The newly established European Judo Hopes Cup & Technical Session Kodokan Experts is a great way to bring all enthusiastic 13 and 14-year-old judoka together and onto their very own EJU tour.
The first two-day edition was held this weekend in Sarajevo. This event is made of a competition and technical session, both which, all participants are required to attend.
Winner of the Tokyo Olympic Games bronze medal, Maria CENTRACCHIO of Italy was first guest to join the expert team and was excited to inspire the next generation of young judokas.
It’s a great honor for me to be here. It’s my first time at this location in Sarajevo, and the organization is very good. I think this is a good place to compete but also to learn. I’m very happy to have joined the EJU at this event. For me, this is not a problem because I love doing it. It’s not difficult for me to pass on knowledge and passion to young judokas to help them develop. I sincerely hope to inspire young people to become stronger and achieve better results than me in life. I am grateful to be here and to share my passion with them.
I think the young judokas are very motivated. I noticed that they are interested in what we are doing even during training. They didn’t spare energy during training, and I think that’s the right spirit for them to grow and become stronger.
The most important thing is that this competition is designed together with training, so the focus is not only on competition but also a lot of attention is paid to training. I believe that training and competition are a very good combination.
Author: Thea Cowen