A brief update from the JudoScotland Chair Marc Preston on activity in January.
And so, we’re into another year.
It started off on 9th January with a meeting involving Judith and myself plus our cohorts from the Judo Home Nations (Wales and Northern Ireland). We discussed how we can work more collaboratively going forward, with a view to becoming stronger as a collective. Personally, I think it’s very important that the Home Nations work together and that we build a strong relationship as we share many similar experiences and challenges.
On 14th January, Judith, Sandy and I visited the University of Stirling to meet with their Director of Sport, Cathy Gallagher. Having brought the Performance Programme in-house to JudoScotland, we have restarted work on a feasibility study for a national facility and will be looking at a number of options. I thoroughly enjoyed our meeting with Cathy who, as always, was super enthusiastic and positive.
Moving on we had another magnificent Scottish Open tournament on 17th and 18th January at Inverclyde – with over 485 competitors from 143 clubs across 14 countries. I’m always delighted to attend this event, and it was fantastic to catch up with so many players from the present and the past, including 19 Commonwealth Games medallists from 1990 to 2022!
Following the tournament, it was wonderful to see Alberto and the team host an international training camp. It’s always a good way to attract foreign interest where they can get a tournament and a top-class training session afterwards.
On 20th January I and Judith met up for lunch with Doc McKelvey, CEO of Scottish Gymnastics and Brian Ewing, their Chair. I imagine that this will become a more regular occurrence as both of our organisations experience very similar issues. We spent time swapping ideas/suggestions on how best to tackle them and not only was it a very productive couple of hours, it was exceptionally good fun with many funny stories!
On 27th January we had an online team meeting with British Judo and BJC. We were jointly looking at ways to work together for the benefit of judo. I came away from the meeting thinking that we’re actually very much aligned and I’m looking forward to the next opportunity to meet up.
In the evening, we had a JudoScotland Board meeting. It is vitally important that JS as an organisation doesn’t rely on any one individual and is able to operate if someone drops out and so, I had previously decided that it would be a good idea that our Vice Chair, Sandy Hodge lead the session. Sandy did an excellent job in chairing and facilitating the meeting.
And finally, for this month, it would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention that 3 Trainee Senior Examiners have now all been ratified as full BJA Senior Examiners. They have been working extremely hard over the last few years to get to this standard, and they are:-
- Colin Dunlop: 4th Dan, Carnegie Judo Club
- Gavin McNeill, 5th Dan, Edinburgh Judo
- Mark McCraw, 5th Dan, Edinburgh Judo
On a personal level, I have known Mark for many years and used to compete with him when we were junior. He was always a very strong competitor and tough to fight!
As 2026 takes shape, we’ve got the Commonwealth Games to look forward to in Glasgow. Let’s make 2026 even better than 2025!
Marc Preston, 7th Dan