During the weekend of the 13-14th of June the Latvian Judo Federation organized an Improve Your Club seminar in Riga supported by the EJU. The seminar gathered nearly 100 coaches from four different nations:Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Russia and was delivered by the invited EJU expert Mr. Hiroshi Katanishi.
The Improve Your Club programme of seminars is developed by the EJU expert group and is supported by the EJU. The objective for the programme and for the seminar in Riga is to further improve the teaching for kids 8-12 years old in local judo clubs. Since kids in local clubs are the starting point for all future judo, including future national teams, it is most important that the education of the young judoka is effective both in teaching the basic principles of judo and in motivating the young judoka to continue practicing and competing in judo.
One of the Estonian coaches attending the seminar in Riga was Mrs. Toni Eylandt, from ‘Toni Judoskool’ club in Tallinn: ”I am very happy for coming to this seminar which I find very good.” From ‘Toni Judoskool’ three coaches and two students attended the seminar in Riga. ”I am also glad that we came with many coaches from our club because there are so many examples and exercises to remember”, Mrs. Eylandt says.
Another coach at the seminar praising the teaching of EJU expert Mr. Katanishi was Mr. Evgeny Lvov from Russia: ”When I was informed Mr. Katanishi was giving an Improve Your Club seminar in Riga I decided immediately to participate. I regard Mr. Katanishi as one of the most important authorities in teaching judo for kids.”
Mr. Katanishi himself praised the attending coaches for their endurance in staying focused during the four times three hours long sessions on the tatami during the seminar and their willingness to work with the practical examples. Mr. Katanishi also expressed his gratitude to Mr. Andrejs Magers who volunteered as Uke for him and to Ms. Darya Davidova who translated his teaching in French into both Russian and English during the seminar.
Organiser of the seminar Mr. Vsevolods Zelonijs, secretary general of the Latvian Judo Federation, expressed his satisfaction with the seminar: ”This was a very important seminar for our coaches. There are so much to learn from the EJU experts so we would like to organise an Improve Your Club seminar every year.”
