of 12-13 May with several workshops delivered by Scottish Sports Futures and coordinated by our Club Support Officer Sam. We are excited to see this programme evolve as we strive to be more youth-shaped and see young people taking more of a lead within clubs.
On 19th May Ultimate Judo hosted a masterclass by Michihiro Omigawa, a distinguished former member of the Japanese National Judo team and former UFC star. It made me reflect that it’s incredible for a small country like ours to be able to attract such international talent – think Shohei Ono and Yoshihiko Iura!
On 25th May the Granite City Grand Prix was hosted by Aboyne in Aberdeen with the support of JudoScotland. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who competed in the event and subsequently provided us with constructive feedback which will be reviewed within event briefings.
On the 29th I had a meeting with British Judo to discuss their forthcoming Board meeting up in Scotland. They intend to coincide with The Gathering so they can celebrate the vibe here in Scottish judo. It’ll also be Graham Campbell’s final session before he steps down from his role on the JudoScotland Board.
Also on the 29th, I went along to the Talent Development session to see all the new, rising stars on the mat. The training was hard and upbeat and I observed quite a few highly talented young judoka. My thanks go to Gary Edwards for his hospitality. The next day I went to the High Performance programme where Euan Burton was putting the squad through their paces. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the video analysis session and was impressed at their hard work and commitment.
Marc Preston
6th Dan