A Brief update from the Chair of some key events and recent news from September
Hi Judo Community,
It would be remiss of me to reflect on September without acknowledging the significant loss of Her Majesty the Queen. A true ambassador for sport as the Royal Patron of the Commonwealth Games Federation, her loss will be felt across the sporting world.
JudoScotland Update September 2022
In September we were focused on preparations for JudoScotland’s strategy for the next 4 years, whilst simultaneously updating and refining our Articles of Association to make sure they’re fit for purpose. A special thank you goes to Jodie Cox, our Independent Director for all her value-added, legal input around the Articles.
There were also a few notable events during the month.
On 4th September, Judith and I spent the day at the ‘Scottish All Stars’ competition – a new format event designed to provide a fun experience that appropriately challenges our young judoka. As with any new venture we had successes and highlights on the day, as well as a few challenges and learnings to take away for next time. The important thing to note is that the Team are innovating and developing new concepts in our sport.
Later that week we were pleased to launch the JudoScotland Player Development Framework. As the first part of the exciting and ever-developing Blueprint for Judo in Scotland, the framework is designed to turn fun physical activity into sport for life.
And, in the spirit of continuous development, in September our professional staff at Ratho attended a Strategy & Planning Day and Team Development day looking at their individual and group profiles. The feedback I’ve heard was that it was an excellent and motivational day.
On 17th September there was the club-run Hibari Kan Tournament. As always, the event was well-managed and well-attended – a great day for our young judoka.
A quick update on the new JudoScotland CARE system, this will be coming soon. Good news for upcoming competitions.
Congratulations to Edinburgh Judo on their celebration event for Sarah Adlington’s double Commonwealth Gold Medal. By the looks of it, a fun day, with a great turnout including our President George Kerr 10th Dan. I’m only sorry I couldn’t make it along as I had a previous commitment.
On a more personal note, congratulations are due this month to Regional Development Officer Sam Ingram and his wife Jodie on the birth of their third child – a little girl called Meadow. The Gi is ready Sam – another potential champion in the making!
One last thing I wanted to mention here is the International Judo Federation’s Climate Challenge – which encourages judoka worldwide to come together to do what WE can to protect our environment – for example recycling belts, sponsored throws to raise money for environmental charities, cutting back on hard copy handouts and polybags, litter picks around clubs etc. For more info on what YOUR club can do visit the IJF website.
And finally, I’m looking forward to catching up with everyone at the Gathering at the end of October. The line-up is phenomenal. See you there!