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The newly-opened Poole
Judo Centre is quickly becoming one of the most enterprising sports
clubs in the region.
Chairman, founder &
coaching development officer Steve Griffiths has a vision of where
he’d like the club to be and is committed to establishing a successful
club in Dorset.
“At Poole Judo Centre we
want to make people aware of us, judo hasn’t been readily available
in the centre of Poole for some time but now we’re here to plug
the gap,” he said.
“We’re in a vibrant area
and we want the club to run on a professional business type basis.
“Among our priorities is
es tablishing a long-term sponsor which we’re currently in discussions
for."
The club, who are members
of the British Judo Association, received £10,000 funding from
Sport England which was used to purchase 110 mats and judo suits.
In addition to assembling
a well-equipped judo facility the club has also began to reach
out to the community.
“Whilst we have a three
to five year plan, we have already established community links
with schools,” said Steve Griffiths.
“Additional coaches and
sponsors are important at this stage but in time we’d like to
welcome international players and representatives from European
teams such as Spain and Portugal.”
As word continues to spread
the ambitious club is anticipating an increasingly diverse field
of participants to emerge at the club.
“As our numbers grow we’ll
be running coaching events, squad training sessions, instructors’
courses and hosting visiting teams and players.
“We actually have quite
a few mums and dads coming already who have participated in the
sport and are really enjoying the sessions.
“For younger players there’s
the opportunity to develop their social skills and fitness while
learning a method of self defence.”
The club currently has
two senior coaches in Steve Griffiths and Jimmy Green who together
have over 70 years experience in the Olympic sport of judo.
“We also have coaching
support from other clubs in the area such as Judokan in Bournemouth
and are establishing links with surrounding clubs in the southern
central, south and west regions.
“We have a lot of experience
here, now we’re focused on encouraging people to try the sport
in a warm, friendly and environment.”
The club hosted their first
event on Saturday 1 st May, a British Judo Association Coaching
Revalidation day.
“The event was run by our
new South Western Area Technical Officer Sandra Klinger. We had
a good turnout of coaches and senior prospective coaches from
our local clubs.”
British Judo’s South West
Development Officer, Stephen Hammond, assisted with the event
and is full of praise for the work undertaken by the two coaches.
“Steve and Jimmy are working
together well to promote the sport Olympic sport of judo within
the County of Dorset,” he said.
“They both have a wealth
of sports specific knowledge and life skills which they are currently
utilising to develop ‘School to Club links’ in provision of quality
service for young people who are looking to participate in our
sport.
“I would have no problem
in recommending these two coaches to any young person who wishes
to embark upon a journey of discovery in relation to the Olympic
sport of Judo. Basically quality coaches providing opportunities
and a quality experience.”
The British Judo Association is the
National Governing Body for the Olympic Sport of judo in Great
Britain.
Poole Judo Centre is based
at Carter Community School in Hamworthy. After school judo is
held on Thursday at 15:50 – 16:30 and at the same time on Friday
at Turlin Moor School. There’s a randori session on Monday at
18:00 – 20:00 for seniors and on Saturday morning at 10:30 – 11:30
for juniors while seniors train at 11:30 – 13:00.
After school judo at Poole
High School starts on 10 th May at 15:30 - 16:30.
For more information contact
Steve on sag.2008@btinternet.com
or visit the club during the above times.
Media Contact:
Mark Pickering
British Judo
(t) 01509 631674
(e) mark.pickering@britishjudo.org.uk
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