Over 40 women and girls attended the second BJA Women and Girls conference at Village Hotel, Walsall on Saturday 26th February.

The conference catered for delegates of various ages, grades and experiences in the judo - 14 to 65 years of age, orange belt to 7th dan, club to Olympic players, and competitors to officials. Throughout the day there was an opportunity for everyone to share their personal judo experiences. A variety of speakers and activities were organised to make the day a memorable for everyone in attendance.

Following a brief introduction on the female success stories of the year from Joyce Heron 6th Dan, Widening the Market Manager, our first guest speaker Cassie Goodison from the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) presented recent research findings on what girl’s are looking for from sport. There were a few myths dispelled in terms of what we traditionally believe to be the truth. Anyone who would like further information on this or other research can access it through the WSFF website: http://wsff.org.uk/ .

For the second year running Lisa Allan, Competition Judo Manager for the 2012 Olympics in London provided an interesting and comprehensive update on event locations, transport, volunteering and ticketing for the judo events. In addition to her presentation Lisa also provided, a fantastic display photographs of successful female officials and judo players taken by Gabriella an official photographer for the IJF.

Rachel Clift an Olympic hockey player from the Beijing Games took centre stage as our third presenter of the morning. Her story centred on her journey to the Olympics. It began as a 14 year old girl taking her first steps into the sport to the dog she bought online during the Olympic Games to celebrate achieving her life goal. It was very motivational presentation which incorporated a great emphasis of the psychology and family support essential to reaching your potential.

Following on from Rachel our BJA Young Volunteer Sarah Biles provided an insight into her life in judo, both as an official and competitor. It was a proud moment for many in the room to see evidence of what fantastic young people we have coming through our sport. Although a little nervous, Sarah displayed great humour, natural leadership, confidence and ability. BJA Board of Director Rowena Birch said “Top presentation Sarah, your an asset for British Judo. Thanks for doing it and sharing your experiences."

Last but not least, our final guest speaker Carol Doherty a coach at Oxford University Judo Club focused on her own personal and Women and Girl’s fundraising venture for female cancer research. Carol shared her personal experience of discovering and dealing with her own cancer and how it has driven her to enter various charity events to raise funds. An inspirational story, from a remarkable woman.

If the morning was sedentary, the afternoon was energetic with former world champions Loretta Cusack and Ann Hughes working with the players on a technical mat based session. Following on from the technical element Claire McDonald led a JudoFit session which certainly blew away the cobwebs.

The organisers would like to wish a sincere thank you to the Action Group and everyone involved in making it a great day. Look out for next year’s conference on the BJA Calendar of Event.