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London 2012 will pave the
way for schools to introduce more Olympic sports to their curriculum,
according to a survey conducted by the British Judo Association,
the sport’s National Governing Body in Britain, to mark the two-year
countdown to the Games.
88.2% of schools currently
staging the sport believe the 2012 Olympics will make schools
more receptive to introducing non-traditional school sports, such
as judo, on to the curriculum. This would see the Association’s
school-specific programmes delivered to new audiences at a grassroots
level.
Schools currently host
the sport through the Association’s Enjoy Judo programme which
sees British Judo coaches deliver school tailored classes through
breakfast clubs, curricular activity, dinner time and after school
classes.
School’s also work in conjunction
with British Judo’s School 2 Dojo programme, supported by Sport
England, which seeks to give school children additional access
to five hours of sport a week through a combination of community
and curriculum activity. The programme establishes strong ties
between schools and a local judo club which provides an outlet
for pupils, who have been equipped with the fundamentals, to practice
the sport to a higher level. In May it reached the
milestone of linking 500 schools with neighbouring judo clubs.
Scott McCarthy, the British
Judo Association’s Chief Executive Officer, believes the survey
illustrates how well the sport can be implemented across different
platforms.
“This is a resounding endorsement
of something that we’d expect,” he said.
“Judo is a phenomenal sport
that has the ability to deliver across a range of platforms. The
Olympic Games provide the profile that is usually missing. We
believe our programme delivery will be greatly enhanced by the
Games and obviously our key stakeholders agree.”
Daniel Griffin, British
Judo’s Children and Young People Development Manager, believes
the results bode well.
“These results are very
encouraging,” he said. “We’re delighted to see that schools are
more receptive to hosting Olympic sports and by promoting schemes
such as School 2 Dojo we can then take pupils into community clubs
to participate or volunteer in all areas of the sport.
“The spectacle of the 2012
Olympics will inspire more people to take up judo and our programmes
will be the foundation of delivering the sport to them.”
Additionally, the survey
revealed that more than half of the schools staging the sport
believe the main benefit (51%) was offering a different sporting
activity for pupils, while nearly a quarter (22.5%) said it achieved
increased discipline amongst the pupils
In descending order the
sport’s other qualities highlighted were fitness, increased concentration
levels and improved attendance.
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