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The British Judo Trust
has awarded Wolverhampton Judo Club with a £1000 grant to help
see them through the cold wintery months.
Wolverhampton Judo Club
is one of the most successful and respected judo clubs in Great
Britain, having produced several World class players particularly
in the 70‘s, 80‘s and early 90‘s under the guidance of Mac Abbotts
and Dave Brooks.
The club moved to a new
site four years ago when the original building, which housed the
Dojo, was closed. Each year, particularly during winter months,
portable heating has had to be used before members arrive for
their sessions. The cost last year for the heating was detrimental
to the club’s finances and simply cannot be repeated every year.
The British Judo Trust
recognised the hard work and success of the club, and granted
them the money to help them keep the club open and develop further.
The £1000, along
with other funds raised by the club, will go towards a new heating
system. From this, the club will be able to approach local schools
to get involved in judo, which is where the growth of the club
came from in the 80’s.
The club provides for youngsters,
male and female, from the ages of 5 to 16 years, plus senior males
and females from 16 to late 50's. They also have students with
disabilities such as sight and learning behaviour problems that
attend the club.
Mac and Dave are still
involved with the club to this day, as Chairman and Treasurer
and now have ex-players coaching and looking after the future
developments. The young senior & junior members are thriving
and achieving many successes in competitions under the coaching
of Bill Kelly, with success at European and National level.
The club is still very
active and is in the safe hands of Dave Brooks, Bill Kelly and
Kevin O’Reilly, with additional support from other coaches, Wendy
Hart, Michael Payton and Laura Kelly.
To encourage the senior
section Dave and Kevin re-started a session on a Wednesday evening,
which is encouraging the Veteran category to take part, whilst
Bill, Michael and Laura look after the competitive players.
Wolverhampton Judo Club
train at Wednesfield Park Compound, Wednesfield, WV11 1TH. Training
takes place on Wednesday & Friday 20.00-21.30 and Tuesday,
Thursday and Friday 18.30-21.30.
The British Judo Trust
operates solely off donations and aims to support the development
of the sport and make a real difference. If you would like to
make a contribution, please visit the website at www.britishjudotrust.org.uk.
Wolverhampton
Judo Club
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