Posts Tagged ‘Judo’

Judo Champion Pete Douglas Opens New Gym Facilities at Leisure Centre

Wednesday, February 6th, 2013

Gym goers at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre can now benefit from a £115,000 makeover and expansion of the facility following a public consultation that showed overwhelming support for the changes.  The floor space of the gym has been increased by 40% and 20 new pieces of state-of-the-art Techno-Gym equipment have been installed.

Demand for studio cycling at the centre has increased in recent times. As such, the cycling studio has been upgraded with the inclusion of 10 new bikes. In line with the current fitness trends the Trust has also added a brand new “functional fitness” area. Functional fitness is the latest trend incorporating different equipment such as ropes and kettlebells, which allows people to focus on movement and core strength.

In order to expand the gym the Trust took the decision to permanently close the under-used Rivers Health Suite. This decision was taken after a consultation asking customers for feedback. The overwhelming majority (more than 90%) were in favour of closing the health suite and expanding the gym.

Mark Crutchley, chief executive of Circadian Trust the not-for-profit social enterprise which runs the leisure centres in South Gloucestershire, commented: “As a social enterprise we are always looking for ways to encourage more people to improve their health by participating in exercise.  The Rivers Health Suite was drastically under-utilised with only 11 members signed up to use the facility regularly. The consultation told us that our customers wanted new improved gym facilities.  These improvements mean that the Trust will can continue to provide the latest equipment and service suitable for the needs of the local community.”

Five-time British Judo Champion, and coach at Bradley Stoke Judo Club, Pete Douglas opened the gym last night (5 February). The night gave new customers the opportunity to try the facilities with free Functional Fitness demonstration classes, and two free studio cycling sessions.

Bradley Stoke Judo Club (BSJC) has been using the facilities at Bradley Stoke Leisure centre for 12 years, and is one of the most successful clubs in Great Britain. Since coaching at BSJC, Pete Douglas has trained more than 20 juniors to England and Great Britain level, and 15 seniors to Dan grade.

Pete Douglas said: “Local leisure facilities, like Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre, play such an important role in keeping young people active. It is important that the facilities are kept state-of-the-art and are continually being invested in. The new gym opening marks a big investment into future health and wellbeing of the community.”

For more information or membership enquiries please call 0300 333 0300.

Patchway Judo club has National award winning Judo volunteers!

Friday, November 16th, 2012

Saturday 10th November three Bristol judo volunteers and a group of Supporters drove to the Car Heritage museum in Warwick to attend the British Judo Association Annual awards evening.

All three had been shortlisted to the last four to receive their awards, public had been voting to put them in Gold, Silver or Bronze positions.

Two award recipients, from Patchway Judo Club won silver awards. Emma Peacock the clubs Treasurer, for Club volunteer of the year for not only her Treasurer award, all the extra above and beyond volunteering she does at the club and in the county.

Alex Bright one of the clubs Instructors, won his for Young volunteer of the year. Alex catches two buses from his home in Knowle to coach at the club (www.patchwayjudo.org) on Tuesday evenings as well as coaching on a Saturday at the club.

This is the second award Alex won in a week, as he also was runner up Young Coach of the year for South Glos at their awards hosted by Geoff Twentyman.

Also receiving an award was an honorary member of the club, Derek Johnson. He has been involved in the club as an official for over 30 years. Derek, who is the head coach Long Ashton Judo club, won Gold National Referee award, beating an International referee who had officiated at the Olympics. Derek has refereed locally for almost 50 years there isn’t a competition that happens in Bristol without Derek refereeing and barely one in the south west!

The three were presented their awards by 2012 Olympic silver medallist Gemma Gibbons.

photo shows Emma, Alex and Derek with Gemma

Medals in Poland for Team from Bradley Stoke Judo Club

Friday, October 12th, 2012

Bradley Stoke Judo Club recently helped fund 10 players to travel to Warsaw in Poland for the Warsaw open cup and training camp.

The team, a mix of boys and girls aged between 12-17 years, exceeded the Club’s expectations by not only giving it their all, but also surviving a very tough 2-day training Camp. The team travelled with two experienced coaches who are used to the stresses of competing abroad.

The team consisted of Jack Reeves, Eli Britton, James Hayes, Ben Attwood, Dominic Nelson, Myles Nelson, Pete Miles, Eleanor Young, Steph Walker and Lele Nairne.
All of the players won at least one fight which was fantastic and the team managed to achieve two 7th places, one 5th place with three 3 players Eleanor, Myles and Pete winning Bronze medals and Lele Nairne winning a Gold Medal.  Eleanor excelled in Poland winning a bronze medal because she is not yet part of the England squad but hopefully this will change soon.

Myles Nelson fought in a higher weight group just so he could go to Poland and winning the bronze was a great achievement.

Pete Miles lost one fight to a top European player but totally dominated the fight until making one mistake which proved fatal so he then had to be content with the bronze medal.

Lele Nairne was fantastic all of the way through throwing every one of her opponents for the maximum 10 points to win the Gold.

The Bradley Stoke Club achieved 19th place out of 99 clubs taking part and beat some national team such as Latvia, Belarus and Luxembourg which was a brilliant achievement – Congratulations to all who took part!!

All of the players returned from the trip having had a “tough but fantastic” experience.

Bradley Stoke Judo Club strives to give players the best coaching and support they could ever hope for in this tough sport of Judo.  The Club offers separate classes for each level of ability and ages. Have a look at their website for more info on www.bradleystokejudoclub.com

 

Medals for Volunteers

Sunday, August 12th, 2012

Not only do Patchway Judo players bring home the medals and trophies, their volunteers do too!

Most recently Emma Peacock, Club Treasurer, has made it through to the top 4 National award for Club Volunteers and not to be out done Alex Bright, 17, has made it through to the top 4 National award for the Young Volunteer Award. To see whether they receive the Gold, Silver or a Bronze award there is now an open vote for supporters to vote for them and the other candidates.

Emma and Alex didn’t know they were being nominated and were shocked and pleased to have not only been nominated but to have got to the finals. As you can see from their judo kits they are both active judo players as well!

These two are not the first volunteers to be awarded volunteer awards this year, Club Coach and Secretary, Alison Finn, won the o18 Filton unsung hero award in July and a few months ago club chairman, Andrew Phelps, won South Glos Chair award for his services to volunteering, as a bonus he got to meet Earl and Countess of Wessex at a lunch for the volunteers.

You may well have gathered that volunteering is big part of the club, with it being run entirely by volunteers, from coaching to “back room” staff keeping the club going!

The club is only one of two silver club mark clubs in the area and is working on Gold, the highest level , which they hope to be awarded shortly.

Chairman, Andy Phelps, said that “it is very important to the club that we are a “family club” and all the family are involved. We have a fantastic group of volunteers, with parents getting involved all the time. This ensures we can support all players to be the best they can be, which is our club motto”.

Alison Finn said “the whole club is really pleased that Emma and Alex have made it to the top four.  We are looking forward to attending the awards evening in November and are hoping that the two new Olympic medalists will make an appearance at the evening too”.

If you would like to get involved or have a go, check out Patchway website www.patchwayjudo.org.uk

St Michael’s Keep the Shield!

Friday, July 20th, 2012


St Michael’s Primary School in Stoke Gifford has won the Bristol School of Judo Inter-Schools Shield for third time in a row!

10 players from the school, which is the Patchway judo club’s first yellow belt school club link club, took part in the event achieving 50 points and beating The Meadows school by 3 points for the second time. As it is the third time they have won the trophy they get to keep it! Head teacher Mark Freeman commented “Fantastic, well done to everyone involved with the club”

Gold medals for School team captain Liam Conway, Dan Baker,  Alfie Stocks & Harrison Grove.
Silver medals for Caleb Wootton and Imogen Conway
Bronze medals for Ben Plummer Ryan Gibbard-Giles, Devlin Quinton and Jordan Mawrocki

Well done to all, thanks to John Wheeldon, Bristol School of Judo for organising the event, to Officials Alison and Mollie Finn and Referee Reece Peacock.

The after school club is open to children aged 5-11, The class is led by coach Alison Finn 1st Dan, who is a UKCC level 2 coach and is assisted by Emma Peacock as well as club Youth players, Reece and Kieran Peacock, Mollie Finn and Chris Field, all ex St Michael’s students.  The school club is a satellite club to Patchway judo club, which is currently the only accredited club mark judo club in South Glos.  The club caters for all abilities from recreational players to national squad and from ages 5 to Adult.

Sponsored Judothon raises £2,000!

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

Bradley Stoke Judo Club held a Sponsored Judothon at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre on April 29th  with 40 of their judoka taking part. Their goal was to each complete 100 legal throws….so in excess of 4000 throws were made, and more than £2000 was raised in a combined sponsorship and raffle and lots of fun had in the process! The Club is also grateful to the BJA who supported the event by donating some raffle prizes and judogi.

In total there there are about 70 youngsters within the Club aged between 5 and 19 and ranging in abilities from complete novices to members of the British Junior Squad. Two of whom, Lele Naire and Pete Miles have recently travelled to Kiev and the Czech Republic representing GB.  The club is consistently in the medals and are keen that the youngsters get the chance to compete outside of the UK to expose themselves to the best in Europe and beyond. Last June, 19 members went to Grissoles in France. This June, 26 are travelling to Venray in Holland and in 2013 the Club hopes to take all their British medallists to compete at the US Open in Florida!

The sponsored Judothon is part of the ongoing fundraising activities at the Club.

 

Pete Douglas Makes It A Hat Trick

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

Pete Douglas, from Bradley Stoke Judo Club, travelled to Lille France with a team masters players from the West Country to compete in the Eurometropole Judo Championships.

This is the largest competition bar the world Champs. Pete had won this comp twice before so the pressure was on to make it a hat trick. Pete rose to the challenge, winning all 4 of his fights with the maximum score and has become the only Brit to achieve this in the history of the competition.

Also fighting on that day From B.S.J.C was Trevor King who won a bronze, only losing to a 5 times world medallist Russian on the way. Nick Brace was edged out of the bronze medal by a small score all three are coaches from B.S.J.C.

On the same weekend the junior players were taking the best in England:

* Jordan Knight won a Bronze in the North West seniors Open in St Helens

* The Midland junior Open over 2 days
Bradley Stoke Judo Club took a total of 12 players – 6 on each day, and they came back with a total of 10 medals – 2 Gold, 3 Silver and 5 Bronze.
In no particular order:
Ben A. Bronze.
Toby A. Silver
Isaac M – no medal but 4 fights – won 2, lost 2.
Eli – Bronze
Hannah – Bronze
Elle Y – no medal but 4 fights – won 2, lost 2
Megan – Bronze (ref withdrew her from the silver medal contest)
Jack – silver
Lele – Bronze
James – Silver
Pete Miles – Gold
Myles Nelson – Gold (very last fight of the weekend) – went all the way to flags.

So an action packed weekend for B.S.J.C

Well done to you all!

A Commonwealth Gold and Silver medal for Bradley Stoke

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

On Tuesday the 24th of January 2012 two Bradley Stoke judo club players won the top two medals in their categories at the prestigious 2012 ‘Commonwealth Judo Championship’ which this year was hosted by Wales at the millennium centre in Cardiff. The players Steph Walker and Lele Nairne (both just 14 years of age) won first the silver medal and then Lele bagged the gold and tile of Commonwealth judo champion.

Commenting on their performance club coach, Pete Douglas said: “The selection process for this championship started months ago when the best players England had to offer, gathered to fight-it-out to distinguish the top athletes to represent England in this truly International event. These two players proved themselves to be true titans in judo and right at the very top of their game. They are a credit to the club and South West and I know will shortly be going on to represent England again at other internationals at the very highest level”.

Lele and Steph are both members of the elite England judo squad and Bradley Stoke judo club now has more ETD (England Talent Development) judo squad members than any other club in the country! Later this year the club will be taking ALL of their players to Venray in Holland to compete in HIGH LEVEL competition and in 2013 will be taking all of their top players to compete in the US open so we can all look forward to more medals!

What a fantastic result – Well Done to Lele and Steph and to Bradley Stoke Judo Club!

More Success for Bradley Stoke Judo

Wednesday, November 30th, 2011

The amazing successes of Bradley Stoke Judo Club keeps continuing! Just weeks after being awarded the status of ‘England Squad Performance Club’ by the British Judo Association, 16 year old Ben Attwood achieved his First Dan, 2 fourth Dans were earned by Trevor King and Nick Brace and Head Coach Pete Douglas gained his 5th Dan.

Last week Pete’s outstanding performance as a Coach was also recognised by South Gloucestershire when he was awarded the Top Coach award at the county’s Active Sports Award Presentations.

A huge well done to Bradley Stoke Judo Club from all of us here at Bradley Stoke Matters!

More British Medals for Bradley Stoke Judo Club

Saturday, October 22nd, 2011

Following on from the successes of their younger club-mates at the British Judo Championships in Nottingham when Bradley Stoke Judo Club topped the medal table, last weekend it was the turn of the 12-19 year olds. Thirteen youngsters from BSJC attended the competition in Sheffield held over the weekend of the 15th and 16th of October and a further 4 British medals were achieved..Pete Miles won gold, Toby Attwood and Steph. Walker silvers and Hannah Pitt bronze. A handful of other young fighters narrowly missed out on medals to come in fifth place. Head Coach Pete Douglas said he was delighted with the performance and was especially proud of how all the youngsters conducted themselves both on and off the mat.

As a result of this outstanding performance Bradley Stoke Judo Club has been awarded the status of an ‘England Squad Performance Club’,one of only 20 clubs across England to be awarded this accolade.

(IN THE PHOTO, from left to right, Pete Douglas (Head Coach), Pete Miles(gold), Stephanie Walker(silver), Nick Brace (Senior Coach), Hannah Pitt(bronze).

Bradley Stoke Judo Club Gains 4 More British Medals!!

Tuesday, October 11th, 2011

The British Judo Association’s National Championships for under-12’s was held in Nottingham on October 9th, and became the setting for the latest triumph for Bradley Stoke Judo Club. Around 150 young players – all aspiring champions – came from across Britain to fight for the title of “British Champion 2011”.

Bradley Stoke Club entered a total 4 players in 3 different weight groups and came away with 4 medallists; 2 Golds, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze – a 100% success rate, which was not matched by any other club and saw them at the top of the medals table! The youngsters all fought outstandingly well with a combination of skill, courage, stamina and determination, which is a tribute to the dedication of their coach, Pete Douglas.

The final results were:

Megan Robinson – Under 48kg British Champion
Joe Andrews – Under 27kg British Champion
Marc Arsac – Under 38kg Silver Medallist
Jack Reeves – Under 38kg Bronze Medallist

A huge WELL DONE from all of us at Bradley Stoke Matters YOU HAVE DONE US PROUD!

Bradley Stoke Judo Club is a thriving group with a terrific family atmosphere. They welcome children from age 5 upwards, and also have a strong adult membership. For details of the Club’s training times and other information check out their website here.

photo shows from left to right: Marc Arsac, Nick Brace (Asst. Coach), Megan Robinson, Jack Reeves, Pete Douglas (Head Coach), Joseph Andrews

Gold Medals for Bradley Stoke Judo Club in International Competition

Friday, June 17th, 2011

Last week 19 judoka from Bradley Stoke Judo Club aged between 8 and 16 travelled to Grisolles in France to compete in an international competition. They were accompanied by Head Coach Pete Douglas and assistant coach Gem Gale, together with parents and some siblings.

The event took place over 5 days with over 1200 competitors taking part from 14 countries including national teams from Turkey and Italy; 4 top Russian clubs, players from Senegal, Ghana….and many quality fighters from clubs in France, Spain and Holland.

Bradley Stoke Judo Club were the only British club represented and for many of the young fighters, several whom are British medallists, it was their first opportunity to train and fight overseas against some of the best in the world.

Not only did they have a fantastic time, but Zoe Okoye (8), Louis Arsac (14), and Kelly Wilson (16) won gold medals within their groups; Megan Robinson (10) came home with the silver, and bronze trophies were won by Louis Horne(9); Tasha Okoye (11), Ellie Young (11), Jack Reeves (11) and Pete Miles (15).

All in all it was a hugely successful trip with all players doing themselves and their Club proud. Well done from us to the whole team!

British Championship Success

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

The highly successful Bradley Stoke Judo club (BSJC) has had an outstanding weekend of success at the British Schools Judo Championships in Sheffield. The hugely competitive national event saw over 450 school pupils aged 10-18 compete in their age and weight categories.

The club fielded 12 players and were astounded to win 8 medals. 5 Golds and 3 Bronzes. British Championship Gold Medals were won by brothers, Ben and Toby Attwood, Elissa Britton, Hannah Pitt and Tasha Okoye. Bronze medals were also won by Jack Reeves, Kelly Wilson and Eli Britton.

Head Coach Peter Douglas was bursting with pride for his players but was quick to point out that their success was due to a combination of a number of factors – dedicated training, exceptional club teamwork, persistent personal application and enthusiastic vocal support from the army of friends and family supporters. “Every single BSJC competitor gave it their all. There is plenty more to come from everyone especially those that did really well but did not win a medal on this occasion.”

The family friendly club is well on it way to challenging last years record breaking medal haul. Earlier on in the year Pete Douglas won gold at the Eurometropole Masters Championships in Lille, France and Ben Papuca won gold at the Headmaster conference for independent schools.

The club is now preparing to take a team of nearly 20 youngsters to compete in the Tournoi International de Grisolles in France in June.

Silver and Bronze for Bradley Stoke Judo Athletes

Saturday, September 25th, 2010

Young athletes from Bradley Stoke Judo club proved they were amongst the best in the country by winning two silver and one bronze medals at the British National Judo Championships on Sunday 19th September.

The event held at Crystal Palace National Sports centre in London saw the best 10 and 11 year olds in Britain compete for Judo medals in their age and weight category.

Competition was fierce and all 5 Bradley Stoke Judo fighters had to dig deep and show tremendous courage and skill to compete at the national level.

Head coach Pete Douglas said: “This is the first time Bradley Stoke Judo club has competed at this event and we are exceptionally proud of all of the fighters that went along to the competition. They are an inspiration to the growing number of youngsters we have coming through the ranks. Very well done to them all.”

The photo shows on the bottom row: Left to Right Megan Robinson, Ellie Young. National championship competitors
Middle: Left to Right Eli Britton (Silver Medal) Jack Reeves (Silver Medal) Tasha Okoye (Bronze Medal)
Top: Head Coach Pete Douglas