After weeks of intense training the day had finally arrived for the 13 players taking part in British Schools Judo at ICE Sheffield. Expectations were high and as we are becoming accustomed to, they did the coaches, club and parents proud. First up to fight on the day were Ben Attwood, Elissa Britton, Adam Bourne, Scott Bennett and Beth Andrews in the Year 10 & 11 age group. Ben was fighting in a group of 16 in the under 60kg and faced a tough prospect of repeating his success in the under 55kg the year before. Ben’s first fight was a close affair but eventually he won out over his opponent by forcing him into mistakes and being awarded the fight on penalty score. The second fight appeared to be more routine with Ben throwing his opponent for ippon. The semi-final fight was to be an all Somerset affair with his opponent coming from Gordano School. This fight was to be another close battle which went the duration with Ben again winning by forcing his opponent into mistakes and conceding the penalty score. In the final Ben made lighter work of his opponent in just over a minute when he brought a halt to proceedings by throwing his rival for ippon. It was a fantastic achievement for Ben to be crowned champion for the 2^nd year running!

On weighing in Elissa was slightly over target weight by 100grams which meant that she had to move up to next group. Liss’s group was to be decided in a best of three fight off against a more experienced and significantly heavier opponent. In the first fight the two opponents probed each other looking for a weakness but both found it difficult to make that decisive attack that would finish the fight. The breakthrough finally came when both girls ended up on the mat after another attack where there was no clear advantage but Liss’s opponent managed to gain the advantage and held down Liss to take the first fight. Unfortunately for Elissa the second fight followed a similar pattern and resulted in the same outcome with her losing to a hold down. Though Liss had to settle for silver she approached the fights with no fear and gave her all as always.

Adam was next up and made a good start to his quest for the under 55kg crown winning his first fight on points in a contest that went the duration and the second fight by hold down. In the semi-final fight Adam competed well but unfortunately lost the fight after getting held down which meant that he would now go into the bronze medal fight. Despite the disappointment of missing out on the final, Adam regained his composure and won his fight to claim the bronze medal. Beth was competing in a group of 5 in the under 48kg which meant that the group would be run on a round robin format. Beth’s dominated her first fight which ended quickly when she held down her opponent for the ippon after 1 min 30 secs. In her second fight Beth was again quickly on top and eventually finished off her opponent with a throw for ippon and unfortunately for Beth’s opponent she was forced to withdraw from the competition due to injury. Unfortunately for Beth the next two fights did not go her way losing to a strangle hold in the third fight and being thrown for ippon in her last fight. Beth had fought well all the way through and won a well deserved bronze. Scott Bennett competed in the over 81kg group and despite winning only one his four fights competed well. Unfortunately for Scott he was disqualified in his last fight for an infringement which meant a premature end to his day. Despite this Scott can be pleased with his battling performances.

Next up was the Year 6 & 7 age groups which had our interest in the form of Joe Andrews, Marc Arsac, Ben Emmanuel and Megan Robinson. Joe was up first and went at it like an express train dominating his first fight and eventually winning by an ippon through a hold down. In his second fight Joe made light work of his opponent and threw him for an ippon in a mere 38 secs meaning that Joe had made the final. The final was a tight affair which went the full 3 minute duration but unfortunately Joe’s opponent had thrown him for a waza-ari and he was unable to claw the score back .On this occasion Joe had to settle for silver but can rightly be proud of how he fought. Marc Arsac was next up and probably had the toughest task of all those fighting as he had to negotiate a group of 24 fighters. Marc’s first three fights were all tight affairs and went the full distant but he came out on top each time and soon found himself in the semi-finals. Unfortunately Marc lost this fight when he was thrown for ippon and dropped into the bronze medal fight off. The fight for bronze was a battle of attrition with neither Marc nor his opponent able to gain the upper hand, however it was arguable that Marc was the more positive of the two. An extra period of two minutes was needed and this time Marc’s opponent perhaps had the upper hand but again at the end of the extra time the two fighters could not be separated. The destiny of bronze was to be decided by flags and somewhat harshly on Marc it was awarded to his opponent.

The last of the boys in the year 6/7 under 50kg category was Ben Emmanuel competing in his first major competition. Ben’s first fight was going well and was still in the bout when with fifteen seconds to go his opponent threw him for ippon meaning Ben would go into the repechage to fight for the bronze medal. In his next fight Ben fought well and beat his opponent when he held him down meaning that the bronze medal was within touching distance. Despite his best efforts Ben unfortunately was unable to overcome his opponent and was held down three quarters the way through the fight, meaning that Ben would have to settle for a very credible 5^th place. Our only girl in this age group was Megan Robinson who was fighting at under 48Kgs. Due to lack of numbers in the next weight group up the decision was taken to combine it with Megan’s group meaning that she would have a total of 4 fights. Megan won her first fight against her opponent from the heavier weight group with hold down after a couple of minutes and quickly followed that up by the winning her second fight against an opponent from her own weight group in the same manner. In her next fight she was due to meet a local rival that on previous occasions Megan had got the better of but her opponent had decided to withdraw from the competition depriving Megan of repeating history. Megan went into her last fight knowing that with a win she would add another title to go along with her British U10/11 title. Sadly on this occasion Megan ended up with silver after losing to a second waza-ari half way through the fight but nonetheless a fruitful day for her.

The final year group we had an interest in was year 8/9 with Eli, Isaac, Tash and Ellie. Ellie was first up in the under 44kg and in her first fight Eleanor was straight on the front foot attacking her opponent. Despite one small moment when her experienced opponent looked quizzically at the referee for a score more in hope than anything, Eleanor was always in control and ended the fight in 1 min 24 secs by throwing her opponent onto her back for ippon. What a start! Eleanor went into her second fight knowing that a win would put her into the final and you would think that this prospect would raise her level of nervousness but we couldn’t have been more wrong. Again Eleanor was straight on the front foot with one probing attack after another but she just couldn’t get the score her judo deserved. As time ticked on towards the 2 minute mark it looked like that despite her dominance the fight was going down to the wire. Then in the blink of an eye Eleanor launched another attack with a drop seoi nage and her opponent was on her back with the referee’s arm aloft in the ippon position. Eleanor had done it, she was in her first major final! The final was to be an all West Country affair as Eleanor’s opponent was from Devon and had won a silver medal the previous year so it would be a tough ask for Eleanor. The fight started and Eleanor was straight on the attack attempting a tomoe-nage only to get herself held down and seemingly staring defeat in the face. However she never gave up and managed to break free and turn on her front. The final continued to be a close fought encounter until Eleanor seized on a mistake and pulled her opponent back and was awarded the ippon. Eleanor had done it, the gold medal was hers. Whilst Elle was winning her gold Tash had also started on her conquest to repeat her success from the previous year. Tash made a stunning start to her first under 52Kg fight by attacking and throwing her opponent for ippon in an incredible 2 seconds. Tasha’s second fight followed the same pattern but lasted a bit longer….a whole 6 seconds!! This fine performance had put Tasha into the final but she knew that she faced tough task against a fellow Gloucestershire squad player that she had not beaten before. The final proved to be a close affair with the two opponents cancelling each other out and it looked like it was heading towards overtime when Tasha struck at the death to record a score meaning that she was a British Schools champion for the second year running, a fantastic achievement!

The first of the boys up was Isaac in the under 42kg group. In his first fight Isaac competed well and gave as good as he got but got caught when he walked back and his opponent threw him to score a waza-ari. Unfortunately Isaac never managed to claw back the score despite trying everything before the clock ran down. This meant that Isaac went into the repechage for a bronze medal but his competition was to come to a premature end when he lost his next fight when his opponent threw him for ippon. Eli was the last of the BSJC crew to fight on the day in the under 46kgs and started in fine style winning his first fight with an ippon. In Eli’s second fight he always had the upper hand scoring fairly early on with a waza-ari and the contest ended on two minutes when he again scored a waza-ari. Eli was through to the semi-final but unfortunately for Eli, he was out fought by his opponent and lost after being thrown for ippon just under half way through the fight. This meant that he was now fighting for bronze but unfortunately for Eli it didn’t go his way and he ended with a very respectable fifth place. With the end of Eli’s competition the curtain down on another very successful day for the club bringing back 8 medals in total.

There are several things that haven’t been commented on throughout this report but deserve a special mention;

First of all the coaches that ran round like mad things all day ensuring the kids were prepared and had everything they needed to go into battle. Pete, Kevin and Roy were nothing short of inspirational and their dedication to the kids is greatly appreciated by all.

Secondly the fantastic BSJC supporters who again made themselves heard and supported each fighter like they were their own kids. You sometimes wonder what the atmosphere would be like without them.

Last but not least a big thank you must go to Steph Walker who spent all day helping warm up her fellow BSJC club mates though she wasn’t competing herself.

Just when I thought it was as good as it can get I got the phone call. It came from Steve Miles; “Pete hasn't been selected” he said and he was livid. He had every right to be as Pete Miles is a two-time British champion and number one in his category and would be the natural choice and selection. Steve decided there and then he would ring up the squad and give them a piece of his mind and I know he did so but found the phone engaged which was a LUCKY is thing. Just a few minutes later he rang back, apparently he read down the listing sheets, couldn't see Pete’s name and went ballistic which was the point he rang me. However, upon closer inspection there were further listings at the bottom of the sheet and under the listings for the Cadet European Cup in Kiev, Ukraine from 30th March – 4th April 2012 (which would be the most prestigious of the contests) not only did he find Pete listed in the you u55kg but also Lele as the u57kg player.

Imagine that!

We now have two top players from Bradley Stoke judo club going to the top Cadet contest of the year, I couldn't be happier! It's a good job Steve’s phone call wasn't answered. So now Nick and myself have two go into top gear getting these two ready for Kiev and who knows I may even be accompanying them!