Irish Judo Association

Irish Judo Association Irish Sport HQ, National Sports Campus, Abbotstown, Dublin, D15 DY62

Tel: 01 6251104 Email: admin@irishjudoassociation.ie Company limited by Guarantee. Registration No. 112335.

V.A.T. Reg No. IE4806869B President : Mr Seán Fleming

28.04.2017 Dear Club Secretary/Club Coach, Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the Irish Judo Association will take place in Irish Sport HQ, National Sports Campus on Sunday 21st May 2017 commencing at 12.00 pm. Registration will commence at 11.00 am. Notice or Resolutions to be placed on the Agenda are invited. Nominations are invited for the position of Hon Gen Secretary. Please note that Resolutions & Nominations must be proposed and seconded in accordance with the Constitution and must be received to the Irish Judo Association Office at Irish Sport HQ, National Sports Campus, Abbotstown, Dublin 15 by 12 midday Monday 8th May 2017. For your information a copy of the company accounts for 2016 will be distributed 14 days prior to the AGM. Regards,

Mr Seán Fleming President Irish Judo Association

AGM Sunday 1st May 2016

Venue: Maldron Hotel, Oranmore

Number present:

Apologies for non-attendance: Pat Hickey, Eoin Fleming, Anthony Delaney, Paul Green

A minutes silence was observed for all deceased members and friends.

The minutes of the 2015 AGM were proposed acceptance by Leo Gibbons and seconded by

Harry Mc Guigan.

The Secretary, Sean Fleming, read his report.(See attached) Paul Cummins proposed

acceptance and seconded by Donal Tannam.

Matter arising from the Secretary’s Report

Leo Gibbons asked the position of Life Patrons in the Constitution. The President, Francis

treanor outlined the current position. It was explained that the Constitution must be

updated and this must come into effect by September 2016. Sean Fleming urged all

members to make contributions and suggestions as to what should be included into the

Constitution.

The Treasurer, Antoinette Mc Mahon, delivered the Financial Accounts. Fred Marmain

proposed acceptance and it was seconded by Peter Wells. (See accounts attached)

The Presidents Report was delivered by Francis Treanor (See attached)

Keith Gough delivered an account of the National Squad. (See attached report) kevein

Fitzmaurice suggested that at events such as the Galway Open it would be good to see the

National Squad players compete as it allows the other players a chance to see them and

hopefully provide inspiration. Tim Kelly asked if there any system that can make the squad

more accessible to more players as it is very geographically based at present.

As Doping Officer Keith informed the members of the up to date Anti-Doping regulations.

Elections

President: Sean Fleming

Treasurer: Paul Green

IT Officer: Coleen Barr

Delegate: Harry Mc Guigan

Delegate: John O Gara

Leinster Rep: Valery Vanukivich

David Holmes asked about the Munster delegate position as he believed it was him. Sean

Fleming answered that he could not give an answer at this time but promised to have one

asap. The AGM was informed that the Executive members elected would hold a meeting

immediately after the conclusion of the AGM to co –opt members into vacant positions.

Sean Fleming thanked the outgoing President Francis treanor for his services to judo in

Ireland and thanked the members for placing their trust in him to serve as President. Sean

acknowledged his coach, Jimmy Ward, RIP.

This concluded the meeting.

MINUTES OF IRISH JUDO ASSOCIATION MEETING

21 MAY 2017

1. Sean introduced a one minute silence to remember deceased members.

2. Last year minutes 2016 John O’Gara Proposed

Ray Stears Seconded

3. Sean read out Hon Gen Secretary report –

Thanks to Leo Gibbons for his contribution as secretary and noted his involvement with

Colleen for recent improvement in competition.

4. Sean read out Commission Reports

Memberships

Stats were given for 2015/2016 membership and current 2017 membership

It is felt that decrease in numbers may be due to coaches not registering players. This is

against ethos of IJA – no licence, no training

Membership fees were reduced/younger age group fees reduced/coaches not registering

players.

Deirdre will send out a list of current memberships to club coaches at least 3 to 4 times per

year (Will get office to send out).

Competitions

Confirmed NIA booked for All Ireland and Irish Open.

Harry asked regarding gradings and use of NIA. Sean/Paul to meet with NIA to see about

Gradings/National squad.

Ben Clayden said Galway will be doing a Festival of Judo to involve different things, table

officials/gradings etc.

Competition officials/Qualified/Certified and trying to get more formal qualification

pathway. Colleen mentioned Standardisation of Qualification

Veterans

Taken as read. Sean commented then on well run Irish Masters Open Last year with a lot of

foreign visitors. Board will continue to work with veterans.

Gradings

Opened to Harry, he reiterated that it is only at National Gradings that you can do DAN

theory/KATA theory. Ben Clayden suggested splitting theory/technical from actual fighting

part. Eoghan Barr suggested /KATA course/and then getting qualification or certification.

Extra mat area would solve a lot of problems

PRO

Sean said that he had asked last year to get a position of PRO. Tim had proposed that he

would do PRO. Sean has been in contact by telephone – Did not attend any board

meetings/Irish Open/Irish Closed or Roadshow done by Sean and Leo. No position on Board

going forward but question will be asked if he wants to do this year again.

National Squad

National Squad. Sean congratulated Keith on 3rd European medal on 3rd year.

Congratulations from Sean to Bearach on excellent medal in Bremen.

Keith stated he goes to all tournaments and feels he is not missing any players. Provincial

councils should do more at grass roots.

Ben Clayden – Lack of clarity of how you get on a National Squad

Keith must spend more time with athletes going forward. Trying to get 3 sessions per week,

Saturday 8am – 10am. Tuesday/Wednesday. Will be open national squad. Different route

going forward

Mick Power congratulated Keith on sessions at Swords/Keith job to run national squad not

Grass Routes.

Sean reiterated provinces pushing grass roots

Paul said the Regional Squads working well in North West

Referees

Sean thanked Dave and Michael for work this year. Referees event run in conjunction with

NIJF. Poor turnout from referees from IJA. CPD is very important.

Referees must be of a particular standard. We should be able to cope with referees for Irish

Open/All Ireland’s.

Must provide refereeing pathway, Sean mentioned getting someone from EJU to review

competitions and suggest improvements for Referees & Officials.

Adapted Judo

Sean mentioned Judo Adapt and two players travelling to Italy where one player won gold &

one player won bronze. Plans to progress this are ongoing. Event in first week in July IJF will

organise first world event in Germany. Meeting organised with Visually Impaired Ireland to

discuss IJA.

Proposed – Harry McGuigan

Seconded – Frederic Marmain

Reports Adopted

Finance

Paul gave a breakdown of financial reports

Question from Michael Power regarding Note 16 Contingent Liabilities

Proposed – Ben Clayden

Seconded – Mick Power

Financials for 2016 approved

Presidents Report

Sean read presidents report

New constitution – Road Show

Provinces to develop regions for all pathways

Governance was main aim going forward/Rules Regulation/Pathway/

Definite documents to be drawn up. No anomalies.

€5,000 on scheme for clubs to progress – To be finalised

New staff member Mr Sean Crowley.

Megan Fletcher transfer to IJA. Two players will self-fund for High Performance

Judo Ireland agreeing to join IJA in September

Coaching – Registration of players

No further matters – meeting was closed.

Presidents Report 2017

1

This past year has been an honour to serve as your President. It is the

first of a four year term. During this first year the focus has been on

governance. We have had the successful passing of our new

constitution at the recent EGM. This came as a result of hard work and

co-operation of units throughout the country. The process of

examining governance amongst other things started with the then

secretary, Leo Gibbons and I travelling to and meeting with members

in the regions of Leinster, Connaught and Munster. This I found to be

a very worthwhile exercise and one that will be repeated in the future

to allow all our members the opportunity to express their thoughts on

the best way the association should move to develop the sport.

An important area of governance development relates to our

provincial set up. I will encourage our provinces to play a greater role

in the development of judo within their area. Each area will have a

best fit for them. I would encourage the provincial representatives on

the Board to work within their region to develop Regional Squad

sessions, Coach Development seminars, Competition Official training,

Referee development and ultimately each region organise an annual

Provincial Open. All of this with the support of the various

commissions and Board. It is my belief that we need to provide a

better pathway for our members to develop in their chosen area of

interest in the sport. This needs to be done at a local level first, i.e.

Provincial then onto national and eventually international.

Unfortunately many of our members are reticent to travelling any

distance and miss out on the opportunities in the sport to develop.

This local level approach leading onto national will hopefully

encourage more participation and raise skill and performance levels.

If last year was about governance I have just spoken about the focus

for the incoming year. To assist this development at provincial level

will require a renewed drive from our commissions. I have no doubt

Presidents Report 2017

2

that those volunteers charged with leading our commissions will strive

to work with all who wish to develop the sport.

Within our commissions there is still some development required. For

some of our members there is uncertainty in different aspects. There

must be clarity in pathway of progression, rules and regulations. Each

of the commissions will be charged with presenting a definitive set of

guidelines that will be available to all. This work has stared earlier this

year but there still needs to be some tidying up to do before a final

document can be produced.

Much of what needs to go into these documents are there but some

of it is in people’s heads or on a document produced ten or more years

ago. If I ask a question how does a person do something there is

someone with the answer but there has been times this year I have

been given a different answer to the same question by another

member who is adamant that their opinion is the correct one. I want

these anomalies put away. I have no doubt that most of you will have

the answer to most if not all the questions I will put now but the

majority of our members do not and that is what causes confusion.

How do I become a referee? Is there a syllabus outlining the

requirements for progression? In grading can I get an honorary grade

and if I can how many honorary grades can I get throughout my career

in judo? Is there a qualification for competition officials? Again as in

refereeing is there a pathway for progression and a syllabus to follow?

As I said many here will be able to answer these sample questions. We

could all add another dozen questions each. I am just using these as

an example.

To help improve performance we intend to set up a scheme that will

allow councils, clubs and individuals to apply for financial assistance.

Presidents Report 2017

3

The criteria is still not finalised but it will be for the improvement in

judo performance. An example may be to enable a club to bring

players to a competition in Europe or an athlete to attend an

international training camp. The application will have to provide

evidence that there will be positive development. There will be a cap

on the amount any one programme can be granted and currently it is

anticipated that the sum of €5000 will be set aside for the scheme.

A major development has been the appointment of a second member

of staff. This is a part time post at 15 hours a week. We had 47

applicants, 7 were invited for interview, 6 attended and Sean Crowley

was the successful candidate. It is hoped that this will allow the office

staff time to search out increased revenue possibilities. This will not

only be for the NGB but opportunities at local level for clubs. County

and Local councils both North and South have schemes to allow for

applications for financial assistance. The office is charged with seeking

out these financial award schemes, locally, at national and

international levels. The post is initially for 12 months and will be

reviewed.

Another development is the transfer of Megan Fletcher from GB to

Ireland. Over the years the IJA has received requests from different

players to transfer and fight for Ireland. These were not acted upon as

they were not always a good fit for us. We were approached by two

players this past year, both of whom are former GB players. GB were

approached and they granted their transfer immediately which meant

that the players would not have to wait three years before changing

nationality to fight at international level. Only one of the players so far

has been processed by the IJF and is now eligible to fight for Ireland.

The second player is just waiting on some paperwork to be completed

before they can be processed by the IJF. Both players were made

aware that there was no pot of gold here to allow them to travel the

Presidents Report 2017

4

world and were happy to proceed in the knowledge that they would

have to self-fund their trips in the hope that they become successful

and receive High Performance money from Sport Ireland. Megan’s

first competition representing Ireland was a successful one winning

gold in Croatia.

Much of my time this year has been spent meeting with

representatives from Judo Ireland. These talks have come to a

conclusion with the clubs in Judo Ireland agreeing to join the IJA. It is

anticipated that they will apply for their membership in September.

This is very welcome and will only strengthen our sport. Membership

will grow, we have more clubs and division only causes strife and is

energy sapping. I would like to report that during the negotiations the

talks were always conducted in a very cordial manner and this made

it easy. Both parties were open and honest in their stance and it is

because of that a resolution was reached. It is fair to say that not all

those who affiliated with Judo Ireland will be become IJA members

but we will move on and not be revisiting it in the near future.

Judo is not considered as a major sport in Ireland but we all have the

responsibility to raise the profile of the sport and make it an attractive

option for the population to play. It is the responsibility of all of us. We

at the Top Table must provide a framework to assist in this. Judo must

be seen as a viable option in the local community for children to join.

For this to happen the club must be seen as a place that is safe and

that the parents and guardians have confidence in the coach to do all

in their power to protect and keep safe the child.

Part of this protection is registration. Registering the player should be

a no brainer. Any coach that allows players to participate without

membership is running the risk of bringing trouble onto themselves

and the player plus doing the association a disservice.

Presidents Report 2017

5

Finally I would like to thank all, who in anyway, have promoted the

development of judo in Ireland. If I was to mention individuals I would

no doubt inadvertently leave someone out so all I will say is thank you

all the judo community in Ireland, fellow Board members and Deirdre.

Go raibh maith agaibh.

STATS FOR 2015 (31.12.2015) – IJA TOTAL MEMBERS: 1969 CLUBS: 44 (Universities 4 - 2 Dublin 1 Galway 1 Cork) 1 CONNAUGHT (7) Members 289 2 LEINSTER (17) Members 706 3 MUNSTER (10) Members 368 4 ULSTER (10) Members 606 Minors – 542 Female 144 Male 398 Cadets – 953 Female 255 Male 698 Juniors – 64 Female 16 Male 48 Seniors – 344 Female 35 Male 309 Students – 66 Female 22 Male 44 Total 1969 AGE BREAKDOWN Under 16 – 1495 (76%) Over 16 – 474 (24%) GENDER PERCENTAGE 472 – Female 1497 – Male 24% Female / 76% Male Life Patrons – 23 (1.2%) Valid Date 31.12.2015

STATS FOR 2016 – IJA TOTAL MEMBERS: 2108 CLUBS: 48 (Universities 4 - 2 Dublin 1 Galway 1 Cork) 1 CONNAUGHT (11) Members 383 2 LEINSTER (16) Members 723 3 MUNSTER (10) Members 379 4 ULSTER (11) Members 623 Minors – 609 Female 176 Male 433 Cadets – 1014 Female 263 Male 751 Juniors – 48 Female 16 Male 32 Seniors – 359 Female 34 Male 325 Students – 78 Female 17 Male 61 Total 2108 AGE BREAKDOWN Under 16 – 1623 (76%) Over 16 – 485 (23%) GENDER PERCENTAGE 506 – Female 1602 – Male 25% Female / 75% Male Life Patrons – 22 (1.2%) Valid Date 31.12.2016

STATS FOR 2017 – IJA 10.05.2017 TOTAL MEMBERS: 1541 CLUBS: 44 (Universities 4 - 2 Dublin 1 Galway 1 Cork) 1 CONNAUGHT (10) Members 294 2 LEINSTER (15) Members 528 3 MUNSTER (8) Members 305 4 ULSTER (11) Members 414 Under 12’s – 950 Female 281 Male 669 Under 18’s – 244 Female 65 Male 179 Over 18’s – 277 Female 26 Male 251 Students – 70 Female 15 Male 55 Total 1541 AGE BREAKDOWN Under 18 – 1194 (77%) Over 18 – 347 (23%) GENDER PERCENTAGE 387 – Female 1154 – Male 26% Female / 74% Male Life Patrons – 20 (1.4%) Valid Date 10.05.2017

Competitions Report – Colleen Barr Since the last AGM we have held two main IJA Competitions, the All Irelands 2016 and the Irish Open 2017. Overall both events were well attended with the breakdown below: ALL IRELANDS 2016 41 Clubs represented by 265 entries. Of the 41 Clubs there, 8 clubs (35 entries) were Non IJA Clubs. IRISH OPEN 2017 43 Clubs represented by 257 entries. Of the 43 Clubs there, 22 clubs (87 entries) were Non IJA Clubs. Online entry is in full operation and going forward no postal entries will be accepted. Posting of Entry List on line has been implemented alongside a quicker turnaround on posting of results and issuing of sheets to Grading Commission. There has been an uptake in registration of Coaches on the day of competitions and, at the Irish Open in particular, with the introduction of stewards and wristbands it has been an easier task to manage the floor during the event. It is hoped that there will be an increase in the pre-registration of Coaches through the online entry system in the next few competitions.

Some issues have arisen with non-licenced members entering IJA competitions. This can happen for many reasons but the process when an un-licenced member is identified, is that the player, their guardian or their coach are contacted to advise of the situation. Every opportunity is given to allow the player to complete the proper paperwork before the event but should this not happen the rules are very clear that No Licence equals No Competition. This may be an area that we could seek to improve education on as licences cannot be updated on the day. The New Rules were also implemented at the Irish Open 2017 in an overall smooth transition across a four mat area. The scoreboards were updated to reflect the new scoring system and Table Personnel worked well with the Referees in dealing with any questions asked. In the future it is hoped that the entry for competitions will increase with a more permanent venue at the national sports campus and we would now be in a position to consider adding other IJA events to the calendar. As always we are continually actively seeking volunteers and on the last two occasions have been lucky enough to pick up a few new people to add to our database. We will continue to promote and recruit around the events. Going forward the next stages of improvement/upgrade that we would hope to

be looking into are the draw/scoreboard programs, additional equipment to accommodate a larger area, volunteer recruitment and retention and streamlining competition process in general.

Veterans Report – Donal Tannam

2016 continued to be a busy year for Irish

Veteran Judoka in general and for Paul

Cummins and secretary Donal Tannam who

both worked hard to host several fund-raising

and awareness events over the course of the

year. They encouraged their veteran judoka to

take part in local tournaments, both in Senior

and in Veteran Categories. Except for the

Belgian, Dutch and Polish Master Events, they

were active in organising, participation and

coaching duties at all other events listed below.

In many instances, Paul Cummins also drove all

or most of the participants to the venues in his

own, or a hired vehicle, and extended Irish

Hospitality to the extent of driving overseas

visitors to the airport after the Irish Masters

Open in October. Paul also ran several Squad

Sessions mostly in his own club, but also in

Phibblestown Centre, Kilkenny and Oranmore

Judo Clubs.

January. A Kata Course in Paul Cummins School

of Judo.

March. Irish Open Championships. At least 5

medals collected by active squad members.

April. Belgian Masters Open. 2 Irish Entries, 2

Bronze medals.

April. Hungarian Masters Open. 13 Irish Entries.

3 Bronze, 5 Silver, 4 Gold.

May. Northern Ireland Judo Federation Open

with Veteran Category. 3 Bronze, 2 Silver, 4

Gold.

May. Dutch Masters. 1 Entry.

May. High Wycombe Masters. 7 Entries, 1

Bronze, 1 Silver, 3 Gold.

May. Leinster Kyu Dan Invitational. In Senior

Categories, Masters took 2 Bronze, 1 Silver.

June. European Veteran Championships

Croatia. 2 Entries + 1 Referee. Sadly, no medals.

June. Polish Masters Open. 1 Bronze.

July. Veterans Grading Paul Cummins School of

Judo. All referees donated their fees to the

Squad.

October. 3rd Irish Masters Open Phibblestown.

Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, Scotland,

Spain, England all sent competitors with almost

70 players registered and a dramatic increase

in women’s participation.

November. IJF Veterans Judo World

Championships Florida. 6 Entries + 1 Referee. 1

Bronze Medal.

December. All Ireland Judo Championships. No

Veteran Category but some Masters took part

in Senior Categories.

Grading Report – Harry McGuigan

We held three National Gradings in 2016,

February, June and September and the

numbers taking part were quite good. However

we would like to see more judoka participating

in the Multi Dan part of the Grading.

Remember getting your 1st Dan is not the end

of your career.

There were 22 new 1st Dans which included six

females, four new 2nd Dans one of which was

female, 1 new 3rd Dan and two new 4th Dans.

The venue at Phibblestown is first class but the

mat storage area is a disaster as the handful of

volunteers who put the mat away can vouch

for.

We had problems with coaches and judoka

who had obtained their points for promotion at

a competition putting the grading commission

under pressure to conduct theory exams at the

competition or at a club venue. This was

getting out of hand and as we had no written

policy on this we decided to draw one up to

come into effect from January 2017. This was

to include transfer from junior grades to the

senior ranks. All theory exams for promotion

must now take place at the National Grading

only.

Grading Commission

Harry McGuigan 6th Dan

Ray Stears 6th Dan

Jack Dennis 6th Dan

PRO Report – Tim Kelly

This brief report will provide an overview of

activities to boost both awareness of Judo in

Ireland and also encourage engagement with

current members. For the last year, it is my aim

to showcase the strengths of individual clubs

around the country, highlight the performance

of the National Squad and attract new

members.

Facebook:

• Throughout the 12 months, Facebook

events were set up to remind people of

upcoming competitions such as the

Leinster Open, Irish Open and All

Irelands.

• Results and photos of the National

Squad were promoted

• Videos of the university clubs were

shared such as UCC’s first session and

UCD’s video of the Intervarsity’s.

• Another main focus was to focus on the

development of women in Judo such as

Sarah Monaghan who was the first ever

Batsugan winner for her Black Belt for

women.

This led to an overall increase in Facebook likes

and engagement amongst our members. In

fact, our Facebook page likes have increased by

21% from this time last year.

However, we still have an issue with

breakdown of audience figures. Our audience is

very poor amongst younger users and amongst

females which will need to be rectified.

Instagram:

Instagram is one of the most popular apps

amongst younger generations. It also has a

video and photo sharing app is ideal for

conveying what Judo is. Thus, Instagram was

set up in mid-August:

• Sharing photos and videos of Judo

around the country

• Promoting Ellie Dennis’s women

sessions in partnership with Sport

Ireland

• Share photos of our National Squad in

action

Additional Work:

• Taking part in a research project on

sports organizations in Ireland and how

they promote themselves.

• Contacting MMA Connect TV to

promote the Women’s Only Session in

Lusk. They also share any international

results we have on their site.

• Contacting Aobh O’Shea and Sarah

Monaghan who both earned their black

belts during the year write about their

experiences on Sportswomen.ie

• UCC Judo talking about their

Intervarsity on Bruce by the Lee (a Cork

based web show).

• Running a Newsletter from September

till December.

Current Objectives:

• Resume newsletter in August

• Contact people to take part in the

documentary

• Film some of our main events such as

the National Dan Grading

• Try to increase our engagement with

younger members.

• Invest in a camera to take photos of the

main events such as the Irish Open and

Irish Championships.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

13-17 18-24 25-34 34-44 45-54 55-64 65+

Audience Breakdown

Women Men

National Squad Report - Keith Gough Emerging Talent Programme ! ETP Success ! Senior National Squad ! Challenges for 2018 and beyond. ! Anti-Doping

EMERGING TALENT PROGRAMME ! 4 Junior Judoka (Callum Nash, Joshua Green, Sarah O´Gara & Maxim Trigub) ! 1 Cadet Judoka (Bearach Gleeson) ! Weekly NST with 3 of the 5 ETP athletes plus 6 pre ETP aspirants & pre-cadet/minor group supported by Swords JC coaching staff. ! Weekly 1to1 with 2 NI based athletes with Ciaran Ward NI Talent Coach & Paul Green NI Coach. ! Ciaran also coaching Lisa Kearney & Megan Fletcher High Performance & Eoin Fleming Senior Squad. ! €17k Budget (Excluding HP Funding)

ETP - SUPPORT STAFF ! Coaching Paul Green ! HP Coach Ciaran Ward ! NITD Supports for Callum Nash & Joshua Green ! No supports for remaining athletes ! Admin Deirdre Leonard

ETP - COMPETITION & TRAINING

SCHEDULE ! Scottish Open Junior ! ETD Walsall Camp 3 times ! STD Camps 2 times ! Flanders Cup ! Venray International ! EJU European Cup Lithuania,Portugal,Germany, Spain. ! NI & Welsh Open, Sportif & camp, HOE, English Open. ! Nasu IJF TC ! Weekly NST Swords, Belfast & Derry ! Bremen International ! Japan Training Camp ! All Irelands & Irish Open ! Twice weekly S&C. ! Northern Ireland Judokas Support Service

ETP RESULTS

EYOF QUALIFICATIONS Callum Nash Bronze European Cup Cadets, Spain Bearach Gleeson Bremen Masters. Silver Cadets, Germany JAPAN FUTURES TRAINING CAMP IJA Emerging Talent Programme had 4 members Max Trigub Callum Nash Joshua Green & Bearach Gleeson travel to Japan for 10 days training at Kodokan Judo Institute & Tokai University

and received technical sessions given by former World & Olympic Champion Kosei Inoue and former World Champion Hidetoshi Nakanishi. They also had randori sessions at a number of junior & high schools. Overseeing

their

JAPAN FUTURES TRAINING CAMP IJA Emerging Talent Programme had 4 members Max Trigub Callum Nash Joshua Green & Bearach Gleeson travel to Japan for 10 days training at Kodokan Judo Institute & Tokai University and received technical sessions given by former World & Olympic Champion Kosei Inoue and former World Champion Hidetoshi Nakanishi. They also had randori sessions at a number of junior & high schools. Overseeing their training were national coaches Ciaran Ward and Paul Green.

SENIOR NATIONAL SQUAD • European Cup Gold Megan Fletcher

CHALLENGES 2017 ONWARDS

FUTURE PLANNING NSM currently writing NSP for the next 4 years. 3 Judokas winning medals at European Cups 2 EYOF qualifications in a row NST in Dublin will increase to 3 sessions per week Additional coach required for tournaments Funding at 17k Euro Challenge to design and deliver a plan under

the funding constraint

ANTI DOPING ! Anti-doping current information and policy on IJA website. ! Anti-doping education with National Squads ! Information cards sent to all clubs. ! No positive tests in 2016/2017

Referee Report – David Holmes

The referee committee was appointed formed

under the auspices of the Irish Judo Association

(IJA) in Sept/Oct 2016 after the new executive was

formed in May 2016.

Following a process where referees were invited to

offer submissions a policy and procedures

document was published towards the end of 2016.

This was circulated to all clubs and is available on

the IJA website.

The main objective of the committee is to promote

Judo refereeing in Ireland.

The IJA in alliance with the Northern Irish Judo

Federation (N.I.J.F.) presented a referee seminar in

the Foyle Arena, Derry (30-July-2016) which was led

Keith Merrick. This seminar was poorly attended by

IJA referees, which is a great pity as it was an

excellent seminar. This seminar is again being run in

Derry on July 29th 2017. Referees are encouraged

to attend to maintain their Continuous Professional

Development (CPD)

Following participation in the Derry seminar the IJA

led by the above committee and with assistance

from Chris Hickey presented a seminar to deliver

the updated guidelines. A thank you to Leo Gibbons

of Swords Judo Club for the use of his premises.

In January 2017, I had the privilege of representing

the IJA at the International Referee & Coaching

Seminar in Baku, Azerbaijan. This was a most

important seminar as the rules for the next

Olympiad were being unveiled prior to

implementation at International and National level.

The refereeing committee felt it important that the

information gained at this seminar be disseminated

to referees and coaches as soon as possible. With

this in mind on my return a course was organised

within three weeks in the Sport HQ to deliver the

new rules and distribute the relevant rules and

associated video clips as used at the seminar.

A referee examination was carried out at the All

Irelands and the following referees were promoted:

National A

1) Eoghan Barr

2) David Rolland

3) Fred Marmain

NationaL B

1) Renata Tekuorite

National C

1) Anthony Delaney

2) Donal Tannam

3) Richard Murphy

4) Eddie Loughlin

Congratulations to everybody

Future Plans.

It is the intention to build up the base of referees by

recruitment of young referees both male and

female. This will be achieved by supporting a junior

referee pathway to identify and promote young

judoka to become involved in refereeing. In this

regard I would encourage all clubs to promote

refereeing activities within their club and so form a

nucleus of young people with an interest in

refereeing. The refereeing committee cannot fulfil

this objective without everybody’s help and co-

operation.

I am sorry to report that it is our opinion that little

progress has been made over the past ten or twelve

years to encourage and promote Irish referees to

attain international qualification. There may be

many reasons why this is the case, however what is

now important is to assess where we currently are

and to move forward from that position.

Over the next 4 years it is intended to provide

potential international grade referees with the

opportunity to fulfil their potential by supporting

them to attending events outside of Ireland so that

they can build up experience at competitions

appropriate to their level of development. This will

be a slow process as the gap between Irelands last

awarded international referee (2005) grade has

been too long with little development of potential

talent coming through.

For the next four years the emphasis will be on

emerging talent training and their attendance at

competitions outside of Ireland so that the overall

level and competency of our referees is improved

for the benefit of players and coaches alike. This is

very much on the forefront of the referee’s

program.

The Care system and audio communications is

required for the efficient running of our

international competitions. While acknowledging

that there are funding restraints it is also

imperative that we have sufficient referees and that

they are at correct level for our international

competitions. It is not of benefit to developing

referees to be asked to referee at events such as

the Irish Open. This may be beyond their capacity at

this stage of their progression and so discourage

them from continuing with their refereeing career.

Coaches and especially players have a right to

expect a standard of officiating that is

commensurate with the level of the tournament.

With this in mind I would encourage the President

and his committee to support us in our endeavours

to ensure that we have sufficient and appropriately

qualified referees for our flag ship event, The Irish

Open.

Finally, thank you to our President, Sean Fleming

and his team for their encouragement and support

over the past year and look forward to continued

support.

Coaching Report – Brian Head

The Coaching Commission has achieved the

following goals, activities and initiatives in 2016

1. Policies and Procedures:

Policies and procedures were reviewed and

update in line with the annual review policy

(April 2016)

2. Development of the Level 2 Course:

During 2016 the coaching commission

developed the programme and learner

resources for the level 2 course

3. Delivery of Coaching Courses:

The Coaching Commission delivered two of

coaching courses in 2016

▪ 1x Assistant Coach Level 1

The course was delivered in

September/October 2016 with 5

attending and successfully

achieving the coaching award.

▪ 1x Club Coach Level 2

The course was delivered in May

to November 2016 with 10

attending and successfully

achieving the coaching award.

4. Coaching Re-validation Event:

On the 7th February 2016, the coaching

commission delivered the first IJA coach

revalidation event for coaches who have

held a coaching award at levels 1, 2 or 3 for

three years or longer. 17 coaches attended

the event

5. Regional Tutor Teams:

January 2016, the coaching commission received

approval from the IJA board to proceed with a new

approach to delivering coach education within the

four provinces of Leinster, Connaught, Munster and

Ulster using a regional tutor approach. This

approach was implemented in April 2016 allowing

more courses to be delivered nationally in 2017 and

beyond. This approach will result in reducing the

course delivery costs and meeting the needs of the

IJA membership locally.

The over spend in 2016 was due to development

and delivery costs associated with the level 2

programme. In order to facilitate the development

and delivery of the programme a number of

meetings were held, also specialist costs were

incurred in providing services from Scotland to

assist in the delivery of the programme. It is

envisaged that the costs will be reduced in 2017

with the regional tutor approach being activated

nationally.

Adaptive Judo Report – Frederic Marmain

Adapted judo doesn’t have many members because

clubs may not be in a position to support members

with special needs or are unsure of what is entailed

in judo inclusion.

They are 2 ways to promote judo inclusion:

1. Opening SN Judo Sessions at your club

2. Have fully inclusive classes

As a chairperson for judo inclusion I hope the

following will be considered:

1. Inform all clubs in the Irish Judo

Association of inclusion programmes

2. Send to the adaptive judo committee any

SN registration

3. Any club wishing to open a SN class should

contact the adaptive judo commission so

that courses and taster sessions can be

organised with the clubs with the different

local sport partnership areas nationwide.

These courses give a good knowledge of

best practices and approaches regarding

different disabilities and inclusion, the

taster session is to give a child or adult

with SN an idea of what adapted judo is

4. Include in the new website on adapted

judo committee page so parents or person

looking for information know straight away

who to contact

Activities for 2016

• March: Belgium SN Judo Open

• May: Vision Ireland may fest Presentation of sport for visual impairment

• June: Switzerland SN Judo Open

• November: Nederland SN Judo Open

• December: Cara National Seminar of inclusion