The three-day Adapted Judo Training Camp and Coaching Seminar, held at the heart of French judo, was a resounding success. Workshops were led by several EJU Adapted Judo experts in collaboration with Para Judo France, both on and off the mat. Mr. Sébastien Nolesini, Director General of France Judo also paid a visit to the gathering. To conclude, Mr. Sergei Aschwanden, EJU Vice President and Head of EJU Education Sector shared his insights;
I think we can be very satisfied and happy that we are starting a collaboration with France Judo, it is a big and important federation not only in Europe but in the world. It is great to see that they work on the inclusion aspect, to form different cultures and listen to the different topics that we want to bring to them with the development of adapted judo. So, I think it is the start of a nice collaboration in the future.
In France, there is a separate entity in charge of adapted judo, called French Federation of Adapted Sports (FFSA) where the classification rules are differ from the EJU Adapted Judo rules of divisioning. What is your viewpoint on the situation?
SA: Having another unit to collaborate with shows the complexity of the system. We also had to deal with different institution when we started establishing the common rules for adapted judo so it’s not a surprise for us. The only difference is that we see an institutional aspect at France Judo which is a separate entity from the FFSA. It was good to have representatives from both organisation here as it had enabled us to have open and honest discussion and to try and find a way to compromise. Through these discussions and exchanges we will hopefully find the way to work together. Even just after a few days, we agreed on some of the fundamentals which itself shows good progress and now we need to finalise different details.
Were you satisfied with the number of people attended despite the unexpected disruption?
SA: During past days we were able to explain our vision, to show what has been done in the past two years to develop adapted judo and we will keep on developing as we have a lot of demand and interest and I think France Judo is also interested to work with us in the development of adapted judo and inclusion.
SA: Having a red security alert in the country is something we cannot plan for and even thought it had an influence on the numbers it is better that way then the opposite. We still had a good turnout and the French team is open and motivated to rework in the future and increase the collaboration. We also need to make some adjustments ourselves because it is the first year that we are doing it, this is absolutely normal.
The country itself is not new to adapted judo as via FFSA they have been organising regional and national championships for at least over a decade. It is now about developing adapted judo via a set of standardised rules. With that in mind, what else can France Judo bring to the table?
SA:France is having a huge tradition in judo, I think it is the reference of judo in Europe at the moment and we can see it through the different events that they are doing. It would be a mistake not to listen to them, hear them out with their own experiences, learn from them and improve adapted judo in Europe collectively.
SA:With that being said, I would like to thank the French Judo Federation, FFSA and the EJU team for doing a tremendous job. When I had the opportunity to translate the content of what we were doing in the last two years it was quite impressive and we have more to come.
Adapted Get Together Tournament
To enjoy the fruit of their hard work, a short adapted judo tournament was held on the final day for all participants wished to partake where once again lot had been learned from both sides. Ms Kerry Tansey , EJU Adapted Judo expert was personally impressed;
Its fantastic to see the level of technical judo these athletes can achieve, it’s a credit to themselves and their coaches. The determination and passion they show to win is amazing and all to come off with smiles, friendship and respect. French Adapted judoka will show a premium competency at events in the future. Disability doesn’t stop anyone who wants to achieve, to win, to aspire. I am very proud to be a part of the Adapted Judo team.
Are you interested in organizing an Adapted Judo seminar in your country? Please contact EJU Adapted Judo department via [email protected]
Images: EJU/Carlos Ferreira
Author: Szandra Szogedi