Hi all,
A slight delay in this month’s Chairman’s statement, but given certain other events competing for your attention, I decided to wait until after the Commonwealth Games to give my update.
And on that very topic, I’d like to congratulate the entire Scottish team and coaching staff led by Team Manager Euan Burton for doing Scotland proud. Our judoka, every single one of whom fought their hearts out. Personally, I’d like to say a very well done to all – and especially to Sarah Adlington, Finlay Allan, Malin Wilson and Rachel Tytler for medalling.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Judith McCleary and her team at JudoScotland for the incredible amount of work they did to coordinate all the various facets of the Games.
One such event was an evening we hosted for 75 guests at ‘Scotland House’ on Sunday. It was attended by JudoScotland colleagues, sportscotland, members of the BJA, representatives of the home nations and other commonwealth countries – as well as some of our athletes and their families. A grand time was had by all!
British Judo also hosted an event at the Games: this time for proud Scot, Colin McIver, who’s announced that he’s stepping down from his position at BJA. As most of you probably know, Colin was a first-class competitor, Chief Executive of JudoScotland for many years, manager of a highly successful Olympic team and, latterly, worked for a long period with British Judo. Many of the directors and professional staff from JudoScotland attended his leaving do – and all of us thank Colin for his exceptional contribution to judo in this country over the years and wish him all the very best in his retirement.
Special congratulations also go to Rick Kenney who has been re-elected as President of the Commonwealth Judo Association for another term.
Away from the Commonwealth Games, can I bring your attention to a brand new event in the JudoScotland Calendar – the Scottish All Stars Championship, which is set to launch at Ravenscraig on 4th September. This is a brand new type of tournament. By attending, Judoka can learn what it means to compete, to fight and to be challenged – but will also come away inspired, as the event will be delivered in a fun and very engaging way. All participants will be rewarded for displaying one of the judo values – courage – in stepping up and trying something different. We’re hoping that the All Stars Championship will become a permanent feature in our events calendar.
And finally, a couple of JudoScotland announcements.
First of all, we’re about to renew and upgrade our CARE system – which I know will make our officials, coaches and players extremely happy! And secondly, it’s great to be able to announce that we’re building up and strengthening the team in the office, and so I’d like to welcome along two new JudoScotland colleagues, Anna Hunter and Daria Fedorenko who will be joining the Business Support Team.
To sign off I wish you and yours a great summer and look forward to catching up with you in the very near future.
Regards Marc Preston, Chairman
