October was packed full of action, with the month beginning on Scottish Women and Girls in Sport week. We celebrated this by putting the spotlight on the women and girls within the club across the week on our social media; our members, our team of female coaches, our young volunteers and the successful athletes that we're lucky to have part of EdinburghJudo who continue to inspire the next generation of girls!
We're continuing to push for the inclusivity of women and girls within judo and we're very happy to announce that our Women & Girls Judo and Fitness sessions will continue to run every Thursday evening at the club. Following the positive feedback the sessions received after a pilot 6 week block, the classes are now open to beginners and experienced non-members aged 12+ - so if you'd like to get involved get in touch!
It was great to have Maurice Allan MBE visit the club from the States and to spend time with him at the JudoScotland 2023 Gathering in Largs. This year's Gathering hosted Masashi Ebinuma (3x World Champion, 2x Olympic Bronze), Kana Ebinuma (World Teams Champion, Asian Games Champion) and Shohei Ono (3x World Champion, 2x Olympic Champion). Those who attended were lucky enough to gain new technical knowledge from some incredible judo practitioners and will take what they learned over the weekend back to the club and into their own judo.
We are aways learning, developing and growing as judo coaches, mentors and role models - and we look forward to seeing you again soon Maurice in the USA!
As part of JudoScotland's 2023 Coaching, Officiating and Volunteering Awards, we are very proud of club member Kirsty Wilson who received the Young Referee/Official of the Year award!
Kirsty has been involved in judo since she was three years old. The support that Kirsty’s mum and dad have provided, along with her own desire to learn and develop in all areas of her judo has allowed her to grow into the strong person she is today.
She has worked extremely hard to become a British Judo Association Area Referee over the last year and has been guided by some great people at JudoScotland, giving up their time to support and encourage her.
Volunteering as a referee takes a lot of courage and resilience, often performing in challenging environments and we are all in awe of your achievement Kirsty. We know you’ve made many people very proud, congratulations!
On October 7th, a team travelled up to Inverness for the last Grand Prix of the year - the Highland Budokan Grand Prix. Shoutout to Craig for coaching the team, Connie coming to support and Kirsty for refereeing on top of competing on the day! A lot of experience added to the bag for all who fought - congratulations to:
Seniors: Murray P - GOLD Jin C - SILVER Koko D - SILVER
C Band: Evan L - BRONZE Liam T - BRONZE Ethan W - BRONZE
Good job everyone!
Three representatives from EdinburghJudo competed at the European Cup in Malaga over the weekend of 14 - 15 October as part of the Scottish team with Billy in the coaching chair.
Ollie had a successful event competing in the under 73kg category, winning six out of his seven contests to take a well deserved bronze medal. A strong performance throughout the day - congratulations Ollie!
Congratulations to Bruce who successfully passed his 1st Dan technical grading at an intense two-day course in Norwich.
Bruce is the first member from EdinburghJudo to achieve his black belt via the technical route, and we are extremely proud of the hard work and dedication that went into his study for the exam. A big thanks to his ukes and club mates who supported him throughout.
We are looking forward to more members following in Bruce's footsteps, honing their skills and growing their judo knowledge and understanding.
Congratulations to the team of Training Squad players who competed in the Cherry Blossom in Livingston, this event was perfectly suited to those beginning their competition journey and we are extremely proud of everyone who participated!
A big thank you to our Head Development and Training Squad coach Scott for coaching the players on the day and to Jidel93 for organising a great event.
The month rounded off with our senior kyu grading, where our members demonstrated their skills while testing their knowledge to advance to the next grade.
We take great pride in the techniques displayed and the level of attention to detail shown by participants, ranging from beginners (white belt) to those gaining 1st kyu (brown belt).
Huge congratulations to everyone that took part! We are proud to coach you and be involved in your judo journey.
The temperature may be dropping outside but things are continuing to heat up in the cub as we head into November. Our junior gradings kick off the month with a bang and our squad players are putting in the last bit of preparation for the Scottish National Championships on the 11th of November.
All of that (and more) will be covered in next month's round up. See you then!