ni judo federation annual report · 2018. 10. 12. · northern ireland judo federation mission...

NI Judo Federation Annual Report

Growing our Sport, Developing our Members, Investing in Excellence


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s Chairman's Report Page 1 Executive Committee Participation Page 3-4 Progression Page 5-10

Performance Page 11-20

Treasurer’s Report Page 21

Financial Statement Page 22

Northern Ireland Judo Federation Vision

‘N I Judo: an inclusive organisation where everyone is given the

opportunity to participate, progress and perform.’

Northern Ireland Judo Federation Mission

Drive, deliver and develop the sport of Judo in Northern Ireland’


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This Annual Report covers the period 1st January to 31st December 2017. April 2017 saw the start of a new funding cycle for Northern Ireland Judo Federation and we would like to thank Sport NI for showing their commitment and support to Judo in Northern Ireland. The Annual Report gives us the chance to reflect on the past year and look forward to what we can all achieve in the coming year, building on our previous successes and learning from areas where the outcome was not what we had expected. Developing our sport can sometimes be challenging, we strive to attract new members and retention can be difficult when young people are faced with so many different opportunities. This is borne out in our membership numbers for the year, our new members for 2017 are 890 but the overall membership figure is only up on last year by 122, this is an area that we must try to address in the coming year. The funding we have received from Sport NI for the post of Club and Workforce Officer and Sporting Clubs Program will enable us to assist our clubs and coaches with the support necessary to build and maintain their member numbers and to structure their club development models. Vicki Kennedy started in the post in December and as you can see from her report she has been busy meeting with clubs and getting to know everyone. We look forward to a varied program from Vicki over the coming year and I would urge our clubs and coaches to get involved and support the program offered. The funding for the Sporting Winners Program was necessary for us to build on the success from the previous year. We were delighted to be able to retain the full-time post of Performance Lead with Ciaran Ward and two part-time Performance Coach posts with Paul Green and Chloe Cowen Vickers, who started in post in September. You can see from Ciaran’s report that the program has been varied and very successful. Finally I would like to thank, the Executive Committee for their support and commitment, our coaches for their commitment to Judo and their clubs, our Referees, Technical Officials and Examiners for continually volunteering your time at events, without you they wouldn’t take place and finally to all our members for attending your club week by week and continuing to put your trust in all of us to enhance your Judo journey.

Bill Taggart Chairman


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President Dr Richard Briggs 6th Dan Director of Examiners Level 3 Coach Chair—Coaching and Technical Commission

Chairperson Bill Taggart 4th Dan BJA Board of Directors Chair of BJA National Refereeing Commission Senior Examiner Level 2 Coach Honorary IJF B Referee

Vice Chairperson Gavin Abel 5th Dan National A Referee

Chair—Conduct and Complaints Commission Peter Cuckoo

Secretary Averil Taggart Chair—Competitions Commission Office Administrator Senior Recorder

Chair—Membership and Inclusion Commission Tom Pearson 3rd Dan Senior Examiner Level 2 Coach National C Referee

Treasurer Robin Newett

Lead Designated Liaison Person (Safeguarding) Russell Brown 3rd Dan National C Referee BJA Level 3 Coach EJU Level 4 Coach

https://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fnijudo.com%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2FBill%2520Taggart.jpg&imgrefurl=http%3A%2F%2Fnijudo.com%2Fcontent%2Fnijf-executive-committee&docid=0n8i11ph2bByeM&tbnid=1t5ZPIzGpAymKM%3A&vet=1&w=150&h=150&bih=1069


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Table 2

Table 1


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Table 3

Table 4

Table 5


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Clubmark NI

2017 saw the introduction of a new online Clubmark initiative by Sport NI with new criteria set by Governing Bodies.

Northern Ireland Judo Federation has streamlined how clubs are counted on this new system. ‘A’ clubs who achieve Clubmark will be given the accreditation with any ‘B’ or satellite clubs linked to them also receiving a certificate of accreditation, providing they complete a Risk Assessment for each venue, although they will only be counted as one club on the system.

Following this streamlining NIJF now have 5 clubs accredited with Clubmark.

Officials and Referees We cannot hold any events without the dedication and commitment shown by our officials and referees and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for giving their time freely at each event. Also, thank you to our more experienced officials and referees who consistently mentor and encourage our new officials. We would like to congratulate the following who achieved new qualifications this year; Andrew Taggart – National B Referee Bill Taggart – Honorary IJF B Referee Kevin Bond - Contest Recorder

Coaching A BJA Level 1 Coaching Course was held in July 2017 with potentially 12 new coaches to add to our numbers. Over two weekends in May and June eleven of our coaches participated in the Neil Adams

Effective Fighting Coaching Course. This was a fantastic technical course and the

investment made by Northern Ireland Judo Federation will benefit all our coaches as

those who attended the Neil Adams course will be holding courses themselves,

throughout the coming year that all our coaches can attend, to disseminate the technical

knowledge gained.


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Director of Examiner’s Report Mon and Kyu gradings continued to take place at club level during 2017 and there continues

to be an improvement in the completion of the necessary paperwork promptly after

examinations, though some clubs are still a little slow

with their submissions. The increased number of

FUNdamental events and the inclusion of Kyu grade

categories at some competitions has increased the

opportunity for players to acquire competition

experience which is a recommended component of the

grading regulations.

Although the competitive Dan grade system has remained unchanged the time in grade for

judoka following the technical pathway was changed in 2016. The first technical promotion

will now follow the Competitive time in grade rule with a 5 year in grade rule for subsequent

technical promotions as detailed below:

A competitive 1st Dan will be eligible for Technical 2nd Dan after 1 year in grade. All subsequent Technical promotions will be 5 years in each grade.

A competitive 2nd Dan will be eligible for Technical 3rd Dan after 2 years in grade. All subsequent Technical promotions will be 5 years in each grade.

A competitive 3rd Dan will be eligible for Technical 4th Dan after 3 years in grade. All subsequent Technical promotions will be 5 years in each grade.

A competitive 4th Dan will be eligible for Technical 5th Dan after 4 years in grade

Promotion Examinations were held in March and September as shown in Table 1. The

absence of female players attending Dan Gradings is still of concern with promotions

occurring by competition points or the Technical pathway rather than through grading

examinations. Dan grades ratified during 2016 are shown in Table 2 and Figure 1 shows the

breakdown of the pathway taken.

Table 1


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ion Table 2: Promotions ratified by the Dan Grade Registrar in 2017


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Club and Workforce Officer Report Introduction I was pleased to commence work for the Northern Ireland Judo Federation in December 2017 as the Club Workforce Officer. I have had the pleasure of meeting lovely enthusiastic people and already feel part of the NI Judo family. I look forward to meeting with more coaches, clubs, judoka’s, officials and volunteers over the next few months. Below are a few areas of work which I have been focusing on and other work which will be developed moving forwards. Communication I have been liaising with the clubs and sending information of relevance to the clubs along with posting some development updates on the Facebook and Twitter accounts. Thanks to Sarah Beattie for monitoring the Facebook group pages and ensuring all content is safe and appropriate. Survey A survey was sent around all the Northern Ireland Judo clubs in December to ascertain their requirements for various workshops. Twenty-three clubs responded with their details. The results can be found at the following link; https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-C9MV7QLN8/ This survey will help shape some of the delivery of workshops and develop-ments which I will focus on along with information and ideas which I have obtained directly from coaches and clubs whilst on club visits. Club Support Model The Club Support Model below illustrates the support that can be offered via the Club Workforce Officer. Volunteering A new volunteer handbook for clubs has been devised and will be available for all clubs as a resource. This includes a volunteering policy which covers casual and regular volunteers. In-formation on how to recruit, retain and reward volunteers is also included. To support clubs a Volunteering Workshop will be delivered in April to discuss the information within this booklet along with providing information on how to keep volunteers and your club safe. One workshop will be held in Belfast and one in L’Derry. Anti-Doping An updated anti-doping strategy has been developed and has been approved by Sport NI.

Mark Montgomery will continue to be Lead Educator and I will also support this role as an

Educator. There will be presence of an outreach table at the Northern Ireland Open Cham-

pionships in April. Your clubs can keep updated with information via Social Media and the

website when the new version is in place.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-C9MV7QLN8/

https://www.surveymonkey.com/results/SM-C9MV7QLN8/


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Northern Ireland Judo Federation Club Support Model

Workshops

Two Sport NI ‘Effective Organisation’ workshops were held to provide information to clubs on the CASC/Charitable status. These were attended by eight judo clubs. Various other workshops will be delivered over the course of the year and will be advertised to clubs once final details are arranged. Some of these workshops include a ‘Get to Grips’ female workshop for girls and female coaches to encourage new and existing females to take part in Judo. An Inclusive Coach-ing course to provide information to judo clubs on how to be inclusive for all people with a disability. A club development workshop to provide development support to clubs. Other workshops and information will be provided to clubs on a needs analysis basis. I look forward to working with you all this year. Vicki Kennedy Club and Workforce Officer


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Events

The first event of the year was the Northern Ireland Championships (Closed), February 2017, held in the Foyle Arena. Having had to cancel the event in 2016 it was a great surprise to find that the entries reached capacity and the support shown from members and clubs who entered is greatly appreciated. The Northern Ireland Open was held in the Foyle Arena in April 2017. The venue again proved very successful for the event giving plenty of space and facilities for competitors and spectators alike. The entry numbers thankfully increased from the previous year. This is NIJF’s premier event of the year attracting many top GB athletes and we would encourage NIJF members to compete or even spectate to show your support at this event. The Northern Ireland Schools Championships were held in the Foyle Arena in June 2017. Although this event was not supported by some clubs as well as it had been in previous years, those who did support the event had a great day representing their Primary or Secondary school. Well done to the following clubs who all held events, either in-club or open, throughout the

year; Co Antrim Judo Club, Simply Judo, Shori Judo Club, The Judo Academy and St

Columb’s Park Judo Club.


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Performance Lead, Annual Report.

Introduction The NI Performance Lead role started on June 1st 2016. As Performance Lead for Northern Ireland Judo I am charged with leading the development and connecting of Performance Pathways within Northern Ireland, Ireland and Great Britain. This involves the refinement and delivery of the performance pathway, milestone targets for each stage of the process and coaching delivery to talented athletes within the pathway. I also have the responsibility to manage the delivery of a systematic and highly effective Performance Pathway programme within the context of British, Irish and Northern Ireland Judo, which ultimately results in talent flow of judo athletes meeting the required benchmarks at Performance Foundation and Podium Potential levels. The new role also encompasses the duties of NI National Head Coach and as such I had to develop a Tokyo 2020 and Birmingham 2022 Performance Plan. Associated duties also include: • Ensure identified athletes on the NI Talent Development Programmes and above achieve their annual performance, development and behavioural goals. • Manage the transition of athletes to BJA Academy Level Transition programme or higher • Manage transition of athletes to IJA High Performance programme • Undertake quarterly performance reviews with direct reports; agree & monitor action plans for improvement.

Initial Priorities The initial priorities for the Performance Lead, was to help recruit NI Performance Coaching Staff and to submit the Tokyo 2020 and Birmingham 2022 Performance Plans to SportNI under the ‘Sporting Winners’ submission. Ongoing commitments to the BJA Performance Pathway Commission, UK Sport /BJA Curriculum Development Programme & Neil Adams Technical Specific Coaching Programme were maintained throughout this period.

Sport NI “Sporting Winners” Submission – Tokyo 2020 & Birmingham 2022 The Sporting Winners submission was a demanding strategic, performance-planning project that consumed most of mid-late 2016 but culminated in a very strong submission. The application process included intense scrutiny and assessment lasting over a year, but ultimately concluded in an investment offer of £445,859 over 4 years. The SNI Letter of Offer was announced in July 2017.

NI Judo Performance Coaching Staff The recruitment process for a part-time Performance Coach began in July with a target of delivery from 1st of September 2017. We were delighted with the quality of applicants and after presentations, interviews and practical, Chloe Cowen Vickers emerged as the strongest candidate. Chloe Cowen Vickers, NI Performance Coach


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The former GB Olympian & 5-time Senior European Medallist has added a wealth of expertise and experience to our developing Performance Programmes. Chloé, a Chartered Physiotherapist, is a widely respected figure throughout the European Judo community and is well known for her contributions to the EJU Media coverage of major championships. As a GB Coach she returned from the EYOF where the team won Gold & Bronze medals to immediately start her role within the NI Performance Programme. Paul Green, NI Performance Coach Paul Green officially commenced his role as NI Performance Coach on September 1st 2016. Paul, one of Ireland’s most successful Club Coaches, has plenty of current coaching experience at international Cadet & Junior level. He is a current beneficiary of the SportNI Performance Coach Development Programme, a member of the SportNI Talent Development Network and a Performance Coach who is highly valued by the athletes, their parents, Personal Coaches, and NI, GB & IRL Performance staff.

Performance Programme Delivery NI Performance Programme Athletes NI Judo Performance Programmes serviced fourteen Judoka across three levels of programme within the NI Performance Pathway. The Judoka are: Lisa Kearney (Olympic Programme – Retired December 2017) Rachael Hawkes (Commonwealth Programme) Sarah Hawkes (Commonwealth Programme) Neil Simpson (Commonwealth Programme) Eoin Fleming (Commonwealth Programme) James Reid (NITDP) Joshua Green (NITDP) Callum Nash (NITDP) Matthew Elliott (NITDP) Kirstie Strouts McCallion (NITDP) Jamie McFadden (NITDP) Peter Cassidy (NITDP) Caolan McKee (NITDP) Darren Quail (NITDP Applicant)

NI Performance Programme Delivery Activities Domestic Training Morning Technical Sessions Early morning Technical sessions have been the mainstay of NITDP delivery since September 2016. Having encouraged the young athletes to pursue their academic careers to a minimum of A-levels, we then had to accommodate their schedule and physical/psychological needs by introducing 90min sessions before school. The sessions have been a resounding success with increased concentration levels among the NITDP Judoka enabling a higher volume of technical input and improved capability. The three Performance Coaches have been scheduled to ensure that delivery is aligned and consistent and the attendance of some of the Personal Coaches has further increased the impact of delivery here. There are currently six morning technical sessions per week. NI Randori NI National Randori sessions began immediately once the Performance Lead role commenced in June 2016. As no one club can deliver a consistent level of Randori practice to service a performance programme population, a weekly NI National Randori session was introduced, one week in Belfast the next week in Derry. Attendances over the 18-months from July ’16-December ’17 were steady in Derry but poor in Belfast. Participation in Belfast was buoyed by the attendance of the Squad players from the North West and the IJA Emerging


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Talent Squad members from Dublin. At no stage did the attendance of athletes from the South East reach ‘double figures’. Attendances in Derry were much better, however, despite regularly having over 30 athletes on the mat, the quality of Randori was consistent with the very disparate performance level of participants. Neither session was impacting on the development of the Squad Players as planned and following the December Programme Review an amended strategy was proposed. NI Randori sessions will now follow a monthly format hosted throughout Northern Ireland. The first session was in Belfast on February 3rd. 32 Judoka took part in an excellent session, which included testing and assessment of Squad players by SINI Exercise Physiologist, Damian Martin. The second session was in the Foyle Arena on March 3rd (after this report was submitted). Tulliallan

Judo Scotland’s Talent Development Training Camps in Tulliallan have been an invaluable resource for our NITDP Judoka with most camps having over 100 participants. There have been two camps since June with the third one on March 2-4th cancelled due to severe weather. Regional Talent Squad Judoka are also invited to travel and stay with the NI Squad on a self funding basis which has proved very popular and a most worthwhile experience for the younger Judoka.

ONST The BJA Open National Squad Training takes place over the course of a weekend, four times a year in the BJA Centre of Excellence in Walsall. Our GB Squad members are funded for this training camp and non GB Squad members are funded by NITDP. There are typically 80-100 participating Judoka ranging from our own NITDP Cadets through to European, World and Olympic medalists. This is a very demanding TC but hugely significant within our NI Performance Programme. 12 of our 14 NI Performance Programme athletes participated in the 4 ONST camps in the last 12 months. GB Futures TC The GB Futures training camp is specifically targeted at developing Cadets with the BJA Trademarks of ‘Throw for Ippon’, Win in Newaza, Dominate Kumi Kata, Contest Management & ‘Fight with Belief’. There is a particular emphasis on the ‘Throw for Ippon’ Trademark as this has been identified as the most significant and most demanding technically. As NI Performance Lead I was charged with delivering the first GB Futures Camp to the invited GB Squad. Chloe Cowen Vickers was selected as the Lead GB Coach for the ‘Futures’ TC in Tokyo October ’17.


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Scottish Institute of Sport, Ratho. The Judo Scotland High Performance Centre of Excellence in Ratho was the training base for Lisa Kearney (NI Olympic Programme) and remains the training base for Eoin Fleming (NI Commonwealth Programme). Joshua Green attended Ratho for a week long TC in September as part of his Junior World Championships preparation. Welsh Institute of Sport, Cardiff. Rachael Hawkes (NI Commonwealth Programme) is based at the Judo Centre of Excellence in the Welsh Institute of Sport, Cardiff. Rachael was joined by the NITDP Squad for a week-long training camp with Kanamaru Sensei who is based in Cardiff for a year. Kanamaru, himself a double World medalist, is more well known now as Coach to Olympic Champion, Shohei Ono. BJA Heavy Weight Development Programme Sarah Hawkes (NI Commonwealth Programme) was awarded a place on the BJA Heavy Weight Development Programme at the BJA Centre of Excellence in Walsall. British Judo currently has a lack of heavyweight men (100kg+) and women (78kg+) which impacts on the quality of training and domestic competition, therefore ultimately impeding on progression to the international stage and Great Britain’s Olympic medal potential. Through this programme the BJA plan to identify and recruit potential Heavyweight athletes (male & female), establish individual athlete technical, tactical & physical profiles and training histories and subsequently design and deliver bespoke individual & heavyweight group training and competition programmes. Domestic SSSM Provision Sports Science & Sports Medicine (SSSM) for our Performance Programme Judoka is a key element of programme provision. Strength & Conditioning (S&C) for our NITDP athletes is provided through Kyle Wallace & James Knox for the Belfast based athletes. In particular I would like to thank James and Kyle for their support. NITDP athletes have also availed of Physio, Nutrition, Psych’ & Mentoring support over the last year. NIKKI, our very own Performance Monitoring Programme was designed in early 2016 and has been utilized by all the Performance Programme athletes and Coaches. I would like to thank Eoghan Barr for his ongoing endeavors in this very important performance support. Domestic Competition With the exception of named Target Events, Domestic Competition (NI, GB & IRL) have been used as training events. The Domestic Training Events for 2017/18 were the Kent International, Welsh Open, Scottish Open, NI Championships, NI Open, Irish Championships & Irish Open. Although these are very important events in their own right, for the purposes of our leading Judoka they have been utilised as an appropriate environment to test the development of their prescribed programme priorities. The results are not published here, despite a plethora of medals at each event, because the result was intentionally removed as a priority for each athlete and replaced with bespoke targets for each athlete regarding technical, tactical or behavioural goals. Domestic Target Events UK School Games The first day at school games in Loughborough University saw Caolán McKee win a hard earned bronze medal in the under 60kg boys category with three good wins. Jake Doherty, Joshua Rutherford and Odhran Mc Laughlin put in strong performances in their respective weight categories and showed great maturity in all their fights.


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The team also attended an excellent 45 min seminar in fuelling for performance and attended an informative athlete mentor seminar with Sarah Clarke, a former European and Commonwealth Games Champion. Sarah gave the team some great tips on what it takes to win in performance sport and carried out some team building exercises with Team NI & Welsh Judo.

Callum Nash and Joshua Green produced very impressive Gold Medal winning performances on day 2 especially as they were both competing one weight category heavier than their fighting weight. Callum Nash won 6 fights at the higher weight category of 66kg whereas Joshua Green won 5 fights at the higher weight category of 73kg.

Kirstie Strouts-McCallion, Luke Montgomery and Peter Cassidy all gave their best on the day, no podium placings this time for them, but valuable experience gained by all. Well done to Peter Cassidy picking up his first win at School Games. The team then continued their learning experience when they attended an anti doping seminar, which outlined what they should expect from the anti doping procedure and how to find the relevant information on prohibited substances. British Championships NI Performance Programme athletes repeated their good form at Target Events with a string of encouraging performances and results at the 2017 British Cadet, Junior & Senior Championships. Despite the absence of 2016 Cadet & Junior medalists Kirstie Strouts McCallion and James Reid, NI Judoka secured 4 medals including our first Senior British Champion in a generation. Sarah Hawkes became +78kg Champion and Neil Simpson of Camberley & Abbey Judo Clubs won a Bronze medal in the senior 100kg category. Matthew Elliott finished off a very successful year with 5 wins and a third place finish in his first year as a Junior. Jodie Jordan won two of her five contests to secure a fourth place finish and membership of the 2018 GB National Squad.


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International Training UJKC Potsdam/ Olympiastützpunkt Sport

The NITDP Squad used UJKC Potsdam for a weeklong training camp in June in preparation for an important and demanding series of target events in July. UJKC Potsdam is one of the strongest clubs in Germany and Europe. We were accompanied by the GB Cadet team who were preparing for the Cadet European Championships and EYOF. EJU Junior TC, Paks, Hungary The 3-day EJU Junior Training Camp succeeded the Hungarian European Cup in the same venue. Each day provided four hours of high quality Randori against the world’s leading junior Judoka. This camp was also used as the final preparation training camp for the Junior European Cup in Berlin and the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas, both later in July 2017. Tokyo TC Matthew Elliott was selected by the NITDP to join Team GB as part of the ‘Futures Programme’ and participate in a 10-day training camp in Tokyo. Matthew was joined by his personal coach Scott Mayne who self-funded his trip in order to further his own development. Chloe Cowen Vickers was the GB Lead Coach for this event. Training was delivered throughout the greater Tokyo region including Tokai University, Sagami High School, Shu Toku High School, Shu-Ku-Toku High School and the Kodokan. In addition the team were given private lessons from Nakanishi Sensei at Tokai University and Miku Sensei, Samie Sensei and Namba Sensei at the Kodokan. This was an invaluable insight into training in Tokyo for our athletes and coaches and priceless introductions and relations with our Japanese hosts for future training opportunities for our extended performance programme athletes.


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Joshua Green and Callum Nash also experienced an extended training camp in Tokyo in November. Training in the Kodokan and Toyo, Tokai and Nittaidai Universities, the two 1st year Juniors thrived amidst the most challenging of environments. Having accompanied the boys in the Kodokan for the first week of the camp I then returned home whilst Callum & Joshua remained in Japan without a coach for another 10 days. This was a deliberate attempt to develop the type of adaptable, independent and resilient athlete we are trying to promote in the NITDP.

Paris Grand Slam TC

Eoin Fleming & Callum Nash braved the toughest training camp on the IJF senior circuit last month. The Paris Grand Slam Training Camp hosts 600 of the best Judoka in the world. The event was utilized as preparation for forthcoming international target events and as an introduction to the highest level of world Judo. EJU Cadet Spain TC Peter Cassidy and Caolan McKee were accompanied by Chloe Cowen Vickers for the first EJU Cadet Training Camp of 2018. 120 Judoka from 24 countries participated. This event was used as an introduction to EJU level training camps for the two latest additions to the NITDP. International Competition


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EJU Junior European Cup, Paks This is one of the hardest European cups and training camps with 33 countries and 383 competitors in attendance (240 men and 138 Females). James Reid (GB) competed really well on Saturday losing a close fight against Croatian. Joshua Green (IRL) won his first two fights against Austrian and Mozambique and secured his qualification for the Junior World Championships with a top 16 finish. Jamie McFadden and Callum Nash then attended the three-day packed training camp with James and Joshua.

EJU Junior European Cup, Berlin

Callum Nash reached the last 16 with two impressive wins in possibly the hardest Junior event on the European Tour. He eventually lost to the Italian bronze medalist in a very tight contest. This performance qualified Callum for the Junior World Championships. James Reid and Jamie McFadden delivered encouraging performances against the number 1 seeds in their respective categories.

Commonwealth Youth Games, Bahamas

There was no mistaking the competitive highlight of the year, as Judo won Team NI’s first two medals of the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games. More impressive still was the performances displayed by Matthew Elliott and Kirstie Strouts McCallion on their way to the Podium finish. Both athletes were struggling for form in the earlier part of the year but were resilient enough to re focus their efforts and application to training in the 6-8 weeks preceding the prestigious multi sport event. The first signs of their renewed commitment was evident in the Kent International in June when Matthew won Gold and Kirstie Silver at Junior level. Indeed Kirstie was able to turn the table on her final opponent in Kent when they next met in Nassau, defeating England’s representative to win the Silver medal. Kirstie was giving away a huge weight disadvantage, which made her performance and subsequent result all the more impressive.

Matthew Elliott gave a career best performance in the Bahamas and thoroughly deserved his Bronze medal, if not more. His only defeat was to the eventual Gold medalist in the final few seconds of the semi final. Matthew had no Coach in his chair as I was matside for Kirstie who had been called to compete just moments before. However he regained his composure marvelously to deliver a devastating performance in the Bronze medal match.


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To cap a memorable event for Team NI and NI Judo, Kirstie was awarded the honour of Flag-bearer for Team NI in the CYG Opening Ceremony.

EJU European Cup, Bratislava James Reid, Joshua Green and Callum Nash experienced their first taste of Senior European Cup Judo in Slovakia in September 2017. Although there were no wins the performances were very promising for athletes so young. Joshua Green, still 17, took his contest against a seasoned Polish competitor deep into Golden Score. Callum also fought well only losing by a wazari scored in the last 30 seconds. James had a 3-time European Champion (Cadet, Junior & -23) in his first match and put in a good performance despite ultimately loosing to his Italian opponent. IJF Junior World Championships, Zagreb Hurricane Ophelia halted Callum Nash’s opportunity to compete in his first Junior World Championships. All flights and ferries out of Ireland were cancelled for 24 hours and the subsequent backlog meant that Callum could not travel. Joshua Green, who was due to compete a day after Callum, did manage to make the trip but lost his first round match. Both lads are first year Juniors and did exceptionally well to qualify for the event. I expect they will qualify again in 2018 and be both more experienced and capable when the Junior Worlds come around again in October. EJU European Cup, Malaga James Reid and Eoin Fleming competed in a very competitive Senior European Cup in Malaga. Eoin Fleming lost to the Tokyo Grand Slam finalist and eventual winner Lee Seungsu of Korea in the first round. James injured his elbow, which ultimately ended not just his day, but also his competitive year. As a result James missed the training camp in Tokyo and the British Championships. EJU Cadet European Cup, Spain Peter Cassidy and Caolan McKee experienced their first exposure to the European Cup level Judo in February 2018. This was a huge step up in standard to anything they had competed at before and both will take a lot from the event. Caolan registered his first international win against the Portuguese representative in his first outing at the -66kg category whilst Peter will gain valuable experience for next year when he is still young enough to compete on the Cadet Tour. Reviews NITDP Reviews Performance Reviews are vital for our NI Performance Programme Judoka and Staff. The Athlete Reviews have been an important programme tool providing an opportunity for reflection, challenge and critically informing programme design going forward. At the end of each programme ‘Block’ each athlete and staff member participate in the review process, which forms the agreement in performance targets and strategies for the subsequent ‘Block’ and beyond. The reviews are primarily led by the Athlete, not the Coach. This is a deliberate and successful attempt to increase the engagement and ownership of the programme by the Athletes. At the conclusion of the Programme Review lessons learned inform the Programme design for the months ahead. Once designed The Performance Lead reports to the NIJF Board and proposes future strategy.


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SNI Sporting Winners Year 1 Review On the 22nd February 2018 I met with SNI to Review Year 1 of the NI Judo Performance Programme the outcome of which will determine our ‘Letter of Offer’ for the coming year. The Review went very well with NI Judo scoring well across all of the performance areas assessed by SNI and we are looking forward positively to the outcome of the Review and a renewed commitment in 2018-19. Conclusion The NI Judo performance environment has made significant gains over the last year. The investment made by the NIJF and Sport NI, and also important contributions by the BJA & IJA have contributed to a most promising juncture for performance Judo in Northern Ireland. The introduction of one full-time and two part-time Performance Coaches has made a huge impact already and is creating the opportunity for real progress on an international stage. I would like to conclude by thanking all those who supported and contributed to the success of Performance Judo in Northern Ireland last year. In particular I would like to thank NI Performance Coaches Chloe Cowen Vickers & Paul Green and all the Personal Coaches who pledged their support for the programme and for all the parents of participating athletes. I would also like to thank Averil Taggart for her professionalism and support, and for her patience and understanding when I failed to reciprocate. Most importantly I would like to thank all of the athletes who put their faith and trust in me to develop their Judo and forward their careers through our various programmes. Their commitment continues to be the most humbling experience for me as a Coach and I hope to justify their continued investment in the coming year and beyond.

I cannot finish this years report without giving a special mention to one of Northern Ireland’s most successful Judoka ever, Lisa Kearney, who recently announced her retirement from competitive Judo. Lisa has been a perfect ambassador for NI Judo over the last ten years. Her consistent success on the IJF World Tour single-handedly paved the way and created the opportunities now available to all our all of our Judoka in Northern Ireland. Lisa won 14 Senior IJF World Tour medals, Commonwealth Games Bronze, World Masters & London 2012 Olympic Games qualification. Ultimately though she will be remembered not only for her achievements as a competitor but for her ever present style, grace and humility both on and off the mat. I hope you will join me in thanking Lisa for her profound contribution to NI Judo and wish her every success in her future career.

Ciaran Ward NI Judo Performance Lead


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Treasurers Report The Executive Committee are pleased to report a positive financial year for the year ending 31st December 2017 with all Federation events running within their prescribed budgets. We were delighted to receive our Letter of Offer from Sport NI in June 2017 for the funding cycle 2017-2021, with indicative funding for Sporting Clubs and Effective Organisations of £231,538 for the term 2017-2021 and confirmation of funding for the period 1st April 2017 to 31st March 2018 of £58,900. For the Sporting Winners Programme we received an indicative offer of £445,859 for the term 2017-2021 with £109,900 confirmed for 2017-2018. The NIJF Executive Committee would like to thank Sport Northern Ireland for their continued financial support through the Sporting Clubs and Sporting Winners programmes. This financial support along with investment from the Federation has enabled us to continue with the full-time position of Performance Lead, two part-time Performance Coaches and invest in the new position of Club and Workforce Officer. This funding also assists with the administration and day to day running of the Judo office. There has also been significant investment in international competition and training camp programmes and the Federation continues to invest in the training and development of our officials. After Sport N I investment, our main source of income is from the sale of licences and gradings, both of these areas have shown an increase over 2016 figures. In conclusion I would like to thank Marc Scott and Jeff Aicken from Sport Northern Ireland for their help and advice during the year, to my fellow Honorary Officers and Executive Committee members for their efforts during 2017 and finally to Averil Taggart for the very efficient manner in which the Judo office is run. Robin Newett Honorary Treasurer

Growing our Sport, Developing our People, Investing in Excellence

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ni judo federation annual report · 2018. 10. 12. · northern ireland judo federation mission...

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