A brief update from the JudoScotland Chair Marc Preston on activity in April.
Dear Members,
I hope you all had a Happy Easter. Due to April being a holiday period, and I personally, being out of commission for a couple of weeks, this month’s report is a short one!
For me things started on 4th April when I had eye surgery, meaning that I was restricted to what I could do for the next couple of weeks.
Later in the month, on 22nd April, we had the British Judo Board Meeting. This is normally held in Walsall, but this session took place in London at the British Olympic Association offices. I flew down for the day to catch up with the latest news and to contribute from a JudoScotland perspective. As many of you are probably aware, British Judo are going through a restructure of their performance programme, and I’m keen to ensure that JudoScotland has input and a say in the direction of flow.
Our latest cohort of Senpai participants kicked off their journey with a residential weekend over Easter, as they begin working on projects within their clubs. I look forward to seeing what these young leaders will achieve.
It was also great to see a group of pre-cadet judoka from Pro-Judo club attend the European Judo Championships as guests of the EJU with their coach David Ferguson. They were selected by British Judo as a reward for their performance at the British Championship and had the opportunity to not only watch but train with some of the best Judoka in the world, a fantastic opportunity.
On 27th April we had the Clyde Grand Prix. I went along to the event, held in Paisley, which was excellently attended and, as always, very well run.
And, finally, the month finished up on 29th April with an online meeting of the JudoScotland Board. This was to discuss Director Portfolios, whereby each Director takes responsibility for a specific area/topic. I truly believe it will make us stronger/more efficient as a Board and would like to thank our Director, Sandy Hodge, for the excellent work he has put in to this project.
Marc Preston, 7th Dan