A brief update from the JudoScotland Chair Marc Preston on activity in February.
Dear Members,
February’s short so, just a brief overview of what happened during the month!
In my last report I mentioned that Loretta Doyle was the first British woman to achieve her 9th Dan. She was awarded this by IJF president Marius Viser at the Paris Grand Slam on 3rd February. Well done Loretta!
On 4th we had our regular JudoScotland Board meeting. As always it was productive with many areas covered, moving JudoScotland forward into the future. I truly believe that this is an incredibly strong Board with highly motivated individuals.
I then visited the All Stars on the 8th February. After talking with the parents of the children who were competing, I feel that this is a very valuable and informative event for the development of young judoka into competitive judo in Scotland. The emphasis of this event is to promote enjoyment and achievement which I feel it fulfils.
And, talking about competing, I’d just like to take the opportunity to highlight the new IJF contest rule changes which JudoScotland have been implementing to keep up with the ever-changing landscape of the international judo world. You can read more about it here.
On 18th Feb I was at the British Judo Board Meeting in Walsall. British Judo are having similar challenges to ourselves at JudoScotland and it is very helpful for me to discuss these with the other Home Nations so that we make the correct decisions going forward.
Frazer McBeath was awarded his Lifetime Contribution award to recognise the work he has done in guiding and inspiring generations of judoka at both Alness Judo Club and Evanton Judo Club where he has been a devoted coach for nearly 30 years. Another worthy winner from the 2024 JudoScotland Coaching, Officiating and Volunteering Awards.
And finally, this month we saw the launch of the new Coach Register. This is part of the British Judo Association’s strategy to safeguard the sport and its participants. It ensures high standards in coaching, safeguarding, and club management, and is a valuable source of information for ourselves, our partners and our members. Could I please ask you all to engage and input. It’d be fantastic to see more photos and bios!
As a continued ongoing procedure myself and Judith visited Edinburgh University to look over their facilities. I would like to thank their manager, Mark Munro, for his time and his hospitality. They are truly magnificent facilities. I feel we’ve now almost completed our facility journey and now have some major decisions to make for the betterment of judo.
Looking forward to seeing you all at the Hibari-Kan Grand Prix on the 29th March. As always feel free to talk to any of our staff, Judith or myself, as we are always keen to hear from our members.
Till then,
Marc Preston, 7th Dan