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The long awaited return
of Britain’s exceptional junior player, Gemma Howell, has arrived.
After being out of action
for 10 months Howell will make
her comeback at the 2010 London British Open at the K2 Crawley
leisure centre on the weekend of Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th
May.
The 19 year-old said, “I
have mixed emotions about fighting at the British Open, I am nervous
as any player would be coming back from injury, but I am also
excited to get back into it.”
“The London British Open
will be a good opportunity for me to get back into the competition
frame of mind and prepare for the Junior Europeans and Junior
World Championships, which are my priority this year.”
At just 15-years-old Howell burst
onto the senior stage, finishing in 5th place at the 2005 British
Open in the busy -57kg weight category.
Since then the junior fighter from
Wolverhampton Judo Club has seen more success at this event, taking
a bronze medal at the in 2007 and 7th place in 2008, and she is
ready to take on some of the World’s top seniors again.
Howell picked up the nasty
injury at a Polish Training Camp last August, and since then the
staff at the Performance Institute in Dartford, where she now
trains full-time, have been working hard on her recovery.
“When I got injured it
was a real shock. I was absolutely gutted as I had to miss the
Junior Europeans and the Junior World Championships. But everyone
at the Institute has been really supportive and has helped me
through my recovery.”
Howell’s recovery involved
extensive work with the Institute’s Doctor Craig White, Physiotherapist
Ben Ashworth and Strength and Conditioning Coach Aurelien Broussal,
as well as focused training from the coaching staff.
Lead Development Coach,
Kate Howey said, “She is physically fit and the knee is stable,
but it is a psychological thing now and it is hard to get back
into the competition frame of mind and build up that confidence
again.
“We had to gradually bring
her back, for the first few months she did no training and just
worked on her upper body. Then it was a case of working on getting
the strength back in the knee and the hamstring, she worked on
her balance and then concentrated on her judo.
“To be fair to her she
has tackled it head on, she is very vigilant and worked hard to
get back to full health,” Howey added.
During this time away from
competition, the Performance Lifestyle Advisor from the English
Institute of Sport, Anna Palfreyman, who is based at Dartford,
helped Howell explore her career options outside of the sport.
British Judo’s FTSE 100 partner G4S gave her the opportunity to
go on work experience one day per week.
“I was interested in becoming
an accountant, but I had never experienced working in an office.
G4S gave me the opportunity to gain some experience working in
an office environment.”
“This time off from competition
has made me realise it is important to have something to fall
back on, but I can’t wait to start competing again.”
All individuals who wish to enter
this event must contact CSE on judo@corporate-sporting.com
or +44 (0)121 7790880 to start their application
process. Once completed, the individual will be issued a link
to setup and authorise their personal account which will then
be password protected. The account can be accessed 24 hours a
day for individuals to make additions or amends.
©
Mike Varey
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