A TEAM of nine under-16 juniors from the Guernsey Judo Club represented the Channel Islands at the southern area championships held recently at the Mountbatten Leisure Centre, Portsmouth. Teams from Hampshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex were representing the four counties which make up the British Judo Association’s southern area.
The Channel Islands were specially invited to send teams to compete alongside the English counties in order to gain experience in such events.
Over 150 of the best senior and junior, male and female judo players in the south of England took part in a six-hour tournament which in itself is a test of endurance.
The first county the Guernsey boys were to face in the round robin was Sussex and although they all put up strong performances, it was left to the last fighter, Sam Fox, to pull off their first win, throwing his opponent with an ippon seoinage shoulder throw for a 10-point score.
The second round was against Kent and it was middleweight James Taylor who confirmed that his narrow loss in the first round was a clear indicator that he was undaunted by the fact that all his opponents were county champions and he pulled off a second win for the CI. What made it even more notable was that his opponent is graded two coloured belts higher than him.
In the third round, the opposition were Hampshire and by now the Guernsey boys had got over their earlier nerves and their judo improved with several of them gaining low scores against their notably more experienced opponents onto which, unfortunately, they were unable to hold.
However, it was Taylor who once again showed his potential by throwing his opponent for a 10-point win in less than 20 seconds.
Round four was against Surrey and while all the boys were by now warming to their task and although they were unable to hold on to some of their early scores, all of them went down fighting to the end.
While some might consider the overall result as disappointing, the experience gained in their first representative event will hold the boys in good stead.
In the opinion of the southern area vice-chairman, Alan Rickard, sixth dan, who had recommended that the CI be invited to send teams to the event, it was a clear indication that the judo being taught in the islands was of a very high standard and for one club to produce so many talented juniors was exceptional.
All the county coaches have expressed a wish to visit Guernsey in the near future.
A special presentation was made at the closing ceremony when all the team members were awarded with a commemorative medal by the chairman of the southern area, Barry James.
The trip would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of two people and a big thank you goes to Paul and Claire Renyard from all the team.
Article posted on 22nd May, 2007 - 12.00am
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