Seven visually impaired (VI) players aged 14 upwards attended the second VI Development weekend, at the English Institute of Sport on 10th -11th July.

The seven players, who ranged from complete beginners up to a brown belt, benefited from more than six hours of judo skills and randori. The weekend was supported by three coaches, plus they all had the amazing opportunity to be coached by one of Britain’s excellent judo fighters and coaches, Jonathan Purssey.

After the success of the first weekend held in February, this session was organised again specifically for VI’s and continues the development program for London 2012 and beyond.

Our elite VI team have achieved some amazing success recently including Ben Quilter’s world title, but currently we have very few lower level players coming through to replace them when they come to retire or get injured.

Ian Rose, VI Talent Development Co-ordinator said “This type of program has been needed for many years and is important to the VI judo participants in giving them a pathway to becoming elite judoka and achieving their full potential.

“Whilst these weekends are not about teaching the attendees judo, which should be done in the usual way at the clubs, this is important for creating a team for the future. If we are not careful we could be at risk of losing VI judo altogether and falling further behind the rest of the world with development.”

If you know someone who would benefit in being involved in the VI development programme, or you would like to find out more. Then please contact Ian Rose at ian.rose@britishjudo.org.uk.