Walderslade Judo Club, a Clubmark accredited club based in the Medway Towns staged its third annual International Training Event last weekend. There were 105 judoka on the mat on Saturday and over 80 on Sunday morning with judoka attending from the Walderslade’s partner clubs in Holland and France.

This year’s event was considered by many to be the best yet with excellent organisation, superb coaching and a larger than ever attendance. We were very pleased to have with us as special guest instructors this year, the BJA’s Dermot Heslop 6th Dan and Kerry Finney 5th Dan, both of whom worked very hard all weekend to deliver great lesson content with professionalism and enthusiasm and who introduced the judoka, who ranged from Novice to 4th Dan and 5 to 55 years of age, to some new skills and some new games. Dermot's energetic JudoFit warm-up with around 80 judoka on Sunday morning certainly cleared a few cobwebs away and got everyone in the mood for the following sessions.

The club’s catering team consisting of Ann, Heidi and Kerry worked hard both before the weekend and all the way through it to ensure we fed and watered over 120 people on Saturday afternoon, 70 people on Saturday night and then around 70 again on Sunday. Without the dedication of those three ladies the event would not be possible and so a huge thank you goes out to the three of them. To some extent the success of a judo event such as this is often judged by what takes place on the tatami but without all the effort that goes on in the background, events like this could just not take place.

The sports hall once again looked superb decked out with the flags and banners and the 340sq mtrs of mat area ensured there was plenty of space for the 105 judoka who trained on the Saturday. Thank you to everyone who joined in getting the 170 mats needed to the hall on time and enabling us to run all Friday night's classes from the sports hall without any interruptions. It was really great to see over 50 of our own club members come along and support the event and all those who attended said they had enjoyed the sessions a great deal.

A social event on the Saturday evening at the Stirling Centre was well supported and gave the French, Dutch and English judoka and Coaches a chance to unwind, chat and meet informally with Dermot and Kerry and the Roller Disco saw around 65 people gliding around the hall for most of the evening.

And, Walderslade mentioned at the 2011 World Championship

The club was also proud to see that its it had been mentioned at this year’s World Championships in Paris. An exhibition at the event gave mention of the club’s involvement with Judo Club Monsois from Lille and the display which formed part of a wider exhibition of judo within France highlighted the exchanges made between the clubs.