Judo Association Lines Up Championship

Chairman of the Ghana Judo Association (GJA), Mr. B.O.K Johnson, has stated that the judo calendar will this year see the introduction of two more championships-Chairman’s Cup and the Master’s Cup, to add up to the annual Japan Open Judo championship.

He said the association was in talks with some corporate bodies to come to the aid of the association with the organisation of the championship.

Mr. Johnson believes the reintroduction of these two championships will help raise the level of awareness of the sport in the country and to also give practicing judokas the opportunity to actively participate in the sport.

As a first step towards achieving that goal, the association will soon register all judo clubs in the country after which they will be provided with equipment including Tatami mats among others to aid a smooth practice of the sport in the country

Judo is an individual sport that can win the nation more laurels at major sporting events like the Olympics if stakeholders of sports in the country give it a fair share of what the sport deserves

He congratulated the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) for its recent organisation of an intermediate Judo training course for Judo trainers to help raise the sport in the country.

The course organised to equip participants with the requisite skills that will help see the sport grow and compete with other big sports in the country saw an International Judo expert from Mauritius Joseph Mounawah taking 24 instructors and practitioners through the techniques and tactics in warm-up, techniques specification, conditioning and planning to fight judo.

Mr. Johnson entreated all the participants at the recent course to impact the knowledge acquired unto the young and upcoming judokas in their various clubs and communities while unearthing more hidden talents into the sport.

He also revealed that his outfits will commence discussions with the organisers of Ghana University Sports Association (GUSA) Games and Security Services Sports Association (SESSA) Games so that Judo would be incorporated into the games to afford Judokas more competitions.