Castle Hill’s Budokan Judo Club, which has produced Olympians and Commonwealth Games medallists, honoured their outstanding athletes, coaches, and volunteers at its latest 21st Awards Night.
Having been began by the highly-experienced judokas Rob and Kerrye Katz 25 years ago with just 10 members and two lessons every week, the Budokan Judo Club now has greater than 200 members and runs 9 classes each week.
Budokan Judo Club Budokan Judo Club’s Crowning Glory
“When we took over the club in 1999, Kerrye and I tapped into all of the experiences that we had as athletes coaching at completely different golf equipment all all over the world once we had been competing,” Rob explained. “Our goal was to build a club with a unique culture: one which focussed on a grass-roots entity as a community-based family-oriented judo club while additionally paving the method in which for top efficiency and worldwide competitiveness.
“Our imaginative and prescient has always been to be recognised within the judo and common communities as the premium judo coaching centre in Australia. Rather than focussing on outcomes, our coaching culture instills acknowledgement for participation in each facet of the game, in taking over challenges and placing in one of the best efforts in all actions, classes that assist in all aspects of life.’
Olympians Nathan And Josh Katz Budokan Judo Club’s Crowning GloryRob stated that they succeeded in constructing depth in every age group. Thanks to a powerful mentoring ethic by senior athletes, this has resulted in important performance achievements, he said.
Rob mentioned their biggest achievement in competitors is having constant representation year after yr at the World Championship degree across all three senior age groups: under-17, under-21, and senior.
“The pinnacle of accomplishment has been having two Olympic representatives in Athens, followed by our first two home-grown Olympic representatives in Rio 2016 and then once more in Tokyo 2020,” Rob mentioned. The club had been also very proud to have won two bronze medals on the 2022 Commonwealth Games, adding to their growing international profile.
“We have one athlete presently on observe for qualification to Paris 2024 and are also pleased with our diversity,” Rob mentioned. “We had two athletes winning a gold medal and silver medal on the Virtus Asia-Oceania Games, the primary time that Budokan has been represented at a global multi-sport competitors within the Oceania-Asia region for elite athletes with an mental impairment.
“Budokan Judo Club’s membership ranges from four to eighty one years from recreation players, to interested parents to Olympians and everything in between.”