|
East Sussex’s award-winning
judo coach Paul Everest has been appointed as head coach for the
Great Britain Special Olympics judo team at the 2011 Special Olympics
World Summer Games in Greece.
Everest, 45, who’s the
head coach at Westerleigh Judokwai, takes the role for the third
consecutive Games having led the team in 2003 and 2007 in Ireland
and China respectively.
“I’m very pleased to be in the role again for the next Games in
2011,” said Everest.
“I relish the role every
time and look forward to being part of the next event in Greece.”
The English coach is best
known for mastering the 2003 success, when he worked with 1 st
Dan Steve Hammond, to turn a squad of hopefuls into medal contenders.
The GB judo team won their first ever medal at the Games in 2003
and captured three medals in 2007.
The Special Olympic Games,
which were founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, is an athletic
contest modelled after the Olympic Games and features people with
learning and physical disabilities.
There are an estimated
1.2 million children and adults with a learning disability in
Great Britain whose Special Olympics team celebrated its 30 th
anniversary in 2008.
The GB team’s esteemed
coach, Everest, who also works as a full-time Ambulance Paramedic
, started the Olympic sport as a means of keeping fit.
“I started judo 25 years
ago just for the exercise. As I trained more I began to get more
into it and started to enter competitions. I started grading and
it just went from there.”
He cites the pride and
satisfaction at seeing his charges achieve something as the main
factor for his continued interest in the Special Olympics.
“For me it’s the buzz you
get from the athletes. They appreciate anything you do. Like all
of us they have bad days but all they need is some encouragement.
And the smiles you get from them when they win, you just can’t
explain it.”
The 2nd Dan has won an
array of awards including the Sussex Coach of The Year and BBC
South East Coach of the Year in 2007.
He won the Sports Coach
Volunteer of the Year Award in 2008 but couldn’t join his fellow
Volunteer Awards winners at 10 Downing Street as it fell on the
same day as his 20 th wedding anniversary.
A father of three children,
Everest manages to also find time for his vast judo responsibilities
in addition to full-time employment.
“This is what judo does
to you. It’s a great sport and for me I love to do it all,” he
said.
Everest would rather talk
about his emerging players than himself and with the 2011 Games
in Athens looming is aiming for the team to repeat their medal-winning
exploits of the latest Games.
“We’ll make sure they’re
prepared and ready to compete,” he said.
“In China there was 74
countries competing and 19 of them took part in judo. The players
fought in front of 8.000 people in the arena. How many people
can say they’ve done that?
“It’s unbelievable for
them. There were 100,000 there for the opening ceremony.
“The Special Olympics is
an incredibly rewarding and memorable event for the players and
everyone involved.”
Westerleigh Judokwai train
at Claverham Community College, East Sussex, TN33 0HT. Juniors
(5 – 16 years) train on Wednesday at 16:30 – 18:30 while men and
women train on Tuesday and Wednesday at 19:00 – 21:00. All members
train on Saturday at 09:00 – 12:00.
|