Great Things Happening at USA Judo! ... From the Office of the CEO!

Great Things Happening at USA Judo! 

....from the Office of the CEO 

As I sat last night reviewing our USA Judo website (www.usjudo.org), a few minutes later I began to read an email update sent to us from Coach Bert Mackey of Seattle who is on a 10-day competition and training trip with a team of athletes in Brazil.  Then it dawned on me how very busy we are and how many great things have happened at USA Judo over the last few months and will continue to happen in the coming weeks. Then I felt compelled to write to you, our members, this short, but pointed, personal note.  

I think we would all agree that true facts and action speaks louder than rhetoric and negative talk. So, it is with a great deal of pride, that I present to you what has been happening at USA Judo over the last few months and what is happening over the next six weeks to finish off the year:

August 6-9 - The USA Judo Cadet World Championship Team competed in Budapest, Hungary with four U.S. athletes placing in the top seven in their respective divisions, including Katelyn Bouyssou and Max Schneider who placed fifth in the 48kg and 66kg divisions, respectively.  Competing in one of the world's most historical cities and the home of the International Judo Federation office, the team was led by Head Coach Jim Hrbek and Team Manager Sherrie Phillips.  At the event, USA Judo was the only National Federation to distribute a media guide featuring all of the USA Judo World Championships Teams for 2009.  (http://judo.teamusa.org/news/article/14865)

August 26-30 - USA Judo sent 14 athletes to Rotterdam, Netherlands to compete in the 2009 Senior World Championships.  Former World Champion Jimmy Pedro was the Head Coach of the team and was assisted by Team Manager Chris Skelley.  In the days leading up to the Worlds, USA Judo leadership attended the IJF Congress and Panamerican Judo Confederation meeting.  USA Judo also provided podium incentives for athletes with $5,000 available to any player to won a gold medal.  USA Judo also was one of only three National Federations that provided reporters with an official Media Guide featuring all of the 2009 USA Judo World Teams.  (http://www.judo.teamusa.org/event/event/888) 

September 10 - Katelyn Bouyssou, the only athlete in the world to compete at all three (Junior, Senior and Cadet) World Championship events in 2009, appeared in Sports Illustrated.  (http://judo.teamusa.org/news/article/15804)

September 16 - USA Judo Olympian Ryan Reser and Paralympian Myles Porter conducted a judo demonstration on the White House Lawn with President Barack Obama to promote the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid.  The demonstration gained national and international media attention with Reser and Porter appearing on CNN, NBC, CBS and ESPN.   (http://judo.teamusa.org/news/article/16022) 

September 17 - USA Judo announced a new Masters International Exchange Tournament to be held in Porto Alegre, Brazil on Dec. 2-6 to provide a greater opportunity for competition and development for USA Judo's master's athletes. (http://judo.teamusa.org/news/article/20486)

September 19 - In cooperation with the International Judo Federation, Judo for Peace, the Panamerican Judo Confederation and the Venezuelan Judo Federation, USA Judo played host to an exhibition dual meet between the United States and Venezuela.  The event was held in Miami in conjunction with a Florida Yudanshakai grassroots local youth tournament which allowed young players from throughout South Florida to see Olympic and World Championship Team members compete.   (http://judo.teamusa.org/news/article/16183)

September 20 - USA Judo Olympian Travis Stevens placed fifth at the Birmingham World Cup in Great Britain.  (http://judo.teamusa.org/news/article/16130)

September 25-26 - USA Judo and the San Jose Local Organizing Committee played host to a successful U.S. Open that included teams from 14 foreign delegations.  The event also included a Paralympic division which served as the Trials for the 2010 World Championships as well as kata and master's divisions.  USA Judo partnered with On the Mat which hosted the OTM Ju-Jitsu Nationals during the event.

October 9-10 - Coached by Bert Becerra and Gerry Navarro, USA Judo junior athletes competed in the Jita Kyoei International Cup in Lima, Peru.  Team USA won the overall title and 25 individual medals in one of South America's finest junior competitions. (http://judo.teamusa.org/news/article/28219)

October 7-18 - Through a partnership with the Brazil Judo Confederation, USA Judo provided six nationally ranked young athletes with the opportunity to train and compete in Brazil.  Coached by 2009 Pan Am Coach Bert Mackey, the team competed on Oct. 11 against Brazil and Argentina's National Teams in an event that was nationally televised in Brazil.   From Oct. 12-15, Team USA participated in a training camp with the squads from Argentina and Brazil and will travel to Vitoria Brazil on Oct. 15 for a second round of competition that also will be televised in Brazil on Oct. 17 and 18.  This event is part of USA Judo's new effort to participate in more dual country matches in order to create greater interest in the sport. (http://judo.teamusa.org/news/article/28173.)  

October 17-18 - Fifteen USA Judo athletes will compete at the first-ever World Kata Championships in Malta.  (http://judo.teamusa.org/news/article/28266)  

October 17-18 - More than 40 U.S. athletes will compete at the Rendez-Vous Canada, a B-Level international event in Montreal.

October 24 - Through a partnership with USA Wrestling, USA Judo athletes will have the opportunity to compete in the 2009 World Grappling Team Trials in Phoenix, Ariz.  The top four athletes in each division will go on to compete at the World Grappling Championships in Fort Lauderdale from Dec. 12-13.  (http://judo.teamusa.org/news/article/16958)  

October 22-25 - The USA Judo Junior World Team will compete at the Junior World Championships in Paris France.  The team includes reigning Junior World Champion Kayla Harrison and will be led by Head Coach Serge Bouyssou and Team Manager Corinne Shigemoto.    

November 4-9 - USA Judo will be entering a full team at the Panamerican Judo Confederation U13 and U15 Championships in Livramente, Brazil.  Seventeen nations from throughout the Americas are expected to participate in this youth event. 

November 13-14 - 2009 Pan American medalist Michael Eldred will compete in the Samoa World Cup. 

Wow... and if that is not enough to say that many great things are happening and will be happening in these next few weeks, I was going to mention the fact that...

We have been hosting clinics around the country to promote and further develop Paralympic judo  

• We have started a Parks and Recreation Paralympic judo program in North Dade County in Miami on Saturdays from 2-4 p.m. 
• We have started a pilot after-school program at Tropical Elementary in South Dade County under the leadership of Florida Yudanshakai President Luis Guardia.    
• With the support of the U.S. Judo Federation, we were able to make an IJF Educational Referee DVD available to referees.  This DVD will soon be available to coaches as well.    
• We hosted for an IJF / Panamerican Judo Confederation Referee Certification test for B and C level referees.   
• Many of our A-Level referees, including USJF Executive Director Robert Fukuda and Janet Johnson have had an opportunity to officiate at the Junior, Senior and Cadet World Championships.  Dr. Gary Berliner also was named as an alternate to the 2009 Senior World Championships Referee Team and officiated at the Brazil Grand Slam in Rio de Janeiro.     
• We have started a new library for the purpose of high performance athlete scouting using the latest DartFish technology that coaches are now able to use in order to work with U.S. athletes to create strategies for fighting foreign opponents.    
• World Medalist Danielle Zangrando from Brazil will be hosting a club clinic for athletes and coaches in Central Florida on Oct. 31.    
• A new Masters Development Committee has worked to establish a new point system for the ranking of masters and that we are supporting and promoting the upcoming Panamerican Masters Championships in Massachusetts. 
• Soon the IJF will be announcing that USA Judo will be playing host to the 2011 World Cadet Championships  

But, then again, I don't think I will mention all of the above since it will sound as though we are bragging about all of these great things that are happening! 

This is not the purpose of this message to our members, but rather it is a way for you to see in one simple message why we believe that, although there is room for improvement, there are a lot of good things happening in USA Judo!

Thank you for being a member of USA Judo. Your support is what helps us make all of these things happen. Keep checking our Web site for more great news in weeks and months to come!

Best, 

Jose Humberto Rodriguez
CEO
USA Judo 

 

 

Tags: Chris Skelley, Jim Hrbek, Jimmy Pedro, Jose Rodriguez, Katelyn Bouyssou, Max Schneider, Myles Porter, Ryan Reser, Sherrie Phillips, Travis Stevens