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Stotfold Junior Judo Club
has developed some of the region’s youngest sport’s players and
now the highly-regarded club has a third generation player among
their ranks.
Ella Taylor, 5, is the
granddaughter of long-running coach Ken Broadribb who runs the
club along with his friends Chris Garratt and John Deacon.
“I started my daughter
Claire, Ella’s mum, at around the same age,” said Ken.
“Claire worked up from
junior to adult green belt and enjoyed her time in the sport.”
Ella attended her first
session last week and overcome the new surroundings to have fun
on the mat.
“She did fine the first
time around but I think she felt a little lost this as two of
her little friends from school who were supposed to come were
unable to attend.
“However, when she was
on the mat she was ok as the other girls of varying ages have
taken her under their wing.
“I also had an enquiry
from a parent who has a five-year-old wishing to come along in
a couple of weeks. So we will see how things develop.”
The club’s latest and youngest
member will benefit from the expert knowledge, insight and engaging
activities which the club have provided for nearly 50 years.
“ The club’s history goes
back some 47 years when the opportunity to start the first ever
club in Letchworth came about with the opening of a new community
centre,” added Ken.
“I started teaching kids
there and started my club colleague Chris off when he was seven. After
going through a number of venues over the years we are now at
our present address.”
The club’s dedicated long-term
commitment to the sport was recognised in 2005 when they received
funding for new equipment.
“We were lucky to get a lottery grant some five years ago and
purchased 100 square metres of Olympic quality judo mats.”
Broadribb, whose club are members of the British Judo Association,
believes attracting potential players at a young age is the key
to developing talented fighters. The youngest you can start judo
is 5 years old.
“I am a great believer
in teaching them when they’re young to start them on the road
to becoming a fuller more confident person as they grow and develop.”
“We teach for free but
charge £15 per school term to cover hall hire. Overall on an average
of seven hours a month this works out at 85p an hour.”
The British Judo Association is the National Governing Body for
the Olympic Sport of judo in Great Britain.
Stotfold Junior Judo Club
train at The Memorial Hall, Hitchin Road, SG5 4HR. Boys and girls
train on Wednesday at 17:30 – 19:30.
Media Contact:
Mark Pickering
British Judo
(t) 01509 631674
(e) mark.pickering@britishjudo.org.uk
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