Creating a Sustainable Future for Judo

ROLL THE CLOCK FORWARD

A couple of words have been coming into the narrative at British Judo a little more recently. They are ‘sustainability’ and ‘professionalism’. Both evoke emotion and both can be interpreted very broadly. They are also both words that become a short code for some fairly complex issues that we are dealing with in many organisations currently, and those issues really are about making us future fit.

So why does being future fit matter to British Judo and what is the organisation’s perspective on the future of judo? Our mission is to ‘Maximise the contribution of judo to British society by providing easy access to safe and inspiring clubs, centered on the judo values’. It’s a clear statement and it is timeless; Kano created an education system with the purpose of contributing to the community. How we deliver this mission, together with our clubs, has to change over time – and that is sustainability.

We need to create a long-term future for judo. With this lens, we need to consider everything from how we grow and support the coaches of the future, with viable career and enterprise options, to the various engagement activities of training, refereeing, officiating, and competing. How can we serve new and existing participants, and how do we get the country as excited about judo as we are?

If we could roll the clock forward, we want to see judo becoming a sport that is in the top 10 in terms of popularity. That may sound like a dream, but if boxing attracts 500,000 people and is the 8th most popular sport in the UK and In France judo has a membership of that magic half a million, then it is ‘doable’.

Does being popular, being big, matter? Yes! If we are going to make a real difference to society, really create that social impact that we know judo can create, we need to attract and keep as many people as we can in the sport.

This Is about being robust and creating a future that allows as many people as possible to experience judo, learn from, earn a living from, take on the values of judo and yes, become humble warriors. In so doing, we will create a better society. And that is what all members of the British Judo family are striving towards every day. So sometimes the words sustainable and professional make us think of corporates that are all about the bottom line but we will use sustainability and professionalism as catalysts to enable judo to do what it was designed to do in our country- make us all better people.