It’s been nearly two months since Team Scotland Judoka took to the Tatami at Coventry Arena for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, however, it wasn’t just these 11 Judoka representing Scottish Judo at the Games. Along with volunteers and games officials, three young Scottish Judoka, Sunny Doig, Gregor Miller and David Scobbie, headed to Birmingham to take part in Team Scotland’s Achieve Programme.
The Programme is designed to give up-and-coming athletes and coaches a multi-games experience. First run in 2010, when 45 young athletes and coaches travelled to the Delhi Commonwealth Games, this year’s programme saw 66 athletes and coaches take part. The programme split into smaller groups where they got to watch a selection of sports as well as take part in workshops and talks at Scotland House to inspire and help them to progress.
David Scobbie, Coach at Tayside Judo Club, reflecting on the experience said, “The whole time we were there we were drowning in information, but it was fantastic! It didn’t all soak in at the time, but I can look back now on what I learnt while I was there. There were also lots of little lessons you picked up from osmosis from being in great company.”
“I got the opportunity to network with other coaches at the same level but in other sports and hear their fresh takes on ideas and compare where judo is, in relation to other sports.”
Sunny Doig, from Just Judo, added, “I really enjoyed talking to people from other high-performing sports and learning about how to deal with pressure. There was lots of advice given from both mentors and other athletes and coaches on the programme. Moving forward I am going to use what I have learnt about handling stress on competition day to improve my performance and make the experience more enjoyable. I will also try and share my experience on the achieve programme with younger athletes in the sport.”
“The achieve programme would not have been possible without the help from the mentors. They are a very valuable part of the experience and I really enjoyed working with them.”
If you would like to find out more about the Team Scotland Achieve Programme click here.