British Judo Association English Areas Boundaries Review

Dear Membership:

We have recently been extremely successful in obtaining a grant of £10.2 million for the next four years from Sport England to develop grassroots judo throughout England. You will appreciate that this is a very significant increase from our previous funding arrangements and it is now very important that our Area administration is well positioned to maximise future judo growth and development.

To administer this much increased level of grant we are reviewing our current English Area boundaries with a view to making them more consistent with Sport England Regions (which are also the government wide regions)

This change would make our efforts to work with Sport England easier and much more seamless and would further assist our Development Offices to maximise all available additional Regional Grants for both individual BJA Clubs, English Areas and bursaries for coach education.

Currently some Areas have lost out on potential funding because our current boundaries clash with English Region boundaries. Some Area Committees also currently have to work with three different English Regions because of our different geographical boundaries.

In addition BJA staff and Area Committees could develop a much closer and better working relationships with Sport England Officers if our geographical areas were in sync with our key funding partner.

The BJA is currently divided into 9 Areas which are:

Northwest

Northern

Y&H

Midlands

Eastern

Southern

NHC

London

Western

The Sport England/Government Regions are:

Northwest (which is very similar to the BJA’s).

Northeast (which is very similar to the BJA’s Northern Area).

Y&H (which is very similar to the BJA’s).

West Midlands (which is a split of our Midlands Area).

East Midlands (which is a split of our Midlands Area).

Eastern (which is similar to the BJA’s).

London (which is similar to the BJA’s).

Southeast (which is similar to our Southern Area).

Southwest (which is similar to our Western Area).

You will note from above that there are two KEY differences;

1. Our Midlands Area would have to be split in two.
2. Our NHC would be disbanded and the NHC clubs would be divided up into Eastern, Southeast and London Areas.

There are also minor border differences between the BJA Areas and the Sport England Regions but we do not see the need to be too specific about shifting clubs who happen to be close to a border that has now been changed slightly.

The two key differences we would need to enact are listed above.

Please note this is only the start of a consultation process with the membership.  The English Area Chairs were recently briefed on this consultation exercise and there was general agreement that it is worth considering.

We would appreciate your views, questions and concerns.

Please send your comments to Mark Beecher at markbeecher@britishjudo.org.uk

Mark will compile the information and work with designated Board members to form a final recommendation to the Board of Directors.

DOWNLOAD GEOGRAPHICAL ALIGNMENT TO GOVERNMENT BOUNDARIES DOCUMENT (PDF)

We look forward to your input.

Densign White

Chairman