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Barnsley Judo Club is taking
the Olympic sport of judo to the community by setting up links
with local schools.
The celebrated Yorkshire
outfit, who produced such distinguished names as 1984 Los Angeles
Olympian Steve Gawthorpe, is using a £9,000 grant from Sport England
to take judo to the community.
The British Judo Association,
the National Governing Body for judo in Great Britain, has already
established over 700 links between clubs and schools through its
School2Dojo programme which provides taster school sessions before
the youngsters access a local club to further their judo.
The club held a taster
session at Silkstone Primary school on Tuesday and due to its
popularity another has already been booked for next week.
Lawrence Pritchard, British
Judo’s Community Development Coach, who led the sessions, said:
“Yorkshire is traditionally a very strong region for judo, Barnsley
Judo Club have played a big part in that and their work in the
community will create some tremendous opportunities for youngsters
to experience a challenging but very rewarding Olympic sport.
“At Silkstone Primary we’ve
already seen a great interest in the sport and I’m sure the pupils
will grow in confidence and develop their fitness as they learn
more skills.”
Jeff Hynds, British Judo’s
Regional Development Officer, said: “Barnsley Judo Club is now
a first class environment for practicing the sport since putting
their head coach through UKCC Level 2, purchasing new mats (from
the BJA) and moving to a new location.
“They have really excelled
at reaching out to the local community in terms of running taster
sessions to schools, cubs, beavers and many more alike. Due to
their efforts the club is now enjoying many successes from a large
number of new members to medal winning judoka.”
Paul Sammon, Barnsley Judo
Club Secretary, said: “Despite Barnsley having a rich judo heritage,
the sport has skipped a generation since it slipped off the town’s
rader in the late 80s. We have to be proactive in order to let
the community know that we are back, and the junior section will
prove to be our life blood.
School2Dojo is a great
way of connecting with potential junior players. Given that Barnsley
Judo Club recently won six out of the 12 South Yorkshire Judo
Schools championship gold medals, I believe we are on track.”
Barnsley Judo Club meets on Monday and Thursday at Holgate School
gymnasium Juniors 6-8pm Seniors 8-9.30pm
For more information on
the club please visit www.barnsleyjudoclub.co.uk
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