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19th August 2009
BRITISH
JUDO LAUNCH PERFORMANCE INSTITUTE
The British Judo Association
officially opened its new centralised training centre, based in
Dartford yesterday, launched to ensure the sport delivers medals
in 2012 and beyond.
The full-time centre of
excellence will bring together, under one roof for the first time,
Britain’s elite judoka under the direction of GB Head Coach, Patrick
Roux (formerly of French Judo and INSEP), the British Judo coaching
team and Performance Directorate, as well as sport science and
medical staff.
The centralised programme
will allow British Judo to concentrate the resources needed to
deliver medals at London 2012, with the current target set at
three for both the Olympic and Paralympics teams.
The Institute is housed
within Dartford Judo Club, a £4.5 million purpose built, state
of the art facility. Opened by HRH The Princess Royal in
2006, and built with the support of Dartford Borough Council,
Kent County Council and Sport England, it boasts two full-sized
mats, space for up to 400 spectators, a gym, seminar and meeting
spaces, catering facilities and a social area.
Although already in development
prior to the Beijing Olympics, the failure to win medals at the
Games last Summer emphasised the need for the Institute to ensure
the sport returns to its Olympic medal winning ways. Britain has
won a total of 16 Olympic medals since it was introduced as an
Olympic sport in 1964.
Commenting Margaret Hicks,
British Judo Performance Director said, “The Institute has allowed
us to bring together high level expertise to provide the best
possible support and delivery to our athletes.
“We want the BJPI to become
a hub of excellence and innovation not only for our players, but
developing performance coaches and practitioners and also provide
a resource for the talent development structures, which underpin
performance.”
As well as having a focus
on 2012, the Institute will also act as a legacy for British Judo,
providing a system which consistently generates Olympic and Paralympic
medals through to 2016 and beyond.
British Judo has worked
closely with Dartford Judo Club, Dartford Borough Council and
more recently Kent County Council to launch the Institute.
“The desire of the Club,
Dartford Borough Council and Kent County Council to make this
work and help us achieve our goals in 2012 has been invaluable”,
said Densign White, British Judo Chairman.
“British Judo is excited
about the possibilities of how the Institute can benefit our sport
both in terms of our performance in London but also how it can
grow and truly benefit the performance aspirations of our young
players”, he added.
Patrick
Roux, British Judo Head Coach, said, "It is a great
honour to help build the British Judo Performance system.
I have observed that Britain has produced some good performance
in the past. However, for us to reach our Olympic and Paralympic
targets we needed to set up a professional centralised environment.
The Institute here in Dartford will give our players the best
opportunity to succeed."
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BRITISH JUDO PERFORMANCE INSTITUTE INFORMATION LEAFLET
Media Contacts:
Emma Griffin
British Judo
(t) 07875 368495
James Sills
British Judo
(t) 07967 957873
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