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Author: Tatjana Flade
It has been a little over a year since former German top judoka and 1998 European Champion Daniel Gürschner took over as head coach in Norway. While winter sports thrive in the Scandinavian country, judo is a sport that still has lot of potential for development.
“I have seen actually a lot of good judoka some of which have a good technical base,” said Gürschner. “Now we have to build a system and it is my job to be part of this. Right now we are taking small steps but I see definitely progress.”
There is no national judo training center at this time and the focus is on three big clubs in the Norwegian capital of Oslo that cooperate with the federation. “It is my wish and my vision that we one day will have such a training center where only the national team will be training,” Gürschner shared. “Right now we are still far away from that. However, we are seeing results. Kornelius Eilertsen came third at the European Open in Warsaw in February this year with a very strong performance. Not only the seniors, but also the cadets are starting to deliver results now. It was important to me to build a strong base so that we will have a few years athletes at the senior level that have according results.”
Norway has about 4,400 members in the judo clubs. Currently, the system is not yet as professional as in other countries. “There are only few full-time coaches,” Gürschner noted. “We have a lot of ambitious colleagues that have another job and they come maybe at four in the afternoon after work to the training. Obviously, that costs energy and we just need more paid coaches. Also, we have to prevail over other sports. As you know, winter sports and handball are very present in Norway. For us it is hard to compete with them at the moment.”
Judo right now is not yet in the focus of the Norwegian sports authorities and the Olympic training center. “Judo plays a very small role but we have an ambitious sports director who tries to open some doors and he did that,” Gürschner noted. “We have to start with small steps but it is looking good, I think. Now we need to deliver results and that will open more doors.”
The head coach’s plan to make judo more popular involves encouraging clubs to hold more competitions so that the young athletes get more competitive experience. Another idea is to organise international club events with athletes from other countries. Gürschner feels positive about the future and he likes the attitude of the Norwegians. “They have this Viking attitude, act first and ask later. That’s good.”
Author: EJU Media