Young Aaron Sawyer-Copus presenting the cheque for £500 from the Boost Charity, received by Santa Claus (no, not really, it's just John dressed up!) at our last Club night before the Christmas hols. Many thanks from the Club to all the Sawyer-Copus family, for their efforts in gaining the funding from Boost for our Club.

NACYP Competition 26th November, The Parks, North Shields. Only 4 of our younger students took part in this event - all of them trying really hard and we are very proud of them for doing so. Runners up for Harvey, Thomas, Liam and James

South Shields Competition - Gold Medals for Harry Burns and Peter Hampshire, Silver for Morgan Smith and Alex Hampshire, with Bronzes for Ryan Edwards, Mathew Chapman, Dominic Robson and James Scott - well done everyone! Pic of Harry (centre), Morgan and James - a full set of Gold, Silver and Bronze

Well done Georgie ! Georgie McEwan receiving her Bronze Medal at the 2011 Irish Open in Dublin. Very tough event, with competitors from the UK, Germany, Estonia etc and of course, Ireland. Well done also to our SN players who competed the following day, with Gold for Liam and Terri, Silver for Nikki andAlex S-C Bronzes for Alex F and Aaron. See scrapbook for more pics.

2nd October - Well done Ryan and Liam on your Bronze trophies at the North East Championships this weekend.

27th August BJA SN Open British Championships -  Largs, Scotland. & of our SN students travelled up to the west coast of Scotland, with a hair raising dash through the airport mandatory! Congratulations go to Daniel P., Terri, Nikki, Alex SW. and Aaron on winning gold, with Natalie and Liam earning hard fought bronze. Everyone of you fought superbly and were great representatives of the club! Well Done!

21 - 26 th August - BJC Summer camp - Bognor. 12 of our students travelled with their parents for a week long judo course in Bognor Regis, with the opportunity to grade on the last day. Congratulations to all on their new grades, whilst demonstrating a great attitude and work ethos throughout the week! (See scrapbook for pics)

Wednesday 27th July 2011 - Club closed tonight as we are all off to see BATMAN LIVE! at the Metro Arena, Newcastle. Michael Pickering (Sensei's son, Daniel's brother) starring in the role of Robin the Boy Wonder. A fantastic show and Michael (a founder member of our Club and ex BJC National Junior Champion) was terrific (ok, I'm biased, but he really was! - Sensei and proud Dad) 

Washington Primary Open - 24th July 2011 - Our Club played host to this event for under 10 yr olds, with entries from several local Clubs. Well done to our own primaries - 3 Silvers for Thomas, Poppy and Liam, 2 Bronzes for Ryan and Harry and Runners-Up medals for James and Harvey. Many thanks to the parents who helped make this a great day for the kids (and raised over £400 for Club funds!) 

Alex Fisher, presented with a Spirit Of Judo Award for his exemplary attitude and sportsmanship during the recent British Schools Judo Championships in Sheffield. Well done Alex, we are all very proud of you.

Sunday 1st May - BJC Junior Nationals, Hereford. Five of our students took the familiar but long road to Hereford to compete. All fought fantastically and were great representatives of the club. A gold medal for Peter H., in the U40kg cateogry, whilst siblings Emily and Alex took silvers in the U65kg and U45kg categories respectively. A hard fought bronze medal was won by Alex F., (fighting in the U60kg's) his first national medal for the club, proving that perserverence really does yield rewards! Commiserations to Nicholas, having moved up to the open category was unlucky not to medal this time!

Sunday 23rd April  - East Of Scotland SN Tournament - The two McDermott sisters representing our Club (the rest on holiday!) at this event in Edinburgh - A Gold for Terri and Silver for Nikki - well done girls. See Scrapbook for pic of the girls with their friends from our sister Club - Portland College

Saturday 9th April - Holland. SN International Competition. Six of our SN students were selected to represent Team GB at this annual tournament. Daniel P., Terri, Nikki, Liam L., Alex and Callam flew off in their GB hoodies and represented the club fantastically; two golds, three silvers and a bronze. Young Aaron also competed on the day, and won a silver medal in only his 2nd ever competition. Well Done everyone. Pic of the GB Senior and Junior squad.

Sunday 3rd April - Yes Mother's Day! BJC graded and Veterans Comp - North Shields. 11 of our students entered this local event, and for many was their first taste of competitive judo. All players were awarded a medal, and we came back with: 3 silvers for Liam L., Alex and Adam B, bronze medals for siblings Harry and Poppy and runner up medals for Abigail, Liam P., Morgan, Ryan E., Reece and David.  A little picture of some of our little fighters from the day; Abigail, Morgan, Ryan, Liam and Adam.

Saturday 26th March - British Schools Championships - Sheffield. Three of our students entered this event, representing their respective school/college. Thomas, Alex and Nicholas all fought well, with a hard fought bronze medal for Nicholas and Alex received a 'Spirit of Judo' award for his exemplary matside etiquette! Well done lads!

Sponsored Throw Event - in aid of the Prince's Trust. Well done to everyone taking part in the event last night. A total of £232 was raised for the Prince's Trust charity. Participants had to work in pairs and achieve as many throws on their partner as possible in 1 minute. The pair with the most number of throws each winning a £10 Cinema voucher. The winners in the Primary group were@ James O'Donnell and Liam Potts (49 throws) and in the junior: Alexander Sawyer-Copus and Liam Lister (48 throws). Picture of Daniel Pickering presenting the cheque to Alan Darcy of the Prince's Trust.

Kendal - Kyu and Mon Grade Open A great competition for some of our younger and newer members. Eight of our students took to the mat today, and all fought fantastically - gaining valuable experience at a well run event. Gold medals (yes two) were taken by Alex Forster, after volunteering to fight in two categories. Silver for Liam and bronze medals to Thomas S., Jay, Reece, James, Ryan and Niall. Well done also to our good friends Emily, Alex and Peter from Durham Judokwai who travelled down with us, two gold's and a bronze. Well done all!

6th February - Bradley Stokes SN Comp - Bristol. Six of our students travelled down to this bi-annual event, and all fought very well and represented the club fantastically! Gold medals were won by Terri, Natalie and Alex with silver's taken by Nikki, Liam and Aaron in his first ever competition! Well done all.

Bagpack Sainsbury's  & Morrison's . Thanks to all parents and students who turned up to one or either of these days. Between the two we have managed to raise just under £1200 for club funds, which is fantastic. Thank you all.

It's Xmas Panto time - Oh yes it is !!! - 17 of our Primaries enjoyed 'Jack and the Beanstalk' at the Royalty theatre in Sunderland. Paid for from Club funds as an end of year treat. 

21st November - Senior Nationals, Hereford. Well done to our lone entry Daniel Coutakis coming home with a hard fought bronze medal from the U81kg dan grade category!

Fun Run - Many thaks to Encompass Healthcare of Washington for their generous donation of £250 towards our Club funds following completion of their organsed Fun Run. Pictured (Rear L to R) Dr Tracey Lucas, Tracey Sawyer-Copus and Jackie Spencer (Practise Manager), together with Aaron and Alexander Sawyer-Copus from the Club.

Monday 8th November - Club AGM. We would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to a long-standing parent, Debbie Lorraine as she bows out of the committee after many years, she has been a great supporter and friend of the club and we wish her well in her dog show endeavers. Also the committee would like to welcome Tracey Sawyer - Copus and Joanne Cairns to the committee, we look forward with having your input to the club.

South Shields Comp 6th November - Four of our students entered this local event, all fighting well and returning with medals. A big well done to Evan who took a gold and silver medal, having fought in two categories. Silver for Liam and bronze medals went to Georgie and Alex. Well done guys!

Club Halloween Party 2010 - a great night. Thanks to all the Mams and Dads for their contributions to the buffet and well done to everyone that came in fancy dress - there's some scary people out there!! 

24th October - Midlands Novice and Intermediate Competition - Walsall  Nine of our students plus two of our friends travelled down to Walsall for a great day of competetive judo. The club returned with 8 medals; gold's for Georgie, Alex F. (in his first ever competition) and Adam (in the senior category), silver's for Evan and Alex and bronze medals for Liam, Alex S.C and Taryn. hard luck to Ryan, who fought well but didn't medal this time. Well done to, to our friends Alex and Peter Hampshire who won silver and bronze in their respective categories!

2010 Dutch SN Open - Well done to Daniel (Gold) and Terri (Silver) at teh Dutch Open in Holland at the weekend. A very tough contest, for level 1 and 2 players only.  Particular congratulations to Danie, who only recently returned to judo (with his young son, Thomas) after 4 years off and having gained his place with the BJA Great Britain Squad following his gold at the recent Nationals. Team Gb came 3rd overall - well done all of them.

British National Closed SN Championships, 14th August 2010 - A great day, with the event being held for the first time in the Northern Region. 4 Golds (Daniel, Natalie, Terri and Callam, 2 Silvers (Nikki and Alexander) and 4 Bronzes (Tom, Liam, Brooke and Billy). Many thanks to our friends at Portland College for providing the venue, to Tracey, Albert and family for all of their help and to our star girls/ladies  for running the Tombola / Raffle (we made £189 for Club funds!)

Westgate Graded Competition - 14th July - Five of our younger, less experienced judoka took part in this local graded competition, with Bronzes being won by Liam, Mathew and Mark - well done lads.

Buon Viaggio Daniel and Kate - Our two young Black Belts are off to Italy for three weeks to take part in training sessions with out Italian friends. One week with Sergio Olivieri and his students near Rignano , then a week staying with friends Eugenio and Marco, followed by a further week of training with Sensei Barioli and his students near Ravenna. Enjoy yoursleves guys, work hard!

Mams night out - Sat 3rd July. The committee has decided we need to reinstate this once bi-annual event, and so will be having a meal and drink down by the Riverside. Please see Angie if you fancy coming along.

Midlands Open - 6th June 2010 - 6 of our younger members travelled down to Tamworth for this Area competition, together with two of our friends from Durham Judo Kwai. Gold for Georgie, Silvers for Nicholas and Taryn and Bronzes for Robert and Evan. Golds also for Peter and Alex who both represent Durham Judo Kwai - Well done all of you and well tried Liam on your Runners-up medal.

Cromer 2010 - Congratulations to Kate McDermott on gaining her BJC Black Belt (to go with the BJA Black Belt she already has. I am really pleased for you Kate - Sensei. Congrats also to Nicholas Coutakis on his first Junior Black Bar and to James Knight on his Yellow Belt with one Orange Bar. Well done all of you.

Saturday 22nd May - Beginners and Novice Comp - Ashington. Six  of our less experienced students entered this local competition and got a taste of competitive judo!  Second place medals went to Robert and Matthew P., with third place for Kieron W. and James K. and Liam and Niall took runner up medals, well done lads!

Saturday 15th May - Sainsbury's Bag pack - The Galleries . Despite the low turn out, those members who did come along managed to raise £680 for club funds. This money is vital in helping us to offer support and opportunities to all of our students, enabling us to travel further afield and enjoy new expereinces! thank you everyone who supported us on the day - real troopers! 

Sunday 2nd May - BJC Junior Nationals, Hereford.  Following on from his recent success at the british Schools, our only competitor Nicholas took the long road down to Hereford with his dad, entering a new weight of U60kg. Nicholas fought really, and took a hard won Silver medal! Well done Nic - we are all proud of you!

We have always prided ourselves as an inclusive Club, offering opportunities to participate in the sport of Judo regardless of ability / disability. This was amply demonstrated this weekend when students from our Club attended two competitions on the same day - 10 of our mainstream players travelled to Leicester for the Leicester Open Championships, returning with a Gold (Kate in the senior category),4 Silvers (Nicholas, the McEwan twins Georgie and Evan and Thomas Fisher) and 1 bronze for Adam Fisher ( his first ever time in a senior category). In the meantime, 8 of our SN players travelled up to Edinburgh to compete in the East of Scotland SN Championships returning with 7 Golds (sisters Terri and Nikki, Billy, Natalie, Alexander, Sophie and Callam) and a Silver for Liam. Well done all of you - a credit to the Club each and every one of you.

BJC area Grade Competition 17th April 2010 - Ten of our students took part in this local competition held at the Parks Sports Centre, North Shields. Three Golds taken by Kate, Alexander and James with young Mathew taking a hard earned Bronze in his category. Commiserations to Nicholas who had to pull out injured and well done the rest of you for trying so hard.  

SN Open G-judo  Competition - Beverwijk, The Netherlands - Six of our students made the hop across the channel for this prestigious event and have all come home with hard fought medals! Well done to Nikki on winning gold, whilst Terri, Liam, Alex, Callam and Sophie all took bronze medals in this event with over 300 participants! Our sister Club, Portland also did well, with young Ailesha also bringing back a Gold. Pic of the combined team. (see Scrapbook for more photos)

British Schools Judo Championships 20th March 2010 - Congratulations to Nicholas Coutakis and big brother Daniel at the recent BSJA event. Daniel narrowly lost a hard fought final (by Yuko) to take Silver whilst young Nicholas stormed through his category to take the Gold. Commisserations to Alex Fisher who also took part in this very high quality event but was unable to take home anything this time. (sorry I couldn't be there guys to cheer you on - it was my Wedding anniversary that day and my life would not have been worth living if I had gone! Well done).

The Club is presented with a cheque for £500 from Gentoo. Picture of Albert (who has himself recently joined us on the mat) presenting the cheque, with his two sons, Alex and Aaron standing by to receive it. Many thanks to Gentoo for their kind generosity. 

Sunday 7th March - English U20 Open, Kendal. Only one of our students entered this top ranking event. Returning from injury Daniel entered the U81kg category, and although did not win, demonstrated some excellent judo and is well on his way to recovery!  

Sunday 14th February - Area Grading - Wallsend. The club had a large turn out to the area grading this weekend, with many of our students going for their very first grade. Well done to all who took part, we hope you enjoyed the day and congratulations on your new Grade!   

The Club Dippers, on the way down to the beach amongst the 1086 people taking part (1300 entries but just over 200 bottled out when they woke up this morning - 2 deg C. there was actually ice on the Beach! But it didn't put our guys off, with all 13 taking part and raising over £500 (over £65,000 raised in total for a wide variety of charities)  

Thomas and Jay take up boxing as part of mixed martial arts training. More pics in scrapbook.

Washington Judo Club Goes Wild! - an end of year treat for some of our junior and senior judoka. 21 of our players (with a handful of parents - bless them) were treated to a day at Beamish Wild Rope Activity centre - split into two groups they spent the day taking part in a Crate Stack Team event (see Scrapbook for pic), watching the Bird Of Prey Flight demonstration and the highlight, taking to the trees. Well recommended by everyone who took part! Totally safe but nerve wracking nonetheless!

Saturday November 21st NAYCP Competition - Newcastle Four of our members entered this local event, and all fought well. Gold for Nicholas in the U55kg's, silver for Kate in the senior female open and runner up medals for Michael and young Ryan who both fought in groups with much bigger competitors!....meanwhile over in Venray, Holland at the Senshu International Special Needs Tournament, our SN students represented the club with style, Gold for Nikki, silver for Liam, Terri and Ailesha (pic taken on the Ryanair flight returning to the UK - they almost had to pay extra for excess luggage due to the size of the medals!), well done all! (see Scrapbook for more photos)

Sunday 15th November BJC Senior Nationals - Hereford Three of our older members took the long road to Hereford for what would be their last youth entry into Nationals, and we are pleased to say all three fought well, returning with well deserved medals. Bronze medals for Daniel and Michael and Gold for Kate in what has been an exceptional run in the female espoir category, well done all!

Saturday 31st October - Welsh SN International - Cardiff Four of our students took the long road to Cardiff this weekend for what was an a very well organised and contested event. All four competitors took medals, with Gold for sisters Terri and Nikki, Silver for Natalie and Bronze for Liam. Well done all of you!

Sunday 11th October - BJA 2009 British Championships - Sheffield  Only 1 member of the club entered this high ranking event and we're pleased to say Kate returned with a hard fought bronze, in what was the biggest female category of the day! Well done Kate!

Great Northern Open 3rd October 2009 - A team of 14 entered for this tournament which is organised jointly between our own Club and Juno Michi of Blyth. 2 Golds (Thomas F and Taryn - well done the two of you), 3 Silvers (Kate, Alex F and Liam) and 6 Bronzes for Nicholas, Alexander S-C, Adam, Ryan C, Ellis and Ryan W. Sadly, this year our Italian friends could not be with us but we still had our (now) traditional get together at Sensei's house - thanks everyone for all your help, both at the event and at the party - a great evening. 

Sunday 27th September BJC Welsh Nationals - Hereford The club took a small team of seven students to this event, where the girls shone on the day. Gold medals won by Kate (U60kg Espoir) and Georgie (U50kg) (in her 1st comp of the year), with a hard fought bronze awarded to Daniel (O71kg Espoir) commiserations go to Alex, Evan, Nicholas and Robert who all fought well but didn't medal this time. Our thanks to Steve, who after finding us a very comfortable and reasonable priced bus also drove us there and back - a real star - thanks very much Steve, greatly appreciated!

Narabi Dojo - Rignano Flaminio, Viterbo, Italy. 23 of us (students and parents) travelled over to Italy 9th September - 13th September 2009 to take part in our annual exchange visit with our friends from Narabi Dojo.Picture of Sergio Olivieri (kneeling, right), his students and the students from our club. A wonderful few days in a beautiful country, with warm, friendly people and a bit of Judo thrown in for good measure - terrific. See scrapbook for more photos  

Sunday 6th September - Heart Of England. Held at the NIA, Birmingham and possibly the largest and toughest event of the Judo calendar. Four of our judoka travelled down, with their supporters to take part in the event. No medals this time, but all won fights, with Kate and Kasey making it through to the Bronze medal fight-offs. Well done Daniel and Nicholas too. Very proud of you all.

Club BBQ Cox Green. At last! We managed to hold our annual get together today at Cox Green. Many thanks to everyone who turned up with food and provisions for what turned out to be a fairly pleasant, if not warm day. Well done to John and Marco (todays chefs) for their stirling efforts on the BBQ, no doubt helped by the ease of a gas burning barbie - cheers Mark!

British Closed Special Needs Championships (Walsall, 22nd Augist 2009) - Following closely on the heels of the Special Olympics our SN Judoka attended the National Championships this weekend, returning with 4 Golds (the McDermott sisters Terri and Nikki, Ailesha and our friend Anthony), 4 Silvers (Alexander, Liam, Bily and Sophie - bless her, the smallest girl there on the day) and 3 Bronzes for Natalie, Callam and Sarah). Well done all of you!

Special Olympics - Leicester 2009. Pic of our wonderful SN players, taken at the Leicester Sports Centre venue. Also pictured are our Coaches for the event: John Pickering (left) and Ronnie Scott (right- father of Sarah Scott, one of our medal winners) and Kate McDermott (middle rear - sister of Terri and Nikki). A tremendous week, with some 2,700 athletes taking part across 21 sports, from around the UK. This is only the second Special Olympics to feature Judo as an event so we are particularly proud of our team, both for their medal haul and for representing their sport and their region in such a positive way - well done all of you! See scrapbook for more pics of the week

**** Club BBQ Cancelled  - we will rearrange in August ****

Hot off the press..... Special Olympics 2009 - Leicester Hot from the individual events today, we are proud to report that the 12 Judo competitiors (10 of which from our own club) have fought magnificently and have an impressive 13 individual medals this week. Gold was won by Terri, Billy, Alex S., Aleisha and Liam, Silvers for Billy (that boy again)! Nikki, Sophie, Callam and Daniel W. and bronze medals were won by Natalie , and our friends Anthony Hedley and Sarah Scott. More details as it comes and pics to follow..... 

Two of our students; Daniel Coutakis and Kate Mcdermott were selected to join the Northern Area squad for the annual BJA National Team event, this year held in St. Helen's. The area entered teams in the Girl's, Ladies, Boy's and Men's events. Some magnificent judo was displayed on the day, with national and international judoka on the mat, and we're happy to report the girls managed to secure a bronze medal, in what was a very high class tournament.

Picture of the girls team with their coach Chloe Cowan (former Judo Olympian)

Meanwhile... back in Newcastle a small number of our students entered the BJC Graded event at Westgate Centre for Sport and represented the club in great style! Gold medals won by Liam L., James, Stephanie and Demi and silver medals for Thomas and Taryn. Well done all!

Committee Meeting 14th July.  A number of important changes have been agreed at a recent meeting, which the committee feels will take the club forward and aid us in our efforts to remain a positive and inspirational provider of community and competitive judo. More details to follow....

Special Olympics - Leicester 2009 We are delighted that 10 of our Special Needs students have been put forward for the Special Olympics at the end of July. Many thanks to all our sponsors: Mill View l Social Club, Lions, Variety Club and of course our own Club, who contributed £300 of the nearly £2000 raised. 

14th June - Fordley Novice and Beginners, Blyth - Six of our younger less experienced students attended this event, which gave them a good taste of competitive judo. congratulations to Liam on winning Gold, Ryan C. who got Silver and Taryn who won Bronze. Well done also to Phillip, James and Ryan W. who were awarded runner up medals.   

Dan the Dan Grade! - Congratulations to Daniel Coutakis on achieving his1st Dan at the Cromer Course last week. Daniel achieved his black belt in style, defeating two National squad players in his line up. Well done Daniel, you made my weekend when your rang and told me! Sensei  

Morrisons' Bagpack - 23rd May  Many thanks to the few valiant souls who gave up their time an fought against packing fatigue to come down to this our last pack of the year (for now)! We managed to raise £554.75 which will contribute to competitions and events in the coming months.

BJC Nationals - Hereford 3rd May  Eight of our students and their parents took the long road to Nationals,  with some excellent judo displayed on the day. Congratulations go to Kate, who secured the National title for the second year running (U60kg Espoir), well done also, to Daniel (O71kg Espoir), Ashley (U60kg Espoir) and Stephanie (U50kg) who all took bronze in hard fought categories. Commiserations to Alex, Jade, Thomas and Nicholas who all fought well, better luck next time. 

CONGRATULATIONS! to our very own Kate McDermott for being selected by the BJA to join their National Squad. Well done young lady, you are a credit to the Club and to your parents and I know how hard you have worked for this - Sensei

East Of Scotland Special Needs Competition - 25th April 2009. A lovely drive up to the Edinburgh International Climbing Centre at Ratho for this SN competition. 7 of our SN students, plus another 6 from our sister club Portland School took part in this event, with Golds for Billy, Terri, Nikki and Liam (sorry for missing you off the original report mate!), Silver for Natlie, Alexander and Sophie and Bronzes for Callum and Sophie again (fought in 2 categories). Well done also to Portland for their 1 Gold, 3 Silvers and 3 Bronzes. Picture of the team with some of their supporters taken outside the event.

Area Graded Competition - Westgate 19th April 2009 - Well done to all our students who took part in this local event at Westgate Sports Centre, Newcastle. Gold medals to Ellis, Megan, Daniel W. and Ryan W., Silvers to James O'D, Thomas S., Liam and Robert and Bronzes to Alex F., Ryan C. and Thomas F. Commiserations to Philip who fought well in his first competition for us and came away with a Runners-up medal. Special mention also to Daniel and Paul, our two senior entries, in their first competition too., up against guys bigger, heavier, higher grade and more experienced (the downside of graded comps). Both fought hard for their Runner-up medals - we are proud of you! 

Individual Schools Championships - Sheffield. 3 of our older students entered this event, Daniel, Kate and Kasey. Well done to the girls, who both picked up Silver medals and hard luck to Dan, who fought well but unlucky on this occasion.

Durham Championships 22nd March 2009 - A great local event for us. A team of 5 coming back with a Gold (Michael - in tremendous form), 2 Silvers (Caitlin and Kieron) and 2 Bronzes (Dominique and Megan). Well done all of you! (Picture right of Michael, showing off his glass sculpture trophy! Ooohhh!)

One of our groups of primaries at the Sunderland Wall. The instructors were paid for out of Club funds, allowing our students to enjoy an hour and a half of climbing for just £3.50 - see also Scrapbook page. 

March 1st Goole Under 18 Competition - Goole Only 3 of our students managed to attend this massively over-subscribed event, with all performing well. Congratulations go to Kate on winning her first Gold of the year, and to Caitlin and Dominique who both picked up a hard fought Bronze.

Bag pack - Sainsbury's 21st Feb. we would like to thank those students and their parents who came along to help out, we raised £732 on the day which will help us support our students over the coming months.

Meanwhile down in St. Helen's 4 our more experience girls competed in the North West Competition, with all of the girls performing well. Dominique came a respectable 5th in the U52's, with Kate and |Kasey winning bronze in the U57's and U48's. Well done also to Caitlin, who didn't medal this time, but fought well.

Double celebrations: It is with great pride that we congratulate our very own Kate McDermott on gaining her 1st Dan with the BJA organisation. Kate, who holds dual licenses with the BJC and BJA finally gained the required number of points from her wins at the Midlands Under 20yrs competition to gain her Black Belt. Kate is the first student at our Club to have come all the way through the ranks since we started the Club just over 5 yrs ago. Last weekend we were also delighted to see James Stephenson gain his Green Belt 3 Black Bars (aka Junior Black Belt) - the highest grade he can achieve as a Junior. Well done both of you.

Jan 31 / Feb 1st. Midland U20's Open Competition - Walsall  Five of our students; Michael, Caitlin, Dominiques, Kasey and Kate entered this high quality BJA ranking event all of our students fought well, with Kasey winning Silver and Kate winning a hard fought bronze in their respective categories. Well done all. Picture of Kate and Kasey.

Boxing Day Dip 2008 - Our 4th participation in this amazing annual event. 13 of our students / Parents braved the North Sea (along with over 970 other hardy souls, raising over £70,000 for a variety of charities and organisations) on a cold and windy Friday morning. Well done all of you - we raised £487 towards Club funds! Pic of us taken inside the (warm) Seaburn Centre before the event.

Sunday 14th December - Goole Christmas Championship - Goole Those not struck down by flu or colds travelled down the road, to this last event of the season. Gold medals were won by Georgie and Kieron, Silver went to Dominique and Bronze medals for Caitlin, Michael, Thomas and Evan. hard luck to James, Alex and Ellis, who fought well but no medals this time. 

Friday 28th November - Asda bagpack - Washington Many thanks to everyone who turned up and contributed to this fundraising event. In four hours we managed to raise £665.80 which will be used to subsidise the cost of the new club tracksuits for our students; who nearly all turned up to pack in the Gi's,.Pic of some of the students who took part - many thanks to all of you (and your parents who also took their turn at the tills).

NCYP Competition - Newcastle 22nd November 2008 - Thirteen of our students entered this local event and all displayed some excellent judo. Gold medals were won by Jay K., James, Megan, Jade and Kasey (ending her junior career on a high!), Silver went to Micheal, with Bronze for Adam F. and Alex. Runner up medals were awarded to Dylan, Alex T., Thomas S., Alexander, and young Robert, who put up a brave attempt on a mat of much higher and much older boys! ....Meanwhile over in Holland our small squad (pictured left) entered the St. Nicholaas competition with a Gold medal for Ellis, Silver for Thomas F., Bronze for Ryan C. and runner up medals for Jacob and Ryan L. 

Tornooi Van  Merskem 16th November 2008 - Meanwhile, over in Belgium, our National Team (TeamBJC) surpassed themselves with 10 Golds, 5 Silvers and 5 Bronzes (their best haul ever). Well done to our very own Jade Hamilton who contributed a silver in her category and commiserations to James Stephenson who managed to get a 5th place in his. Safe journey back guys.

BJC Senior Nationals - Hereford    Kate and Daniel took their first foray into the world of Senior competitions, and both returned with medals. Daniel took a hard fought bronze in the U73 kg kyu grade, whilst Kate secured her third National title of the year, taking Gold in the U60 kg Espoir, then going on to win a bronze in the Kyu grade open. Well done both !

Gateshead U18 Open Championships 9th November 2008 - A great local event - Well done all our players who took part. 5 Golds (Dominique, James, Michael, Alex F. and Jade), 4 Silvers (Kasey, Evan, Kieron and Thomas F.) and 6 Bronze (Caitlin, Georgie, Alex S-C, Megan, Jay K and Jay D). Well tried also to Adam, Jacob and Ellis who were not so successful this time...Meanwhile Kate took the long road down to Walsall and competed in the Samurai Senior High Grade Competition (fighting really big women)! and secured a bronze.

Congratulations also to James Stephenson and Jade Hamilton, who have both been selected by the BJC to join our National team (TeamBJC) at the Tornooi Van Merskem Internationl competition in Belgium next week. Best of luck to both of you - we are very proud of you.

Congratulations to our very own Caitlin McEwan on her selection to the BJA England Squad for 2008 - 2009. Caitlin joins her sister Dominique on the squad, following her excellent performance at the recent British Junior Championships in Sheffield.

October 11th & 12th - British Open Championship- Sheffield The club entered a small team to this high ranking event, where competitors from all over the UK compete for National honours. No medals were won this time, but some excellent judo and great commitment was shown by all of our students, serving them well for the future!

Saturday 4th October - Great Northern Open Competition - Newcastle This event is run by our club in collaberation with Blyth Juno Michi. A fantastic day, with some excellent judo on display, with representatives from over 40 judo clubs from throughout Europe. Well done to Newburn Judo Club on securing the Team Trophy for the fourth consecutive year, with our club coming a narrow second. Well done to everyone who competed on the day, returning with 5 golds, 6 silvers and 11 bronze. Everyone else received a runner up medal on the day to celebrate their efforts. We were once again pleased to welcome our friends from Narabi Dojo in Italy. Sergio Olivieri and 16 of his students stayed with our families over the weekend. Picture taken at Donna's home (there was too many of us to get everyone in the photo!). See scrapbook for more photos.

Gold medal winners; Dominique, Michael, Kieron, Alex and Ryan C., silvers for Kate, James, Robert, Jay, Megan and Alasdair and bronze medals to Caitlin, Kasey, Jade, Aleisha, Sophie, Adam F., Ryan L., Jay, Thomas, Leah and Megan.

Citta Di Forli International Judo Competition (27th - 28th September 2008), Forli, Italy - Four of our young ladies took part in this prestigious event. Dominique taking Silver and Caitlin a Bronze. Commiserations to Kate and Kasey who both fought really well but didn't get into the medals this time. Picture of the girls holding the Forli pendant, presented by the Mayor at a special ceremony for foreign competitors before the event.

Sunday 21st September Sponsored Walk at Herrington Park Many thanks to all of the students and their parents who turned up on this fine day (yes really)! Accompanied by babies, stroller's and dogs, the pack (sorry no pun intended) set off on the long way round the park, and despite numerous attempts both Karen and Angie were unable to give the kids the slip and walked the whole way to! Picture of most of the students, and despite Caitlin's stern face they had all just enjoyed a Twirl for their efforts. Well done all l.

Sunday 14th September Lancashire Open Competition - Southport An early morning for all, on this our annual trip to the west coast. With 14 competitors entered, primaries through to senior our students represented the club fantastically, both on and off the mat collecting 14 trophies in their efforts! Gold medals for Kieron, Nicholas, Jade, Kate and Caitlin, Silvers for Dominique, Leah, Evan, Michael, Alex and Kate (in her 2nd category of the day) and Bronze for Georgie, Katelyn and Kasey (whose medal was taken in the epic girls U50kg category with she, Dominique and Caitlin securing the top medals). Bad luck to Adam who, after just missing his weight moved into the U55's and although he won fights did not medal this time...Meanwhile along at Bushi our lone competitor James  won gold in his category, well done all!

September 7th Heart of England Competition - Birmingham. The club entered a small group into this, one of the toughest competitions within the UK and unluckily didn't return with any medals. Kate and Caitlin came very close, being beaten for the bronze medals in this top quality event.

August 23rd & 24th Lakeland Open. 7 of our students attended this tough annual competition, returning with 4 bronze medals. Well done Kasey, Andrew (his 1st competition back on home soil), Dominique and Jade. Hard luck to Caitlin, Michael and James who just missed out this time.  Picture of Kasey, Jade and Dominique outside The Dojo, Kendal Judo Club's own Dojo - Girl Power !

August - Gosh our students get about! Three of our students, Daniel, Nicholas and Kate made the long journey down to Bognor to attend the week long summer school, with Daniel gaining his 1st kyu at the end of a hard working week. Well done!

Innerleithen Summer School 2008. A small number of our younger members attended this event and were a credit to the club. Here they are pictured with BJC Vice President Mr Mealing.

Southport Summer School (28th July - 1st August 2008) 18 of our students took part in the Lancashire Area training week and grading (pictured with course organisers Mr & Mrs Newton and guest instructor Mr Mealing - rear left). Well done all of you for working so hard and congratulations on your new grades.

Club BBQ 20th July 2008 - Storm clouds gathering, torrential rain the night before, but we still had our BBQ! A really nice day - football, tennis and volleyball for the kids down by the riverside, with plenty of time for the Mams and Dads to catch up and chat. Many thanks to Angie for her cooking skills (Sensei came on as a last minute substitute but cooking definitely not his forte - heard to ask "are these spareribs chicken?"). 

Sun 13th July BJC Welsh Nationals - Cardiff. Eight of our students took the long road down to this annual event, and once again returned with a strong haul of medals (with girl power being the mood of the day)! Gold for Kate in the U60's Espoir category (to match the one she took at Nationals) and for Daniel in the U71 Espoir, both won in impressive style. Silver for Jade U45's with a bronze for Kasey in the U50's. Well done also to Alex, James, Nicholas and Thomas who all fought well and won fights on the day, narrowly missing out on the medals. (Picture of our students with Mr Robin Otani BJC President from whom they received their medals).

Also today three of our students competed at the Cobra Comp in Birmingham with Michael taking Gold in his category. Bad luck to Adam and Kieron who fought well but missed out on the trophies.

Sat 12th July BJA British Closed SN Comp - Largs Scotland. The club took a small squad up to this annual event and returned with a haul of trophies. Gold for Terri, Alexander and Sophie and bronze for Natalie, Nikki, John and Callum. Well done to to students from our sister club Portland School, who returned with a number of trophies too.

Sun 29th June - 6th July. Summer Training Camp Sarnano Italy.  A group of 12 students, along with some of their parents met up with our Italian friends for a weeks judo training in the beautiful hills around the village of Sarnano, Italy. This is the second year we have joined with Narabi Dojo club at their summer camp and we had a great time - many thanks to Sensei Sergio Olivieri for organising the event.Picture of our students with their Italian friends. See you again in October here in England for the Great Northern - Ciao

6th July Leicester Open - Leicester  Whilst a large proportion of the students returned home from their Italian adventure, James and Jade were working hard and doing us proud at this annual competition. Jade returned with a hard fought Gold in the U45kg category with James gaining a well won Silver in the U45's.

Club Disco Saturday 22nd June - A great night for the kids and adults. Thanks to everyone that came along, particularly to the Mams and Dads that provided food for the buffet and prizes for the raffle. Pictured are some of the lads on the dance floor (I think they're doing their warm-ups - Sensei). See scrapbook also

Club Disco Saturday 22nd June - A great night for the kids and adults. Thanks to everyone that came along, particularly to the Mams and Dads that provided food for the buffet and prizes for the raffle. Pictured are some of the lads on the dance floor (I think they're doing their warm-ups - Sensei). See scrapbook also

BJA Goole Youth & Senior Championships 15th June - Well done to Daniel Coutakis on winning his first Gold of this year, beating a 1st dan in impressive style. Also Kate who took a hard fought Bronze.

BJA North England Judo Championships 6th June - Middlesbrough - Small team of 8 down to this local competition (didn't have to get out of bed until 8.00am!). Really nice day (even fitted in a swim in the pool!) 3 Golds - James (his first this year - well done), Jade and Thomas (his first too), with Ellis, Michael , Jay and Alex all taking a Bronze. Young Kieron had to pull out due to injury, but is fully recovered and lives to fight another day! Well done everyone.

Fordley Novice and Beginners Competition Sunday 1st June - A great (and fairly local) competition that we attend every year; ideal for our 8 young new starters, as all competitors must have been doing Judo for less than 2 years. Gold for Megan (and Bronze as she entered the Primary Open too!), Silvers for Ryan C and Dyllon (our youngest, smallest and lightest competitor!) and Bronzes for Aleisha and Liam in the Junior category. Well done to Aidan, Ryan W and Jacob who all tried their best.

Sunday 18th May BJA Dolphin Judo Championship - Darlington. Took a squad of 15 on the short journey to Darlington, returning with 8 trophies. Golds for brothers Micheal and Kieron, Silvers for Megan, James, Kasey and Jay and Bronze for Thomas and Jade (welcome back Jade!). Commiserations to Leah, Ellis, Alexander, Alex, Adam, Matthew and Marcus, better luck next time guys!               

Sunday 4th May BJC Junior Nationals - Took a squad of 13 down the long road to Hereford and came back with six medals. Gold for Kate in the U60's Espoir (no she's not that weight, she was amalgamated)! Silvers for Daniel in the over 71 Espoir, Kasey U50's and James in the U45's and Bronze medals for Dominique and Georgie in the U50's and U40's respectively. Well done also to Kieron, Micheal, Alex, Thomas, Evan, Nicholas and Caitlin, who all fought well but didn't manage a medal this time!

East Scotland Special Needs (SN) Competition 26th April 2008 - Six of our SN students travelled up to Scotland to the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena - fantastic location, though a little hard to find! - for the first holding of this event. Together with a further 5 students from our sister Club: Portland School, we came back with Gold medals for Nikki and Terri (Washington), Alesha and Liam (Portland), with Silvers for Alexander and Sophie (Washington) and Billy, Dean and Andrew (Portland) and last, but not least, Bronzes for Callum and Natalie (Washington ), also  our friend Sarah from Rensei judo club. Many thanks to Christ's Hospital in Sherburn for their grant of £1,000 which was used to pay for the mini coach transport to the event. Picture of the crew inside the Climbing Arena. See Scrapbook for more photos.

Sunday 20th April - Millom Only two of our members took the scenic trip to Millom this year, and were not disappointed! well done to Caitlin on gaining her first Gold this year, winning the U48 and U52 category (and getting an honorary silver in the U44's) also to Kate who won a hard fought Silver, keep up the good work!

Saturday 12th April - BJC Graded and Vets Competition Blyth.  A small team of our younger/ novice students entered this annual event, and fought extremely well. Gold for Michael, Silvers for Kasey, Daniel W., Ellis, Marcus, Robert and Matthew and Bronze for Connor. Runner up medals were also presented to Alexander, Sophie, Jake, Alex and Jay.  

Sunday 30th March - Grangemouth Took a squad of 19 to this event and returned with a haul of trophies! Gold for Marcus (well done that lad)! Silver for Kate, Dominique, James, Kieron and Georgie with Bronze going to Daniel, Nicholas, Michael, Kasey, Evan, Ellis, Thomas and Jacob. Well done to all of our novice competitors, including Ryan and Connor who all fought well, hard luck too, to Caitlin, Matthew and Alex.

Saturday 22nd March - Durham Open Championships The club entered a small team of 8 students to this local event, returning with 6 trophies. 2 Silvers for James and Dominique and 4 Bronze for Kate, Georgie, Robert and Alexander. Hard luck to Caitlin and Evan, who both fought well, narrowly missing out on the medals.

Well done Kate! - Kate McDermott, recently graded 2nd Kyu attended the BJC Senior National Grade & Vets in Leicester and won a hard-earned Silver, just missing out on enough points to gain automatic promotion to 1st Kyu. Better luck next time Kate and best wishes for your BJA grading coming up.

Kick Cancer 2008 - The 2nd holding of this event at Jarrow Community Centre. Held in aid of Cancer Research, the event was opened with a traditional Lion dance and featured instructors from a wide range of martial arts throughout the day - Judo, Aikido, Kick boxing, Karate, Taekwondo etc. a great opportunity to experience the different disciplines - and all in a great cause. Many thanks to Steve Youngman for organising. See scrapbook also. 

2nd & 3rd February BJA Midland U20's - Walsall - Took a squad of 10 to this top class event and returned with three hard earned medals! Silver for Dominique and Bronze for Jade and Caitlin. Hard luck to everyone else, keep up the training and better luck next time. Wishing Kate's ribs a speedy recovery!

Saturday 26th January - First competition of the year, a local one at that, but a long, long day at Newburn! The club took squad of 14 competitors (unfortunately Ryan had to leave before he got to fight) and came back with 11 medals. Gold for Kieron, Nicholas and Jade, Silver for Michael and Marcus and Bronze for Kate, Kasey, Jay, Ellis, Thomas and Alex.T. Commiserations to James and Alex. F

2007 Highlights

Boxing Day Dip 2007 - final sponsorship monies now received. The Club has raised £1,075 which will be split equally between Children's Cancer Research and Macmillan Nurses. Well done everyone who took part and many thanks to all who sponsored our hardy dippers!

Boxing Day 2007 - Our Boxing Day Dippers, ready to brave the cold waters of the North Sea (and the Tyne and Wear Fire Brigade on the way down to the beach!) for a very good cause. With sponsor forms still to come in, we have raised over £800 for North East Children's Cancer Research and Macmillan Nurses. Well done all of you! Special mention to the Mams and Dads who donned Judo suits to join us this year. Pic taken inside the Seaburn Centre where we met up with the 700+ other Dippers who, combined, raised over £63,000 for charity today.

The Club was very saddened to learn yesterday, 13th December, of the death of one of our friends, Phil Walker. Phil, father of Daniel, one of our students, passed away after a short illness from Cancer. The Club had already decided to do the Boxing Day Dip again this year, in aid of Cancer Research and the Macmillan Nurses and would like to dedicate this year's effort to Phil. Our deepest sympathies go to his wife, Donna and sons, Scott and Daniel. Phil is pictured here, top right, as he and Donna played host last year to our friends from Italy at our get together at his home. Greatly missed.

8 - 9 th December 2007 - A busy weekend for the Club, with 3 separate competitions on the go. First the BJC NACYP competition at Wallsend - Gold for Jade and a surprise Silver for young Sean (his first trophy - well done), with Bronzes for Katelyn, Marcus, Nicholas and Michael. Then on the following morning with a different group to the BJA Goole Christmas competition, with Gold for Kieron and Silvers for Thomas and Mathew. Meanwhile, down at High Wycombe, Kate and Dominique each took Silver at the BJA Northern Counties event. well done all of you and better luck next time for those who didn't get anything this time.

Our National Squad, TeamBJC returned in great spirits from the Tornooi Van Merskem International competition in Belgium last weekend. Our own Club members, James and Jade did us proud, with James only just losing out on the medals after a 5 minute fight-off for the Bronze and Jade taking Bronze in her category, to go with Bronze she took last year in Venray, Holland (pic of Jade in her TeamBJC tracksuit clutching her trophy). Well done both of you! We are very proud of you. All together the team took 3 Golds, 2 Silvers and 4 Bronzes. See Scrapbook for pic of the Team BJC squad.

BJA Hull Open Championships - 18th November 2007 - another early start (6.30am) for the trip down to Hull - our first time at this event. The squad did really well, with Gold for Dominique, Mathew, Jay (his first competition for nearly a year - well done) and Kieron, Silvers for Georgie, Adam and Caitlin and Bronzes for Thomas and Ellis. Alex and Evan also fought well but didn't manage to get through to the medals this time - better luck next time guys! Pic of the squad at the comp - sorry about the yellow cast, they haven't all got jaundice, it's just the centre lights doing it!)

Saturday 3rd November – Granite City Championship, Aberdeen.

Two of our most hardy Washy Wanderers (Angie and Kevin!) took the long, long road to Aberdeen this weekend in search of a local judo competition. We’re pleased to say that Kate and Dominique fought extremely well, winning all of their fights by ippon, to bring home two gold medals for the club. Well done girls!

Picture opposite shows the girls with their medals at Aberdeen (yes that’s right) beach!

Three in a row! - We are proud to report that two more of our students have been rewarded for their hard work and abilities in Judo. James Stephenson and Jade Hamilton - who only just turned 13 last week (Happy Birthday Jade!) have been selected to our National Team (TeamBJC) to take part in the Tornooi Van Merksem International tournament in Ekersei, Antwerp on the 17th and 18th of November. Well done both of you!

The Club is delighted to announce that one of our students, Dominique McEwan, following her Silver at the BJA National Championships, has been selected to be a member of the BJA World Class Start (WCS) Squad for 2007/8 and will be training with the cream of the BJA as part of their regular WCS development programme.

We are equally delighted to report that our very own Andrew Stephenson, currently in America training with Mayo Quanchi Judo Club in Rhode Island, has been awarded the Sunderland Sports Fund Sportsman Of The Year for 2007. The trophy was collected by his proud Dad, Chris, at a glittering ceremony attended by many sporting celebrities.

Sunday 28th October Gateshead U18 Open Competition. Took a squad of 19 to this local event and thank goodness it was on our doorstep as we didn’t leave until 5pm!
An excellent day with the club returning with 18 medals; Gold for Thomas (go you!), Silver’s for Kieron, Jade, James, Adam W., Dominique and  Michael and Bronze for Evan, Caitlin, Kate, Adam F., Matthew, Nicholas, Daniel, Marcus, Robert, Alexander and Catherine – Phew! Commiserations to Alex who just missed out on the medals, better luck next time. Also well done to our friend Kasey from Butokokan on winning a Bronze.  

Derwent Hill Outdoor Activity Centre 24th - 26th October 2007. Some 40 of our students (and 11 parent volunteers) spent a great 3 days out in the wilds of the Lake District at Derwent Hill - Gorge Scrambling, Kayaking, Climbing and night walks. Many thanks to Awards For All for their grant of £5000 which covered most of the cost - a great team building exercise and experience. See Scrapbook for more pics.

Sunday 21st October Leicester Open Invitation Competition. Took a squad of 13 (including our friends Kasey and Joe from Butokokan Judo Club) down for our annual trip to Leicester returning with a fantastic haul of trophies. Well done to Kate, Dominique, Jade and Thomas on winning Gold, Silver’s went to Daniel, Caitlin, Nicholas and Kieron and Kasey took Bronze. Well done also to James, Alex and Robert who displayed some excellent judo who all won some of their fights.

Sunday October 14th – BJA Junior Nationals. Sheffield
Took a small squad of four down to this annual event and we’re proud to say we returned with a silver medal from Dominique! Having just moved up into the U48 category, this was a magnificent result for her during her first foray with these bigger girls! Well done also to Kate, Daniel and Caitlin who displayed some excellent judo and came away having won some of their fights in this top quality event.

Saturday 6th October The Great Northern Open Competition Another action packed event, with over 340 judoka taking part from the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and our friends from Italy. Our team managed to take 3 Golds for Adam, Jade and Daniel, 2 Silvers for Nikki and Matthew and 5 Bronzes for Megan, Sally, Katelyn (her 1st trophy ever!), Samantha and James.  A particular mention to Daniel, who fought in the Junior Open, beating boys more than double his weight in impressive style, resulting in great cheers from the crowd. Well done everyone else who took part in an ever increasing quality event. Congratulations also to Newburn Judo Club on taking the team trophy for the 3rd year in succession.

Sunday 31st September Leicester Inter-Counties Team Event  The Newcastle area sent 3 teams down to this annual event and returned with 1 silver and 2 bronze trophies. The Primary girls took the silver including our very own Samantha, the Primary boys which included Alexander, Thomas and Ellis took bronze and the Junior boys also took bronze which included brothers Daniel and Nicholas along with Adam who is having a very good year! Thanks to the area for supplying the transport on the day and to those parents who travelled down Picture of club members (excluding Nicholas) with their trophies.

News from our Special Correspondent in America - during the summer hols, our own ex-pat, Andrew Stephenson has been taking part in competitions over in the States. Andy took Gold in a local competition (well, local for him) in Rhode Island, winning all his fights with Ippon and also took part in the US Open, where he beat the Canadian Champion (who was favourite to win the category), but in doing so broke his thumb, which unfortunately ruled him out of the rest of the competition. Hope your thumb gets better soon Andy, you never know when you might need to hitch a lift back home! 

Sunday 16th September A squad of 13 took the annual trip down to Birmingham for the AJA Open championships, returning with 11 trophies. 7 Golds for Kieron, Georgie, Jade, James, Dominique, Kate and Daniel, 2 Slivers for Nicholas and Caitlin and 2 Bronze for Evan and Catherine. Commiserations to Adam and Alex who also attended, better luck next time. A special award is given to the best performer within the largest category; we were pleased to see James Stephenson given this extra honour, well done James!

Happy Birthday to us! - The Club has reached another milestone this year. We are now 5 years old and you can't have a birthday without a birthday party! The Club has grown a lot since we started out back in 2002 in the assembly hall at Fatfield Primary School here in Washington with 6 judoka (including Sensei's own two sons). Happy Birthday to all of us - and many happy returns! See scrapbook for competition winners on the night.

BJA Newburn Red & Yellow Belt competition 8th September - A local competition for novice and beginners. Well done to Robert and Adam on each gaining a Silver. Well done also to Samantha, Ellis and Michael on trying so hard in their categories. Keep up the good work!

BJA Heart Of England - 2nd September 2007 - A really nice day - a really tough event! Over 900 competitors at this very high quality competition. Our team (pictured L to R Kate, Jade, Nicholas and Daniel) fought well and we were delighted for Kate getting a hard earned Bronze in the U57kg category. Well fought all of you though, we were all very proud of you. 

BJA Lakeland Open 26th August 2007 - A Silver for Jade Hamilton and a Bronze for James Stephenson from this very high quality event. Commiserations to Kate McDermott who narrowly missed out getting through to the medals. Meanwhile 'across the Pond'  our very own Andrew Stephenson was competing in a local (well to him) event in Rhode  Island winning his pool of 4 to to take gold, all with Ippon throws!

Well Done! - three of our students (Kate McDermott, Daniel and Nicholas Coutakis) took the long road down to Bognor last week for the week-long BJC Summer training course. After a week of intensive judo training, randori and kata, they took part in the end of course grading, with both Kate and Daniel gaining their hard-earned 3rd Black Bar (aka Junior Black Belt) and Nicholas jumping two bars to his 3rd Green Bar - well done all of you!

WOW! The club website has now received over 25,000 hits since its launch just over 3 years ago, with the site having been visited by people in over 20 countries including America, Poland and Japan to name but a few. We are very proud of the Club and its students and it is great to see interest from such a variety of places.

Sunday 12th August - At last the Club BBQ got underway, down at Cox Green, after an uncertain start due to early morning rain. The prospect of further rain kept some of the less hardy souls away but those who turned up can at least say: "We were there!" Rain later in the afternoon didn't dampen spirits and we relocated to Sensei's home to finish off. Pic of the hardy souls who turned up - I'm proud of you guys! - Sensei.

Summer Training Course, Our Lady Of Lourdes School, Southport August 2007. Picture of the 21 of our students (and two of the dads!) who attended the week long course this summer. A great time had by all - particularly the water fights!. Many thanks to Tony and Moira Newton for organising. Well done to all of you on your new grades too! Many thanks once again to the Local Network Fund for their grant of £4500 which paid for the course fees and transport / accommodation.

Awards For All - The Club extends its grateful thanks to Awards For All for their grant of £5,000. The money will be used to take all the Club students to Derwent Hill Outdoor Activity Centre during the October week school holidays. The activities on offer include Hill Walking, Watersports, Climbing/Abseiling etc. Intended as a team building exercise, the experience will also help develop the students' general fitness, build confidence - and be FUN! For more information on the Derwent Hill facilities, see: www.derwenthill.co.uk

28th July Swimming session at Felling Pool                                                       About 20 members took up the challenge of the inflatable assault course! Sensei John was very gallant in helping the younger members over the final hurdle, unfortunately it proved just a little too slippery for him. Never mind, as they say 'God loves a trier' better luck next time Sensei! Also, the members would like to say a big 'hello' to Steven, it was great to meet you and hope to see you again soon.                                                           

2007 British Closed SN Championships - 14th July Cardiff - Took our squad of SN players down to Cardiff for this BJA event - horrendous weather and traffic going down (took over 8 hours!) but a really nice event. The team did well - Gold for Billy, Nikki, Alexander and Sophie, with Bronzes for Daniel W., Callum, John and Sarah. Picture of the team opposite. Well done also to our sister Club, Portland, on their Gold for Richard and Bronzes for Rosie, Margaret and Dean. Great to see you all there. See pic in Scrapbook section also.

Northern Area Closed Fours Season Championships - Eston 14th July. Short notice of this event resulted in us only being able to field one player, James, but he did us proud, coming back with a Silver - well done James!

Lancashire  Open - Southport 8th July 2007 - A great day out for the Club. 3 Golds (Daniel C., Dominique and Jade), 2 Silvers (James & Kayleigh) and 5 Bronzes (Caitlin, Adam, Nicholas, Evan and Georgie). Well done also to Alex, who won two fights but narrowly missed out on the medals. Pic of the guys who took part - note the new Club 'hoodies' - very popular! 

Grant award - the Club is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a grant of £4,500 from the Local Network Fund. The grant will enable us to take up to 20 students to the BJC week long, National Summer Course at Southport, during the first week of August. The grant will cover course fees, accommodation and transport to the event. The course will be of major benefit to the students and includes amongst the instructors: Mr G. R. Mealing 7th Dan, Moira Newton 5th Dan, Tony Newton 5th Dan, Ann Scott 5th Dan and coaches form the BJC National Team squads. Many thanks to the Community Foundation which manages the fund. 

1st July 2007 Welsh Nationals - Cardiff                                                              Took a squad of 19 down to this BJC event, with several of our members jetting in from Italy especially! (well no, not quite they were due to fly home anyway). We returned with 2 Gold's for Jade and Georgie, 3 Silver's for Dominique, Kieron and Kayleigh and 3 Bronze for Kate, Caitlin and Leah. Once again the boys categories were strongly represented and a number of our boys narrowly missed out on the medals, hard luck guys keep up the training and better luck next time!

Summer Judo Camp - Sarnano, Italy  23rd -30th June 2007

                                                                   A small group of our students recently attended a weeks training at the Camp Quattro Stagioni with our Italian friends. Kate, Catherine, Jack, Dominique, Caitlin, Jade, Billy,  Alex and John took the opportunity to spend a week training with Sergio Olivieri and his students. A great time was had by all, though the change in temp from 16 degrees to 36 on our first day too some getting used to! A fantastic way to train together under  marquee tent in the glorious Italian countryside. Pictured here are some of the students during some 'après-judo'. (See scrapbook for more pics).

24th June Fordley Novice and Beginner Competition - Blyth  Took a small squad of our newer judoka up to this well run local event, coming away with two Gold's for brothers Michael and Kieron Hall and two Silvers for Kyle Whitehouse and Joseph Rees. Many thanks to hosts Jason and Debbie - great to be invited again.                          

18th June 2007 - Last night for Andy. Andrew Stephenson, recently promoted to 1st Dan, is taking a gap year out before going to Uni and is going to the USA for most of the next year to stay with friends and take the opportunity to train and compete in America. The Club presented Andy with a framed photo from the Club members as a memento and a Club 'hoody' bearing the legend: Washington Judo Club - England, just so they know over there that he's from the original Washington! Pic of Andy being presented.

Sunday 10th June Kyu-Shin-Do-Ryu U20's Comp (Ch-le-St) Took a squad of 15 to this local event, coming 3rd (with a narrow margin) for the Team Trophy through some excellent judo displayed by our students. Medal winners were: Gold for Kate, Dominique, Georgie and Alexander, Silver for Catherine x 2, Daniel x 2, Kayleigh, Kyle and Kieron and Bronze for Ethan, Michael and Robert. Runner up medals were awarded to Caitlin, Alex and Nicholas who all fought well, especially Nicholas who was stretchered off at one point but then bravely fought on, after an ice pack to the hip! Well done all of you.  

NIJF Northen Ireland Open Championships - Belfast 26th May 2007 - Congratulations to our four students entered into this year's NI championships - Silvers for Andrew Stephenson and Dominique McEwan and Bronzes for Catherine Martin and Kate McDermott - one up on last year's Silver and 2 Bronzes. Enjoy your weekend in Belfast and see you all back home on Sunday. P.S. Sorry everyone about the state of the hostel I booked for you all, but it is character building! I hope you are all still talking to me!? - Sensei. Pic of Andy and the girls taken at the event - the girls want this captioned 'Andy's Angels!'

The Club would like to send our Congratulations to Daniel and his wife Sandra on the birth of their daughter Anita, who arrived at a very convenient time of 9.01am on Wednesday 23rd May (you even got a lie in)! Our warm Congratulations also to Sensei and his wife Anne on the first Grand-daughter in the family ahhh! Well done all.

12th May - Eston & Ayton Comp -Took a squad of 17 to this fairly local event. Returned with 3 Golds - Caitlin, Dominique and Adam W., 3 Silvers - Georgie, Michael and Matthew and 6 Bronzes - Sophie, Alexander, Nicolas, Kieron, Alex F. and Ethan. Well done also to Evan, Marcus and Shaun who all fought well in large categories. Special mention to Robert, who narrowly missed out on a medal and Thomas, for what you didn't do after your fights! Picture of the squad down as Eston.

Junior Nationals 6th May 2007 - The girls did us proud - 1 Silver (Catherine - despite being entered into the U52kgs but merged with the U60 kgs due to lack of entries!) and 5 Bronzes (Kate, Dominique, Caitlin, Jade and Georgie), but commiserations to the boys who all fought well but were not able to grab anything this year - better luck at the Welsh Nationals in July lads! Pic of some of the team taken at the motorway services on the way down.

May day 7th May - No club session tonight, resume as normal on Thursday

Millom Championship - Cumbria - 12 of our students took to the road very early for the long trip to Millom (with some very rough, oops! tired looking parents). We returned with 3 Silvers (Kieron, Adam and Jade) and 4 Bronzes (Sophie, Alexander, James and Matthew). Well done also to Alex F., Robert, Marcus, Kate and Andrew who displayed some excellent judo and narrowly missed out on the medals. Well done Guys, keep up the good work! A special thanks to Kate and Andrew for coaching our younger members on the day, who all agreed they did a Stirling job! Also thanks to Geoff, whose mat-side encouragement was a sight to see!

BJC Area Graded Competition - great local competition which enables some of our less experienced judoka to compete on a level footing with others of the same grade. 10 Golds! (in no particular order - Leah, Michael and Kieron, Nicholas and Daniel C., Jodie, Sally, Kate, Nikki and Alexander). 3 Silvers (Megan, Alex T. and Robert) and 2 Bronzes (Alex F. and Jay). A great effort by our other entries, Catherine, Adam, Jade and Keith, who all came up against the only downside to the graded event - they all had to fight competitors significantly bigger than themselves, but well tried anyway.

Andy gets his Black Belt! - The Club is very pleased and proud to announce that our own Andrew Stephenson was promoted to Shodan (Black Belt 1st Dan) at the St. Ives Judo course last weekend. Andy wishes to give particular thanks to: Craig Dadd (Caern Brae) and Stuart Patemen (Leicester) for their help with the Kata element of the grading; his Mam, Dad and brother James for their support on the day and all the members and families of our Club for their on-going support. Andy also thanks Sensei Jason Anderson and the Seniors of Fordley Judokwai for their help in providing the extra training needed to get to this level. Well done Andy! Pictured above at St Ives are, from L to R: Sensei Hosaka (Technical Adviser to the BJC), Andy, Robin Otani (President of the BJC) and Neil Roode, Les Eacock and Andy Marshal (Team BJC Coaches).

BJA Goole Mini-Mon competition 1st April - Took 8 youngsters down for this competition for lower grades, returning with a Gold for Adam Williamson and Bronzes for Mathew Johnson, Nicholas Coutakis and Kieron Hall - well done lads!

Durham U18 Open Championships - 24th March 2007 - Took a squad down to this local BJA event in Spennymoor, returning with 3 Golds (Jack, Catherine and James) and 6 Bronzes (Jack again, Kate, Dominique, Caitlin, Jade and young Adam Williamson). Well done to the rest of the squad, who all fought well, with everyone winning at least one fight in their respective categories.

17th March 2006 - Our Club coach, John Pickering spent the weekend in Italy (in Faleria, near Rome), with his wife Anne, as guests of their friends Sergio and Barbara Cecchini. During the weeked, John, Sergio and our old friend Davide Rosa travelled up to Bologna for a Juno-Kata training course run by Cesare Barioli. Cesare, founder of AISE, the organisation to which Sergio's Club belongs, was a student of Kenshiro Abbe and received his 4th Dan from Sensei Abbe himself. The course was very well attended, with around 50 seniors, predominantly Black belts, from across Italy. Picture of John with Cesare Barioli. Many thanks Davide, for your translation skills during the course - John

15th March 2007-Red Nose Day! On the last club night before Red Nose Day, the students took to the mat sporting their red noses! The club donated the evening's proceeds from the tuck shop and from donations for cups of tea and coffee.There was also a 'red nose sweep stake'. Watch this space for the total of money raised for this worthwhile event. Pictured are the primary and junior students and their coaches wearing their noses - all for charity!

10th March 2007 - BJA Parks Open championships - a long day at the Parks Centre in North Shields (didn't finish till 7.30pm), but a good strong local competition, with some great judo on display. We came back with 3 Silvers (Kate, Dominique and Nicholas) and 2 Bronzes (Daniel Coutakis and Kieron). Well done all of you who took part. Commiserations to young Jodie who was stetchered off after injuring her neck (drop knee seoi-nage again) but fortunately no serious damage and she is ok, though with a rather sore neck! - get well soon Jodie.

7th March 2007 - The Wall! - took 24 of the crew over to the Sunderland Wall - the highest indoor climbing centre in Europe! - the guys had a great time, some of them proving to be naturals at climbing. We also had the great honour of meeting Sir Chris Bonington (pictured centre), one of the truly great British Climbers, adventure journalist and photographer. For more information on Sir Bonington, check out his website: www.bonington.com  - If you're interested in the Wall - and we highly recommend it - see: www.sunderlandwall.co.uk - See Scrapbook and Members Benefits section for more photos.

4th March - BJA Goole U18 Championships - 3 of our young ladies took part in this event, each returning with a Bronze medal - Catherine Martin, Kate McDermott and Kayleigh Charlton. Well done each of you.

Our team of SN students with their medals at the Bradley Stoke International Special Needs Judo tournament 24th February 2007. 6 Gold (Daniel P., Billy, Nikki, Sarah, Alexander and Sophie) 4 Silver (Terri, Natalie, Daniel W. and Callum) and 1 Bronze (John). A great weekend - many thanks to the organiser: Steve Westlake from Bradley Stoke Judo Club and to Roy Court for all his help. Particular thanks to the Mums and Dads who came down to support us and roughed it with us at the Avon Scout Camp over the weekend - great fun.  See pic of the event in the Member Benefits section also.  

BJA Midlands U18yrs Open Championships 3rd February 2007, Walsall- our toughest event so far - no medals this time - for the first time! but a great effort by all the students who took part in this BJA identification event, the majority of whom won at least one fight in their respective categories but were not able to get through to the finals. A useful wake-up call after the excesses of the Xmas holidays - it was noticeable how their workrate moved up a gear on the next club night after the contest! 

Bag Pack - Asda, Washington 27th January 2007 - Many thanks to the 40 or so Club members / parents who joined us fundraising at Asda this weekend. We raised £936.10 on the day - plus 1 Dime, 2 Cents and 2 buttons!! Grateful thanks also to the Asda staff who were so friendly and helpful.

BJA Welsh U20 Championships - Two of our judoka took part in this first event on the judo calendar - Andrew Stephenson gaining a Bronze in his category, with his younger brother James fighting well but not so succesful this time. This was more than made up for with the chance for him to have his picture taken with the legendary Neil Adams ! 

2006 Highlights

Boxing Day Dip 2006 - 16 of our Club members took part in this annual event for charity, raising over £670 for the Meningitis Trust Fund. Well done the Club Dippers - John Pickering, Geoff Farish, Steve Hamilton, Andrew Stephenson, David Huggins, Steven & John Lorraine, Scott & Daniel Walker, Kate McDermott, Jodie Bostock, Dominique & Caitlin McEwan, Kayleigh Charlton, Alex & Adam Fisher- and all 850 plus Dippers who, between them, raised over £65,000 for various charities on the day. Picture of our team on the way down to the waves - having just been sprayed by the water hoses of the Tyne and Wear Fire Brigade - for acclimatisation! See Scrapbook also.

BJA Goole U19 Xmas Competition - 11th December 2006 - The 25th competition that our Club has been represented at this year! so only three of our students put their hands up for this one. But what a three! Andrew Stephenson (centre) took Gold in the Senior U60kg (winning all his fights by Ippon throws), Jade Hamilton took Silver in the Girls U36kg and Andy's brother, James, took Bronze in the Boys U40kg - a full set! Nice way to end the year.

4th December 2006 - Congratulations to three of our Club members - Andrew Stephenson (in the T shirt), Kate McDermott (in the hat) and Jade Hamilton (the only one with the bottle to wear her judogi!)- on receipt of their grants from the Sunderland Sports Fund. The grants of £100 each will help subsidise their training and competition costs during the coming year. Picture of the three with the Mayor of Sunderland, taken at the Civic Centre reception.

Aspire Grant - The Club is pleased to extend its grateful thanks to Aspire for its grant award of £350. The money will be used to treat our primary section to a visit to The Customs house, South Shields, to see this year's pantomime (Babes In The Wood). Many thanks also to the Sunderland Housing Group, who manage the funding, for their continued support.

Saturday 18th November 2006 - A busy day! - Over in Wallsend at the National Association of Clubs for Young People (NACYP) Judo Competition we fielded 26 of our mainstream students in this local competition. 6 Golds (Kate, Catherine, Ethan, Jade, Evan and Georgie) 4 Silvers (Andrew, Dominique, Kieron and Sally) and 2 Bronzes (Jodie and Kayleigh). Particular mention to young Robert Younger, in a pool of 19, who fought really well and to Dominique, who despite being moved up a weight category, still managed a Silver, being beaten only by Catherine who took the Gold. Also a mention to our two new(ish) Seniors, Keith and Martin who thoroughly enjoyed the day even though they didn't get anything this time - well done guys! (Picture of Kate McDermott and Jodie Bostock - Gold and Bronze winners of the Junior Girls open - best of friends really!) Meanwhile, up in Kilmarnock in bonny Scotland, Sensei was busy with our team of 9 SN players at the Scottish Special Needs Championships. A great day, with 3 Golds (Terri and Nikki MicDermott and John Lorraine), 3 Silvers (Alexander Sawyer-Copus and our friends Sarah Scott from Kai Kan Judo Club and Billy Stores from Portland School) and 3 Bronzes (Daniel Walker, Callum Gach and Sophie Darlaston). Particular mention to young Sophie, the smallest player there and to Callum Gach in his first ever contest, who brought tears of pride to his Mum's eyes when he won his first fight!  See Scrapbook for picture of our SN squad.

Letters From America - report by our special correspondent - Great news from the good old US of A, our own Andrew Stephenson competed in the Ocean State International at Rhode Island at the weekend, gaining a Bronze in the U18yrs / U60kgs category, a Bronze in the Men's Kyu grade U60kg category and then topped that with a Silver in the Men's Dan Grade U60kg category! Not to be left out, his mate Stuart Patemen from Leicester Leys Judo Club took a Bronze in the Men's Dan Grade U66kg - well done Stu! To round off a hugely successful day, the pair then fought for their host Club, Mayo Quanchi Judo Club, in the Team event, with the team taking Gold, ahead of the US Cadet team in second place and with the US Army team taking third place! Enjoy the rest of your stay there Andy - you've earned it mate! Pic of Andy and Stu during their stop-over in New York

BJC (MAC) Home International - Norwich 15th October 2006 - The Washington Wanderers were off again, to Norwich this time for this International event. An overnight stay in the fine city of Norwich - very lively night life! 13 of our students taking part and we came back with 5 Gold (Kate, James, Dominique, Jade and Alexander), 5 Silver (Daniel Coutakis - his first with us and after a long layoff for injury - well done!, Kayleigh, Caitlin, Nicholas - brother of Daniel and Sally) and 2 Bronze (Andrew and Sarah) - and well tried young Adam, who fought really hard and narrowly missed out on the medals. A really nice weekend with overnight stay - thanks to the parents who came down with us to support the students. If anybody wants to know how to get to Toys R Us in Norwich, just ask us - it was the only place we could actually find with certainty every time we got lost - a fun weekend!

The 4th Great Northern Open Championships - 7th October 2006 - A great event (and we take pride in saying that, as we are joint organisers with Blyth Juno Michi Judo Club). 335 competitors from 38 Clubs across the UK and including entries from Ireland, Italy (their third year) and Switzerland. This was after regrettably rejecting over 40 entries due to the event being over-subscribed. A terrific day for the Club, with 4 Gold, 4 Silver and 12 Bronze trophies to our credit! Hearty congratulations to Newburn on taking the overall Team trophy with our own Club in second place, closely followed by Parks Judo Club - an indication of the strength and quality of judo in the North East! As always though, for our Club this was more than just a judo event, our friends from Italy (16 this time!) stayed with us (thanks to Herrington Scouts for the use of their building, for the 7 we couldn't accommodate at our homes). They were joined for the first time by the Gubler family from Switzerland, with their daughter Jocelyn and friend Evelyn Tschopp (both Swiss National Squad members), who both produced great Judo to take the Gold and Silver in their category - well done! Many many thanks to the parents who helped with transport, sleeping bags etc and gave so generously of their time to make our friends from Italy and Switzerland feel welcome - A great weekend for all concerned. Photo of our guests at our get-together at Donna and Phil Walker's home - you should have seen the looks we got when we went to their local Fish & Chip shop and ordered 18 Fish lots, 4 Sausage lots and 4 pizzas!. More photos to come in the Scrapbook section.

1st October 2006 Leicester and Northamptonshire Area Invitation open Championships - A very successful day for the Club down at Aylestone Leisure Centre in Leicester, with 4 Gold (Kate, Dominique, Jade and Georgie), 5 Silvers (Andrew, Catherine, Caitlin, James and Robert) and 5 Bronzes (Jack, Kayleigh, Alexander, Evan and Kieron). Commiserations to our other students Adam, Alex, Nicholas and Thomas who really worked hard but were not successful this time.

OK, so you all thought Senseı will be lying by the pool, beer in hand all day - while on holiday - not true (well, not all day anyway!). Got withdrawal symptoms and went looking for a Judo Club here in Marmaris, Turkey, but no joy. So joined the local Aikido club for the two weeks instead! Great fun and even managed to remember some of the Aikıdo I learned as a teenager some xx years ago! Many thanks to Sensei Seref Addioglu and hıs students for their warm hospitality and patience, from this humble novice.  Pıc of me, rear second from left wıth Seref and the guys at the Dojo in the Sport Centre, Marmaris. See you all when I get back. Glad you're not here, Sensei xx p.s. ıf you want to check out Seref's own Aikido Club websıte clıck here: www.aikidoantalya.com

Congratulations to Caitlin McEwan on her Bronze at the 2006 Heart Of England Tounament. Caitlin was the only one of our 13 entries that won a medal - giving some idea of how tough this event is!, with teams from as far as South Africa taking part in this BJA Ranking event, it attracts the very highest quality of competitor. Better luck next time to the rest of our squad,  you still did us proud! - more pics from the weekend in Scrapbook and Members benefits sections.

Westgate Summer Camp - 31st August / 1st September - 18 of our students took part in a two day Judo summer course ran by Westgate Judo Club over in Newcastle. Many thanks to Damon Mogg and Dave Miller for organising the event. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the two days and the event culminated in a contest on the Friday, with everyone winning medals for taking part. Pictured are some of the crew during a fun groundwork session - they may look cute, but you should see these guys fight!. 

Sunderland Housing Group - the Club is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a grant of £257.60 by the Sunderland Housing Group. The money will be used to take our students, by coach to Wet & Wild in North Shields (no, that's not a weather forecast!), for the day on the 12th November. Many, many thanks to the Sunderland Housing Group for their support. 

BJA British Closed SN Championships, 27th August 2006. The first BJA national competition for judoka with Special Needs - guess who was there! -  took 7 of our SN students down to Walsall, near Birmingham, for this event. Great atmosphere and medals for all. The Club took 2 Gold (Terri and Alexander), 3 Silvers (Nikki, Daniel Walker and Evan) and 2 Bronzes (Sophie and John). We are also extremely pleased to report that 3 students from our sister club - Portland School Judo Club also travelled down with us and returned with 2 Golds - Natalie Tate and Billy Stores and a Silver - Angela Dunn. Well done all of you! 

26th / 27th August 2006 - Lakeland Open Championships. A very tough, high quality event for our more experienced players. Held at Kendal Judo Club's new Dojo, we came back with 2 Silvers (Rhys and Dominique) and a Bronze for young Jade. Congratulations to our friend Andrew Scott from Kai Kan who also returned with a hard-won Bronze. Commiserations to Kate, who had to retire after only her second fight with a badly swollen wrist - get well soon. Pic of Dominique with her Silver medal, taken inside the Kendal Dojo.

18th August 2006 - Loads of fun on the Aqua Run at Felling Baths. The Club took over the swimming pool, with over 30 members and their Mams & Dads participating. Only Kate and Rhys actually managing to get all the way across, with Sensei just missing out at the last obstacle - mind, the swimming pool attendant jerking the floats around as we tried to get across didn't help! Andy's complete run didn't count, as the floats were being deflated at the time and he crossed the last obstacle as it lay on its side!

16th July 2006 - AJA Cobra Judo Club individual and team competition - Castle Vale, Birmingham - another 6.00am start, but well worth the trip. 13 of our students took part in this event on a glorious summer's day. 6 Golds (Daniel - in the senior Kyu grade category, Jack, Kate, Jade, Catherine and Dominique). 3 Silvers (Rhys, Kayleigh and Kieron) and two Bronzes (Adam & Sally). Then to top the day, we took Bronze in the junior mixed team event - out of 9 teams, including two Area teams!  Pic of the Club's junior mixed team - everyone of you a star! Commiserations to Corrie-Ann and Alexander, on narrowly missing out on the medals. Thanks once again to the Mams and Dads who provided the lifts down. Congratulations also to our friend Andrew Scott from Kai Kan, who travelled down with us and took Gold in the junior open. See scrapbook for another pic of the medal winners.

Davide's last night - our friend Davide Rosa is returning home this week to Italy after 8 months with our Club, during which he has competed at the highest level, taking Gold in our own Great Northern and Bronze in the London & Northern Ireland Internationals. He has been a real asset to the Club during his time with us and his Judo is a credit to his Sensei, Sergio Cecchini of Dojo Koshiki in Faleria, near Rome.  The Club presented Davide with the gift of a Club tracksuit (embroidered: Washington Judo Club - Italian Branch) and the Italian Judoka of the Month (well, he is our only Italian!). Pic of Davide with his friends from the Club - Best of luck at Uni mate and hope to see you again soon! you will be greatly missed.  

Best Wishes to Sensei Alderman - John recently suffered a mild stroke which has left him unable to take part in our Club sessions. Nonetheless he came along to our session last night and demonstrated yet again his determination to fight the effects of the stroke, by standing up from his wheelchair to take the class Rei -  a remarkable man. Our best wishes go with you for a speedy recovery  mate - you are much missed. Many, many thanks to Sensei Dave Wright for pitching in and taking our Seniors Only class in John's absence.  

25 & 26th June 2006 - 5 of our more experienced students took the long journey down to Crystal Palace for the Kent Junior International on Saturday. A first visit for us to this very high quality competition. Great judo (in a rather dilapidated facility, sadly) and a Silver for young Kate McDermott, in what is proving to be her best year yet. The group then travelled over to Hereford that night (arriving around 10pm - we made sure everyone had a drink waiting !) to join up with the rest of us for the BJC Welsh Junior Nationals on the Sunday, making 14 in all from our Club taking part. Low turnout thanks to FIFA arranging the World Cup over the same weekend (very inconsiderate of you, FIFA!), with around 200 competitors in total, but a great day for the Club, with 3 Golds (Andy, Kate - its that girl again! and Alexander),  3 Silvers (Jack, Catherine & Jade) and 6 Bronzes (Kayleigh, Rhys, James, Nicholas, Dominique and Kieron). We are proud of all of you who took part. Thanks to all the parents who provided lifts - a great weekend.

North East Disability Sports Achievement Awards 12th June 2006 - The Club is proud to announce that it has won the 'Club Of The Year' Award for its policy of inclusiveness (we have several SN students at the club - Autism, Aspergers, Dyspraxia, ADHD and other learning difficulties) and for its work with SN students at Portland School in Sunderland. The award was received by our Sensei at a special ceremony at the Durham County Cricket Club in Chester-Le-Street. Chaired by Ian Payne of Tyne Tees Television, the event was sponsored by NPower.  

“Stars In Their Eyes” Social - 28th May (Blackfell, Washington) – It might look like a Tai-Chi session, but it's actually the 'macarena' at the club social night on the bank holiday weekend. The night included a disco, free buffet and a “Stars In Their Eyes” karaoke. The evening was a great success with an excellent turn out by the members and their families. The karaoke winners were Elton John aka Robert Charlton (Primaries), Busted aka Rhys Ash (Juniors) and Meatloaf aka Mark McEwan and Karen Charlton (Seniors and Parents). Special mentions to all those people who got up and had a go, you all performed really well. The good ones were: Mick Hall, Karen Charlton and Daniel Pickering, who all definitely had the X factor while, a few others had the Y (Why?) factor and shall remain nameless. (We now fully understand why they do judo and not singing for a pastime!). Big thanks to all those that supplied items for the buffet.

BJA Northern Ireland Open (Derry, N.I.) – 20th May – Three of the club's students: Kate McDermott, Andrew Stephenson and Davide Rosa attended this very high quality event in Northern Ireland. Andrew and Davide both took bronze medals in very competitive categories while Kate performed out of her skin to take silver. Kate’s silver came at a cost of giving her father a few more grey hairs after she discovered she had left her licence at home. Kevin decided to try and get it to her via courier (DHL) but they were going to charge him £800. Needless to say that was one option Kevin didn’t take up. Fortunately, a faxed copy of the license was accepted and Kate went on to do her stuff! 

On his bike - 20th May – The Reivers C2C – We would like to thank one of our parents, Trevor Merry for kindly offering to raise some funds for the club by doing the Reivers C2C cycle route (It’s a 171 miles). The route starts at Whitehaven and goes up into the Scottish Borders and then ending at Tynemouth. Trevor will be attempting the route in the next couple of weeks and we understand that he has been putting in the training for the event.  (Picture of Trevor with his bike and a section of our primaries.)

European Judo For All – Ravenna, Italy (13th May) Wow, what an event - 14 countries, 207 competitors at this Special Needs tournament. Six of our students attended this International event and succeeded in winning 5 Golds and one Silver – Gold medal winners: John Lorraine, Terri McDermott, Nikki McDermott, Dan Pickering and Alexander Sawyer-Copus while Dan Mills took a silver. Special mention to Dan Pickering on winning his category, which included 8 Italians, 2 Norwegians and a Brazilian. Well done Dan! Mention also to John Lorraine, who also took Gold in his category but went on to develop a particularly nasty ear infection which resulted in a trip by taxi, train and local bus to see the local ENT consultant in Ravenna. John handled all this with great fortitude - well done mate! Picture of the team and their supporters. See also Scrapbook and Member Benefits for other photos of the event.

BJC Junior Nationals - 30th April (Hereford) – The club attended the BJC Junior Nationals with a team of eleven and returned with one gold (James Stephenson) two silvers (Andrew Stephenson and Kayleigh Charlton) and three bronze trophies (Rhys Ash, Jade Hamilton and Dominique McEwan). Special mentions go to three of the students: Firstly to James by showing us that perseverance does pay off in the end, by winning gold. Secondly to Kayleigh on showing us that a positive mental attitude is essential in whatever you do, in winning silver! Thirdly to Rhys who produced probably his best throw ever to win his bronze with a standing Ippon Seoi Nage that certainly was the throw of the day. (The crowd certainly appreciated it with a huge round of applause!). Well done to the remaining students, who again represented the club with great sportsmanship. Finally it was great to see the North East clubs doing well on the medal rostrum - you are all a credit to the area

Training with Olympians – 22nd April (Bolton) - The club took to the road for a weekend of judo. We set out with 10 cars and a party of 35 of which twenty-five students attended this event in the North West, which was being taken by Neil Eckersley (Olympic Bronze medallist L. A. 1984), Matt Clempner, (Olympian Moscow 1980) and Alan Carlisle (BJC National Coach). The course provided our own Coaches and the students the opportunity to train and learn from these highly successful Coaches. The students gained a great deal and new friendships were struck up throughout the day. Big thanks to Matt and Hazel for the organization of the event. (Also like to say sorry to the Staff of McDonald's in Bolton for walking in en masse at five past eight in the morning! It was really funny to see the panic!) Picture above are some of the students with Neil Eckersley.

Portland School - 6th April, (Doxford, Sunderland) – As you know the club did a Boxing Day dip (The mad fools!!) with the proceeds going to Portland School. The school is a specialist school for young people with physical and learning disabilities. Sensei John (with the help of Davide and Daniel) has for the past few months been teaching a group of these students judo. Today they gave a display of what they had learned to the whole school (Some of the students were very nervous!) and were absolutely fantastic. They were joined on the mat by six of our own students (Jade, Dominique, Rhys, Kate, Melissa and Davide who took part in the Dip – while Ethan, Alex and Beth were unable to make it due to school commitments) who between them raised a colossal £430 for the school. All of the students really enjoyed themselves and we would like to thank Shirley for giving us a guided tour of the school. Well done to both sets of students! 

Washington Judo Club Show - 5th April (Usworth) – Our annual showcase took place in our dojo with 60 students participating. The event is designed for parents, grandparents, family members and friends to come along and see how well the students are progressing in judo. It is also designed to give the students the opportunity to participate in front of a very supportive crowd.  The students were grouped into pools of 3’s and 4’s and to then contest. All of the students received trophies. Of course it goes without saying that a number of the parents organized refreshments, tombola and raffle, which raised over £290. The night was rounded off by all of the students receiving a Easter egg (Asda has a 4 for £5 deal on at the moment) Big thanks go to all the people who helped organise the event – well done all!  

Newcastle Area Graded BJC – 1st April (Wallsend) – The club attended this BJC closed event with 28 students. The event went well with some good judo on display. The club returned with 7 gold’s (Davide, Kate, Rhys, Dominique, Caitlin, Georgie and Kieran) 8 silvers (Daniel, Jennifer, Jodie, Robert, Evan, Jay, Alexander and Sophie) and five bronzes (Andy, Jade, James, Kirsty and Thomas). A big well done to Kieran, Sophie, Robert and Kirsty on gaining their first medals for the club at their first competitive event. The remaining students all fought well and received runners up medals and all gained valuable experience. Well-done guys! Also Tom Pickering was presented with a trophy from the Newcastle Area for all of his voluntary work behind the scenes at past events for the area. Well-done Tom from all of us!

The London Judo International, 11th – 12th February  (The Excel, Docklands) – What a weekend! – The club travelled to the largest judo event in Great Britain with a team of 16 and returned with a Silver and 4 Bronze medals. Big congratulations go to Jennifer on her silver, Dominique, Jade, Kayleigh and Davide on taking bronze in a very high quality event. The remaining students all won fights and displayed some excellent “ippon“ judo.  The event had 1,627 competitors (250 more than last year) and was held at the Excel, the venue for the 2012 Olympics. Special mentions go to Daniel and Davide: Daniel due to putting up an excellent display in a category which had GB representatives in and only just losing out on the bronze. Plus Davide on two excellent ippon throws to secure a bronze in only his third judo competition! (picture of Davide phoning home to tell his parents the good news - see results screen behind him). Well-done guys! Many thanks go to the parents that supported the students to the event.

Congratulations Sharon!- 23rd January - Congratulations and a big thank  you to Sharon McEwan on her award from the BJC for her services to judo.Sharon was presented with the Certificate of Appreciation before the   Junior session on Monday. A founder member of the club, Sharon works non-stop behind the scenes as well as taking club fees, organising licences etc. etc.!!. Many thanks from all of the club members for all of your hard work!

Wet and Wild -  22nd January -Around 30 club members and their families descended on ‘Wet and Wild’ in North Shields for the day. Some of the parents were even brave enough to join in the fun! A great time was had by all, especially by the hardy souls who stayed  in the  water for 8 hours but came out looking a little wrinkled!

Stadium of Light Collection – 15th January – Thirty members of the club attended our annual collection at the SOL. Sunderland were playing the Premiership champions Chelsea and put up a good fight with Chelsea just     edging it with a 2 – 1 win. We would like to thank the Sunderland and Chelsea supporters for their contributions, which helped us raise a total of £917. Big thanks to all those parents and students who turned out on a cold day and rattled those collection pots. All funds raised are used to support the students participation in judo events.

Thank you Tom! - January 11th 2006 - Many congratulations to Tom  Pickering  on his award from the BJC for his services to judo. Tom (who we all know as Sensei's dad!) was presented with the Certificate of Appreciation  before the primary session on Wednesday. A regular and familiar face at the  club, Tom (who is 76 years young and also a 1st Dan in Aikido) makes sure  that the dojo is always ready, helping to put out our 136sqm of mats before every session, sometimes two mats at a time! (Rumour has it that when Tom was asked  to take it easy by Sensei and put one mat out at a time, Tom    arrived even earlier to ensure the dojo was ready!) WHAT A STAR! Many thanks to Tom from all the club members, we really appreciate all of your help. 

Aspire Fund - January 5th – The club would like to announce that we have been awarded £300 from the Aspire Fund to support the students to attend judo events in the next year. We would like to thank Sunderland Housing Group, who run the fund, for their continued support of the club and of its work it does with the young people of Washington

2005 Highlights:

Boxing Day Dip – 26th December (Sunderland) – 10 members of the club took part in the country’s biggest Boxing Day Dip (Rumoured to be an excellent Xmas day hangover cure!). Over 800 people braved the icy North Sea (Many in some of the most outrageous fancy dress outfits) raising a total of £56,000 with over 20,000 people watching on. We were only allowed a team of 10, so took 5 lads and 5 lasses ranging from youngest junior to oldest senior (no prizes for guessing which one Sensei was!)A big well done to Sensei John, Davide, Melissa, Beth, Kate, Rhys, Dominique, Jade, Ethan and Alex who between them raised nearly £600. 20% of the money collected goes to the Organiser's Charity, the remaining 80% will be donated to our nominated charity - Portland Special Needs School, Sunderland. The event was organized by the Lions organisation, which supports local charities many thanks to them for the organising of the event. A special mention to Davide who managed to raise 150 euros from his friends and family in Italy plus a big thanks to all of them for supporting him (Saluti to all). 

Panto -15th December (Sunderland) – 25 of our primaries went to the pantomime to see Babes in the Wood at the Royalty Theatre, Sunderland. (Oh yes they did!) They all had a great time singing and clapping along to all the songs. They all got into the spirit of the panto – booing the sheriff (Hisss!) and cheering Robin Hood (Hurrah!). Alexander even got up onto the stage and gave a rendition of “Robin Hood riding through the Glen” without moving his lips. Great night had by all! Pic of some of the primaries after the show!

NACYP Judo Tournament 26th November 2005, (Wallsend)- Local competition at Wallsend Sports Centre. An excellent day and a great result - 5 Golds (Davide, Dominique, Jade, Rhys, Georgie), 4 Silvers (Kate, Andrew, James and Jay) and 4 Bronzes (Jodie, Alexander, Evan and Caitlin). Particular mention to Davide Rosa and his first Gold with our Club, and to Alexander, who surpassed himself in a strong group to get Bronze. Well done all of you. Pic of Davide and Andy with their trophies.   

A Prayer (seen pinned above a teacher's desk at one of our schools) - DEAR GOD, So far today I've been good. I haven't lost my temper, I haven't been grumpy, nasty or selfish. But, in a few minutes I'm going to get out of bed and that's when I will need all the help I can get. Amen.

Dutch Exchange & St Nicholaas Judo Event 18th November – 21st November (Holland) – 19 of the students took part in this event supported by parents and coach. All of the students had a fantastic time. They flew out from Newcastle Airport to Schiphol, Amsterdam. They then travelled by train to meet up with the Dutch families who accommodated them for the first two days of the weekend.  On the Friday they socialized with our new Dutch friends then on the Saturday they took part in the St Nicholaas Judo Event. The club did really well taking three gold’s (Georgie, Rhys & Caitlin) six silvers (Evan, Dominique, Kayleigh, Andrew Scott, Kate & Chris) and five bronzes (Thomas, Alex, Ryan, Jade & Steven). A big well done to Caitlin, Kayleigh and Jade for taking gold, silver and bronze medals respectively in their category. The event ran very well with St Nicholaas and his Black Knights making an appearance to a packed audience. Our hosts laid on a disco on the Saturday night, which was an excellent night. The club and the students would like to thank all of the members and families of Garami Heerle Judo Club for their fantastic hospitality.  The group then travelled to Amsterdam on the Sunday for an overnight stay before their flight back. They visited the Anne Frank museum, took rides on the canal boats, ice skated in Dam Square (Not many people can say they have done that!) and took in the ambience of this great city. All in all a fantastic weekend! We will be back next year!

BJC Senior Nationals- 20th November (Hereford) – The BJC Senior Nationals took place in Hereford where one of our members took part. Andrew Stephenson took bronze in the U60kgs Kyu grade event.  A big well done too Andrew as this was a very good result as he had been unable to train for the last week due to an injury. The Newcastle area also performed well returning with 1 gold (Eric Fail), 2 silvers (Claire Woods and Mykaela Reilly) and one bronze (John Chrisp). Well done to all!!

Ciao and Welcome – 7th November – The club would like to extend a warm welcome to England to our friend Davide Rosa. Davide (19) has arrived from Italy to train with the club and to improve his English for the next six months or so. Davide will become a member of the club and has recently attained his 1st Kyu  (Brown belt) and we are sure he will be a tremendous asset in the club in this time. Davide has come well prepared for the North East weather as he was wearing two coats when he got off the plane. We are sure he will acclimatise quickly (Short sleeved shirts by December for the Bigg Market, Newcastle! – Ian) Welcome aboard Davide! Davide pictured at the Quayside, Newcastle.

Beginners, Novices and Advanced Judoka Course (Washington) October 24th – 28th: The club delivered its week course, which was funded by an Award for All grant with great success. The novice and beginner section attracted 20 students while in the advanced section 35 students attended. The course was put together to introduce young people to the sport of judo and to increase the contest skills of the more advanced students. The club was pleased to have two special instructors in attendance namely Matthew Clempner (6th Dan) and Alan Carlisle (5th Dan) who were ably assisted by Jason Ede (1st Dan). Matthew and Alan were absolutely brilliant with the students and they benefited enormously from the judo knowledge they passed on. A very special mention must go to Sensei Pickering, who took part in all of the training, on his commitment to the course and the effort he put into it (He was shattered by the end of the week. Bless! - Ian). Senseis Pickering and Alderman have gained a huge amount from the course, which will inevitably benefit all the students. Thanks go to Mr Kenny for refereeing the novice and beginners contests and to the area Dan grades who called in to show support. We would also like to thank Barry Gibson (BJA Regional Schools Development Officer) for taking a section of the course. Last but not least, many thanks go to all the committee who helped with the event and to all the students who took part - Well done all! 

Bag Pack –  22nd Oct (Gateshead) - The club took part in a bag pack at Sainsbury’s Team Valley Gateshead to raise funds for the club. Although it was a very wet day (which kept a lot of shoppers indoors) the club still managed to raise £747.50. We also met a lady who attended the training session in the North East with Sensei Kenshiro Abbe many years ago!   Thanks to everyone who came and helped and to Sainsbury's staff for their support.

BJC (MAC) International Open 16th Oct (Norwich) – The club took the long journey down to Norwich with ten students for this international event. We had an overnight stop in Norwich in which the students went to the cinema (Wallace & Gromit Curse of the Were-Rabbit - brilliant). The club returned with nine medals in total: two gold’s (Kate and Jennifer) three silvers, (Rhys, Jade and Andrew) and 4 bronzes (Alex, Andrew, Kayleigh and Terri). Special mention to Kate who had to fight in the U57kgs category, as there was only two students in her category, (U52kgs) and still won the event. (PS You cannot have both gold’s Kate! – Sensei). Well done to Andrew Scott from Kia Kan who travelled down with the club and also returned with Silver. Also well done to Adam and James for competing really well. Keep up the good work guys. Pic of Kayleigh on her way to her bronze - see also Scrapbook for other pics from the weekend)

10,000th Hit (5th October ,2005) – The site today received its 10,000th hit. It is a fantastic achievement considering the website has only being going for 19 months. The site has been a fantastic tool in promoting judo and the club throughout the UK and the world. We have had hits from: New Zealand, USA, Peru, Thailand, Japan, Italy, Holland, Germany, France, Canada, Brazil, Poland, Ukraine to name but a few. A big well done to Debbie Lorraine on putting the web site together - from all of us!!

Italian Visitors! 29th Sept – 2nd Oct 2005 – Over the weekend we played hosts to two clubs from Italy – Narabi and Sakura Forli. We would like to thank both clubs for entering The Great Northern Open and it was a pleasure to meet up with our friends from Narabi again and to make new friends from the members of Sakura Forli. Over the weekend we organized a range of activities including ten pin bowling, sightseeing and an after-event party. The weekend was a great success in judo terms with both clubs winning medals and in terms of a cultural experience for everyone.  Many thanks to all those people who gave lifts, offered accommodation and supplied food and drink for the party.  Special thanks have to go to Sensei Pickering (and his better half, Anne) on all the hard work they did over the weekend. Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Picture of the Anglo-Italian social night (see Scrapbook for other pics).

The Great Northern Open 1st October (Wallsend) – Two hundred and seventy one competitors from the UK and Italy took part in the third Great Northern Open. The event was a great success with some excellent judo, which was held in a true judo atmosphere. The feedback from the event has been excellent and many people are including the event in their diaries for 2006. The club managed to take 7 silvers, (Jay Duffy, Dominique McEwan, Georgie McEwan, Melissa Ash, Andrew Stephenson, Jennifer Marshall and Anna Mills) and seven bronzes (Rhys Ash, Lee Bratton, Jade Hamilton, Caitlin McEwan, Terri McDermott, Kate McDermott and James Stephenson). Our other students all performed well (for some it was their first event) and received runners up medals. Congratulations go to Newburn Judo Club on winning the Paul Douglass Team Trophy and commiserations to Shiro Kwaido who just missed out on regaining the trophy. Last but not least a huge well done to all those people that helped to organize the event your help was tremendous.

BJC Inter Counties Team Event, 25th September (Leicester) – A very early rise and start to this event. The club joined up and travelled down to Leicester with the Newcastle Area squad by coach (5.30am Yawwwwnnn!!)). The early start did not have too much of a detrimental effect on the area team as we returned from the BJC Inter Counties team event with a very credible second place. The team took gold in the Ladies Dan grade and junior girls sections, silver in the junior boys and primary boys categories and a bronze for the junior boys B team. A huge well done to all of the students and senseis that competed in the event.  The club would like to say a big well done to Senseis Chrisp, Anderson and Pickering for their efforts over the last six weeks for the organization and coaching. Special mentions go to our own students who returned with medals, Kate, Jade, Dominique, Jennifer, on taking gold. Plus, well done to Cy, Rhys, James, Evan and Thomas on taking silver in their events. We would also like to congratulate the Leicester area on winning the event and for the organization of the event.

Life Science Centre, 17th September, (Newcastle). As a club we attended the Life Centre (100 of us!!) in Newcastle on Great North Run weekend. It was the first time a lot of the members and their families had been to this venue and were all very impressed. The centre had a load of interactive stuff for the kids (and the adults!) and was a lot bigger than we thought. The highlights of the centre were the arcade, which had lots of energetic things to do, and the Vortex. The Vortex showed how the mind can play tricks with you it gave you the distinct feeling that you were at sea. The best part of the day was the motion simulator. Not just any motion simulator but a SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS simulator. It was a howl! A number of people said it was better than the ones you get in Disneyland. Great day!!

AMF Ten Pin Bowling 27th August, Washington – “O, When the lights go out!” in the words of the song, the Washington crew took to the bowling lanes in numbers. The club took up11 lanes at our local bowling alley. The students and parents had a great time. However, we must admit the students’ judo is a lot better than their bowling. A great example of this was when Cy Suddick wound himself up and launched a heat seeking missile of a ball, which promptly went airborne and bounced out of his lane and took out half of Toni Parkinson’s pins in the next lane!!  The night was rounded off with hot dogs and fries. Great night!

Andy returns -14th August – Andrew Stephenson one of our students returned from eight weeks of training and competition in the USA. Andy was invited by the Mayo Quanchi club to train and compete in some of their national tournaments held in California, Ohio, Georgia and Florida.  From brief conversations we have had with Andrew he had a brilliant time and has learnt loads. To catch up with his trip check out Andy’s website on http://www.andysjudo.cjb.net/ Pic of Andy with Athen's Olympic Bronze medallist Jimmy Pedro (USA)

Community Foundation Award- 2nd August. The club is pleased to announce that it has received a grant award from the Community Foundation of £3589.00. The award will be used to support students to attend residential and training courses.

Judo demonstration, 30th July – (The Galleries, Washington). The club took part in a judo demonstration to raise awareness of Judo, the club and to raise funds for our forthcoming trip to Holland in our local shopping centre. Ten of the students attended and displayed excellent skills and were a credit to judo and the club. They took part in three demonstrations, which included break falls, throws and kata. The demonstration also included some crowd participation and a game of “grab the belt”. While the crowd watched some of the parents collected and raised £107. The students were treat to a McDonald's lunch by the club for their efforts. Also big thanks to all the parents and students who came and supported the demonstration, plus a big thanks to Mark McEwan for providing his van to transport the mats. One of the highlights of the day was the students getting to meet Dylan McKenna – Redshaw (AKA – Little Dec from Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway) who was shopping in The Galleries. Dylan came on to the mat and had a picture taking with the students.  (Dylan next to Sensei John) It was amazing to see a number of the students dumbstruck to meet someone off the TV. Many thanks Dylan!

Newcastle Building Society Grant – We would like to thank the Newcastle Building Society for a grant of £500 via the Community Foundation. The grant will go towards the clubs development of its coaches, referees and timekeepers.

BJC Welsh Junior Nationals 26th June - Hot day at Sophia Gardens!! Nine of our students attended this event in Cardiff, Wales. They all did really well with a return of one gold and three silvers. Jade Hamilton took gold in the U30kgs (making it a double with the English she won in May). Rhys Ash took silver in the U40kgs (This was his first attempt at the U40kgs category) While Kate McDermott (U50kgs) and Jennifer Marshall (O60kgs) gained their first national medals with silver in their categories respectively. Our other students all competed extremely well in their categories so a big well done to Alex, Cy, Chris, David and Steven. Keep up the good work guys!!

BJC National Squad Training 12th June – Five of our students attended National Squad training in Birmingham. All had an excellent workout and were excellent representatives of the club. Good to see Jason, Debbie and David from Fordley and some of our friends from Northbrook. Big thanks to Mark McEwan for the driving and his GPS system (The club will never get lost again!!!) Picture of the winners of the Jackie Hamblin Trophy at BJC squad training.  From left to right, Laura Barnett (Blyth Juno Michi, 2003) Dave Hamblin, Jade Hamilton (Washington, 2005) and Amelia Cook (Northbrook, 2004)

Pride of South Tyneside Award, 2nd June – It is with great pleasure to say a huge well done to one of our students, Andrew Stephenson. Andy was a nominee in the “Pride of South Tyneside Awards” in the sporting excellence category at the Customs House in South Shields and was named winner of the category. This black tie function was a great experience for Andy and thoroughly deserved as he has taken 4 English National BJC titles at senior, espoir and junior level in two years and at different weight categories.  The event was a large celebration of local achievement and attended by politicians, local celebrities and sports people (Paul “Goffy” Gough from Metro Radio, former Sunderland footballers - Kieron Brady & Gary Bennett, MP’s Stephen Hepburn and David Miliband, Emmerdale actor Dale Meeks who plays Simon the fishmonger and ITV sports presenters Roger Thames and Jeff Brown) with the aim of recognising the skills and achievements of the people of South Tyneside. Well done from all of us!! (Pic above - Andy with his award and from left to right Kieron Brady, Jeff Brown, Gary Bennett and Roger Thames)

Special Needs International Event, 28th – 30th May, (Bradley Stoke, near Bristol) 6 of our students with special needs (Special Needs are classed as physical, behavioural or learning difficulties) attended this event. They returned with three Golds (Daniel Pickering, Terri McDermott and Ryan Escott), two Silvers (Daniel Mills & Nikki McDermott) and a Bronze (John Lorraine). A HUGE well done from every one at the club. This was a terrific event, hosted by Bradley Stoke Judo Club and the first event of its kind that we have attended (it won't be the last! - Sensei). The display of courage, commitment and sheer good judo by the competitors was inspirational. So too was the friendliness and good humour shown by all the judoka and officials taking part. Many thanks to Stephen Westlake of BJA Bradley Stoke Judo Club for organising the event and to Roy Court from the WJA for his guidance and advice over the weekend. Big thanks also to the parents who travelled down with us to support the students. Last, but not least, thank you to the crew of easyJet flight EZY582 for announcing the teams success over the plane's intercom system on our return flight from Bristol - the kids got a real kick out of that! See Scrapbook for more photos.

Bag Packing May 7th - The club took part in this fundraising event at ASDA at The Galleries Shopping Centre, Washington. The event was to raise funds to support the students to attend judo courses and events. A big thank you to all those members and parents who gave up their Saturday to help. It was great to get such a positive feedback about the club from customers, which showed in us raising £765.00. Also a big thank you to the staff of ASDA for their support. The picture above is of some of the younger students taking advantage of the free face painting offer. Yes, that is Andy Stephenson, current BJC Senior National champion, at the back, with a pink butterfly on his face! He was sponsored a fiver each, by five of the parents to have it done and he needs the money to pay for his trip to the States later this year (where he will be training with the Mayo Quanchi Judo Club). Good luck Andy! 

Sponsored Walk Amount - The club would like to thank all those people who supported the recent sponsored walk at The New Herrington Countryside Park back in March. The walk was done to raise funds to support the students to participate in all aspects of their judo development. The event raised a fantastic £1,213. A huge well done to all those that contributed to the event.

BJC Junior National Championships May 1st - travelling in style! - we wish! Saw this monster at the Woodall Services on the M1 and couldn't resist taking a photo of the guys with it. Took 16 of our students to the championships (It was the first time of entry for 9 of them) and returned with 2 golds (Jade Hamilton and Andrew Stephenson) 1 silver (Dominique McEwan) and 3 bronze medals (Caitlin McEwan, Evan McEwan and Ethan Wright).  Special mentions to Andy Stephenson on a great winning throw in the final to win gold and to Jennifer Marshall,for showing great courage to return to the mat (plus win her fight) despite an injured ankle (not recommended - Sensei). It was a great experience for all the students, all of whom won contests, and we are sure they will all go on to improve their judo.  Big thanks to all the parents who helped out with transport to the event.

St Ives Course, 25th – 28th March  - A great weekend was had by two of our students in sunny Cornwall. Andy and James Stephenson attended this fantastic course with the support of their father Chris.  The course has been running for 43 years and was attended by at least 200 judoka of a very high standard and ran over four days.  The course had some special judoka celebrities in attendance. Namely, Jane Bridge, Great Britain’s first World champion (1980) and Kenzo Nakamura, World (1997) and Olympic (1996) champion. According to reports Kenzo was not thrown once over the four days of the course!!
(Pic of World and Olympic Champion Kenzo Nakamura with Andy Stephenson)

The Walk 20th March – The weather was a bit on the chilly side but the warmth of spirits got everyone going on the club-sponsored walk. Over fifty parents and students took a scenic stroll around Herrington Countryside Park to raise funds for the club.  The walk as usual started off like the “charge of the light brigade”, with the younger students taking the lead, but everyone soon caught them up! Plenty of wildlife to be seen - herons, mallards, swans, plus pieces of art and local mining pieces. (Do we include Mark and Gary as wildlife! Ian) The walk was about five miles and everyone made it around safely. Plus on completion there was Cadbury’s Crème Eggs for all!!! (mmmmmm!!!) Not to forget a HUUUUGE thanks to Christie and Graham for all their work in organising the event from beginning to end!!!  Well done guys!! (Pic above part of the Washington Judo Club Ramblers Society ready for action!!!) 

Bon Voyage Sebastien – One of our friends is on his travels. Sensei Sebastian Delaplace is returning to his home in Lyon, France this week after working and residing here in the North East of England for the last year (Sebastian says it rains too much mind!). Sebastian has been a great source of help and inspiration to the members of the club and has shown us how good the judo in France is. We are sure we will see him again (Maybe in October at the Great Northern) and we hope to arrange a visit to Sebastian’s club in France in the future. A big thank you from all of us and the Best of British to you!! (Pic above - Sebastian is in the middle of the junior and senior class)

Washington Lions – The club is pleased to announce that the Washington Lions have kindly donated £500 towards the cost of supporting six of our students to a Special Needs International Judo Event in Bristol. The event will take place over three days starting on the 28th May. This is the first time these students have been to this event and the donation continues our drive to support all of our students to access opportunities to develop their judo plus life experiences.

Awards For All Grant - We are pleased to announce that the club has been awarded £4,240 by Awards for All. The grant will be used to hold a week of judo for the members of the club to increase their skills. Included in the week will be a taster course for beginners. We will have a special instructor for the week- this will be Mr Alan Carlisle (5th Dan) who is the BJC National Squad Ladies coach plus a special guest instructor to be confirmed. (Dates for the event to be confirmed ASAP)

The London Judo International 12/13th February 2005- Wow! What a weekend. We took 13 of our students to this very tough event which had a lot of the top clubs in the country in attendance. The event had 1380 competitors from clubs all over the UK and Europe. The club returned with 3 bronze medals - Cy, Jay and Caitlin while the rest of the students all won contests and represented the club with great attitudes. The weekend was a great judo and life experience for the students. A special mention to Adam Fisher who just lost out on a medal after winning his first three fights by Ippon - keep up the good work Adam! Also a big thanks to all the parents who came and supported the students. Of course it would be not be a Washington Judo Club weekend without one of us getting lost or sidetracked. Ian, our club secretary, getting on the London Kings Cross train a half an hour before anyone else and then having to get off at Darlington to wait for the rest of the group. (I was planning the route ahead like a good secretary should! Ian) It was really great to meet up with Gary, Albert, and Nigel from Northbrook and the guys from Plympton St Maurice. (pic above Rhys, Kate and Georgie outside the Houses of Parliament doing some after the event sight seeing!!)

Aspire - The club has been awarded a grant of £300 from Sunderland Housing Groups Aspire scheme. The grant will be used to support our students to attend international and national events. Many thanks to Ian Porter and Sue Botteril for their continued support. 

Panto time! - Our primary section had their annual visit to the Pantomime last Friday (Oh no they didn't! - Oh yes they did!), to the Customs House in South Shields, to see Dick Whittington. The kids had a great time (as did the adults) and came away singing the show songs. See you all back on the mats on Monday night!

2004 Highlights:

Champion - BJC Senior Nationals (Hereford) 14th Nov - We have the great pleasure in congratulating our first senior BJC Champion. Andrew Stephenson became the BJC U60 kg champion at the first time of asking. This is a fantastic achievement for Andrew as he is only 15 years old and has only recently attained his senior green belt grade!!! What is even more impressive about his achievement is that Andrew beat higher graded and older judoka to take the title!!! A big well done from all the club and it is thoroughly deserved. To congratulate Andrew you can checkout his website on the links page!! Pictured with Andrew are President Otani (left) and Sensei Hosaka (right)

New mats!!!! The club took receipt of its second matted area. The mats were purchased via grants from the Community Chest and The Nissan Motor Company. These new mats will now allow our students to train more safely, as this has increased the space on the mat to 136 sq metres. The event was marked with Sensei Alan Carlisle (5th Dan and National BJC Ladies Coach - pictured rear, left) taking the club session (Sensei Carlisle even got a police escort to the club!!). The students really enjoyed the session and learned a great deal (A big thanks from all of us!!!). We would also like to thank Sensei Brian Wilson for the loan of the canvass mat which has served us so well over the recent months. The mat has been an education in itself - trying to put it together (I think a number of the parents are quietly pleased to see the back of it!!).

What a weekend! - On Friday 1st October, 13 of our friends from Yudanshakai-Lazio in Italy arrived to stay with us and take part in the Great Northern Open competition. 11 students (one 2nd Kyu, six 1st Kyus, two 1st Dans and two 2nd Dans) and their coaches, Sensei Sergio Olivieri (4th Dan) and Sensei Sergio Cecchini (2nd Dan). After the competition we took our friends to the Pelaw Grange Greyhound Stadium for a great night out - highly recommended (photo of, from left to right, Sensei Olivieri, Sensei Cecchini and our friend Sebastian Delaplace from the FFJDA of France). On Sunday we took them to the BJC National Squad training session in Castle Vale, Birmingham, followed by a get-together with our families at the Washington Arms pub (see Scrapbook for photos). Shopping at the Metro Centre followed by sightseeing on Monday was completed with a joint training (and fun) session at our Club on Monday night and a meal afterwards at the Toby Carvery. We then saw our friends off this morning on their journey back to Italy. Spero che ci rivedremo presto! 

The Great Northern Open 2004 2nd October - The event was held at Wallsend Sports Centre, where 30 clubs and over 230 judoka took part. We entered a team of 23 into the event and returned with 5 golds (Rhys Ash, Kate McDermott, Jack Slassor, Andrew Stephenson and Ethan Wright) 5 silver (Sebastian Delaplace, Jade Hamilton, Dominique McEwan, Caitlin McEwan and Georgie McEwan) and 5 bronze medals (Michael Charlton, David Huggins, Corrie-Anne Morris, James Stephenson and Michael Stephenson.) Special mention to Michael Stephenson for his bronze performance in the male senior U73kgs. This section contained Dan grades from Italy and France and Michael performed superbly to win his bronze. Also a big well done to the rest of the team who represented the club so well!!! Above pic some of our Senior and Junior team.

BIG Congratulations - The club would like to send its best wishes and congratulations to Daniel and his partner Sandra on the birth of their son Thomas Jay on Thursday 30th September 2004 (we can put him in the U25kg! - Sensei). Special congratulations to Sensei John and his wife Anne, who are now officially grandparents. However, we would also like to add that Sensei is now officially OLD!!! (I was born old! - Sensei)

Great North Run - A big well done to Adam, Alex and Thomas, who took part in this year's Junior Great North Run and thoroughly enjoyed it. The lads raised £201.00 for the club by being sponsored for their efforts.  Here they are pictured with their medals, which they brought in to show us.

Recognition - Chris Stephenson was also presented with a certificate to mark his support and service. Chris has been involved with Judo - as a parent of three judokas (Michael, Andrew and James - all National trophy winners), a voluntary table official, and now as an active committee member of our Club - for some 10 years now. The recognition is long overdue and well deserved.  

Welsh Nationals (18th July, Cardiff) - Six of our students went over to Wales for this year's BJC Welsh National Championships. A smaller squad than usual, due to the holidays. Nonetheless, we came back with 5 Bronzes - Andrew Stephenson, Jack Slassor, Rhys Ash, James Stepehenson and Jade Hamilton, an excellent result. Particular congratulations to Jack (having moved up a weight category), James (not long returned from an extensive layoff for a broken arm - not Judo related, I hasten to add!) and Rhys, with his first National trophy. Well done, to Kate McDermott, who didn't come back with a trophy, but fought well, at her first Nationals, and enjoyed the experience. Well done also to Ian Ash and Chris Stephenson, two of our Club parents, who were presented with certificates from Mr. Robin Otani, President of the BJC, for their contribution and support; both to the Club and to the sport of Judo over the years - well deserved.  

19th - 20th June Area Course and Grading - 43 of our students took part in the Area grading; with guest coach, Mr. Alan Carlisle, 5th Dan. Well done all of you. In particular: Melissa Ash, our first female junior 4th Kyu, Helen Morris, first female senior 4th kyu, David Huggins, who was awarded 5th kyu 1 orange bar at his first grading (a 5 step jump!) and Andrew Stephenson, on gaining his 3rd Kyu 3 black bars (aka Junior Black Belt). Andrew is pictured receiving his certificate from Alan Carlisle, watched by Eddy Kenny, 6th Dan, Newcastle Area Rep.

Buona sera Faleria! - The old town, viewed from the rear of Dojo Koshiki, during our Club's visit to Italy. A fantastic experience for our students.  A wonderful place, great food (even better wine!) and marvellous people. See our members benefits and scrapbook sections for more pictures.   

Our Club members with some of their Italian friends. "Judo is good judo when it unites people" - Sensei Sergio Cecchini, 2nd Dan, Dojo Koshiki.

Yudanshakai-Lazio - rear left: our hosts, Sensei Sergio Cecchini (Dojo Koshiki), Sensei John, Sensei Sergio Olivieri (Dojo Narabi). Front right, our good friend (and interpretor) Francesco. Mille Grazie to you all.  Sensei Sergio Cecchini was presented with a glass plaque inscribed: British Judo Council - Newcastle Area: To our friends at Yudanshakai-Lazio from Washington Judo Club June 2004.

Harry Escott (Grandad of one of our members: young Ryan Escott) has kindly written the following poem; following the Club competition, which he came to watch at the end of March. We were all very touched by it and would like to extend our sincere thanks for his work and sentiments:

BJC English Junior National Championships - May 2nd. We took 9 students down to the Junior Nationals at Hereford and came back with 2 gold trophies (Andrew Stephenson and Jack Slassor) 1 silver (Georgie McEwan at her first Nationals) and 5 bronzes (Michael Stephenson and Daniel Pickering in the Espoir category; Dominique McEwan, Jade Hamilton and Ethan Wright in the Junior category). Commiseration to Rhys Ash, who really fought well and only narrowly missed out on a bronze himself. It was a great weekend and it was nice to meet old friends again.  Good also, to see the North East so well represented by clubs from our own Area and neighbouring Areas - your students were a credit to you.

FREE 'TASTER' COURSE 16th - 20th February 2004

Washington Judo Club organised a Free week long taster course for the half term week 16th - 20th February.

Funded by 'Awards for All', the week-long course was aimed specifically at Female beginners and beginners with Special Needs, of both sexes.The course was a great success, with over twenty new starters on the mat, culminating in a competition at the end of the week, watched by the parents and family members of those who took part. Many thanks to Senseis Jason & & Debbie Anderson; Fordley Judokwai, for their time and invaluable help with the running of the course. Well done everyone who took part. The press photographer was there too - so watch out for your photos in the local press!