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The British Judo Association’s
prestigious Senior Referee of the Year awards has gone to the
Southern Area’s Alan Lingham.
The respected official
will receive the award at the National Governing Body’s Volunteer
Awards Dinner on Saturday 2 October at the Botanical Gardens in
Birmingham.
Lingham, who took up the
sport in 1971, was nominated by his fellow referee Alan Medley.
“Alan started judo at Canterbury
Judokwai where he’s the chairman and has run the club every week
for the over 25 years,” said Medley.
“When he was a blue belt
he started to help out with coaching the juniors and also used
to enter a local competition called the Frank Wood Cup. It was
during this event in 1976 that a refereeing error cost him a medal
and he decided he could do better than that and so became involved
in refereeing.
“He developed his refereeing
career over the years and is now a respected senior national referee,
officiating at area and national events.”
Alan was involved in the
integration of electronic equipment into the sport which is now
an integral feature at events.
“Over the years he has
continued to develop the scoreboards to cover changes in the contest
rules and to improve their presentation as well as the ease use.
Almost every weekend, Alan is at an event somewhere in the country
with his scoreboards, a feat of dedication which brings 21 st
century technology to many competitions.”
In 2002 Alan joined the
National Refereeing Commission where he is responsible for organising
the junior refereeing scheme, specifying the requirements and
responsibilities for each level and setting up appropriate examinations.
“Alan is also an accomplished
event’s organiser which is best illustrated by the Kent International
which he’s produced for the last 25 years.
The long-time referee sits
on the Southern Area Commission, the Kent Area Committee and is
also Vice Chairman of the local youth centre.
“Over the years he has
earned more respect for his commitment as a coach, examiner and
referee but even more so for his reliability and dedication to
the improvement of judo at all levels. He is a valued member on
the National Refereeing Commission and I wholeheartedly agree
with his selection for the award.”
Canterbury Judokwai train
at the Prince of Wales Youth Centre, Canterbury, CT1 1YX. Men
and women train on Wednesday at 20:30 – 21:45 while boys and girls
train on the same day at 19:15 – 20:15.
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