Olympians of the future lock horns
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL: The International Judo Camp held at Tonbridge School, was an unqualified success
THE COLD weather might have
returned with a vengeance towards the end of last week, but this didn't stop
more than 17 different countries from taking part in the second annual
international judo camp at Tonbridge School.
Keeping the promise made last year, when organisers vowed to make the camp
bigger, more than 350 budding players and coaches put on a thrilling exhibition
of judo over an action packed four days. Only Italy, who got as far as boarding
the plane in Milan, had to cancel because of the weather and countries such as
Ukraine, Belarus, China, Japan, Estonia as well as the UK all put their skills
to the test. "Despite the weather, the international training camp had a
phenomenal response from overseas teams," said Olympian Chris Bowles, who came
up with the idea of the camp along with double Commonwealth gold medallist, Carl
Finney.
ON THE MAT: (From right) Scores of athletes train at the International Judo Camp; One competitor sends his opponent flying
"The effort from the
volunteers and helpers has been colossal, which have included airport runs in
the snow and battling the elements to make sure teams get here. "Joanna
Yeats-Brown, who organised the camp, has had some massive headaches and it has
been a logistical nightmare, but her hard work paid off and it has been
fantastic." Double Olympic, double world and five-time European medallist
Aleksei Budolin, the Estonian national coach, was just one of the coaches who
came to the camp - a sure sign that the cream of the sport recognised the merits
of the event.
Bowles said the event had
grown beyond his wildest dreams. "The facilities at Tonbridge School are second
to none and everything has been first class," he said.
"We haven't had any complaints and we are very proud of what we have done.
Seeing these athletes and coaches can only inspire the younger ones - it was off
the scale in terms of inspiration for them. There is no doubt that there were
some Olympians on the mat during the camp, which is really special."
With the second successful staging of the camp, Bowles hopes this will act as a
springboard for the future plans of the club itself.
Watch this space!
Article from Tonbridge Courier
