The first ever ‘Adapted Judo in Europe’ Workshop is fast approaching. This weekend, the Bavarian capital Munich will be welcoming many from national judo federations as well as the European Judo Union’s Executive Committee between the 21st and 23rd of April.
Marina DRAŠKOVIĆ whose work focuses on the Adapted Judo Project for the EJU, expresses the importance of such a workshop and how this initial step will result in incredible changes.
By holding this workshop, the EJU is sending a message that it recognises the importance of inclusion and accessibility in judo and is taking concrete steps to ensure that everyone, regardless of their ability, can participate in the sport.
The main topics at the workshop will be the beginning of work on the unified classification and rules that are the basis for the further development of adapted judo within the EJU. In addition, national judo federations will present their best practices; new logos for adapted judo will be presented and a media campaign will be announced as well as an adapted judo camp in Poreč in June.
This workshop is an important step towards creating a more inclusive and accessible sports environment for individuals with disabilities. It will help to promote participation, awareness, and understanding, and ensure that judo really is more than a sport.
In my opinion, the EJU quote “Judo – more than sport” says everything.
Marina’s work is embedded in adapted judo and has been running the Judo Klub Fuji in Croatia for over a decade now, winning the European Commission Award for Inclusivity.
This is a very important project under the Education umbrella of the European Judo Union. Given that, according to the World Health Organization, there are an estimated 1.3 billion people currently experiencing significant disability, there is much that sport, judo in particular, can do in terms of inclusivity.
Author: Thea Cowen