A brief update from the JudoScotland Chair Marc Preston on activity in November.
The month started off attending the British Judo AGM in Walsall. I had to get up at the crack of dawn as I travelled down by train! The session, as always, went well, with a very informative presentation to the membership. Congratulations to CEO Andrew Scoular, Chair Gerry Gualtieri and their team.
The Scottish National Closed Championships on 8th & 9th November at Ravenscraig showcased some incredible contests and I’d like to congratulate everyone on their results. Thank you to our clubs across the country who continue to encourage and support players on their competitive journey.
On 15th November I was invited to attend an event in the Whitburn Community Centre to celebrate Ramsay Thomson’s 50 years in judo. It was quite an emotional night with speeches from Ramsay himself and Gary Edwards from JudoScotland. I’ve known Ramsay personally for this entire time! He has been a stalwart on the Scottish judo scene, and I would like to congratulate him on this recognition. During the evening event we bumped into quite a few judoka I hadn’t seen for a long time – too many to mention but amongst them had a great catch up with Steven & Michelle Vidler and Winston Gordon from British Judo.
On 17th November I had the pleasure of spending the day with Andrew Scoular. He had a meeting with Judith and, later in the evening, Andrew, Graham Campbell, our President Colin McIver and I went for a very pleasant catch-up meal to end the day.
Players from eight different clubs travelled to Montreal for the Montreal Pan-American Open and training camp and what a success that was – medals galore for our Scottish contingent and 4 more athletes meeting a Commonwealth Games minimum nomination standard in Canada.
On 22nd, JudoScotland hosted Keizoku in the morning and our new Adapted & VI Festival in the afternoon. I am informed that it was an exceptional day, providing a supportive environment for new players stepping out of their club, getting a flavour of what is on offer. Thank you to Jidel Judo and Tayside Judo who supplied fruit and medals for competitors and well done to the organising team for making it a truly memorable occasion.
On a personal note, my wife and I travelled down to Wolverhampton on 28th November to pay our respects at the funeral of Christine Bent Brown – wife of Kerrith Brown, Olympic Medalist. For those younger members of our judo family, Kerrith was one of the best players that our country has ever produced. I have known them both for many years and would like to send my love and condolences to a very special person.
Marc Preston, 7th Dan