One Year On: British Judo stands with Ukraine

On the morning of the 24^th February 2022 the first Russian tanks crossed the border into neighbouring Ukraine. Over the past 12 months, more than 8 million Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes and flee their country.

Many have sought refuge across much of Europe with over 147,000 entering the UK. Some of those refugees have been members of the Ukrainian national judo team.

One British Judo Association club that has offered support to the Ukrainian community is Camberley Judo Club.

Camberley Judo Club is at the heart of the community and is a central hub for connecting with families.

They incorporate friendship within the Judo community as one of their many values and have recently adopted a journey of opening new homes for children departing from Ukraine.

Historically, they are a well-represented judo club with a pedigree of Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth medallists.

 Community Stands With Ukraine

Carly Dixon, Camberley Judo Club Secretary, Club & Life Coach, is a former Australian Judoka who competed in three Olympic Games. She won nine gold medals at the Australian National Championships.

Carly spoke to the BJA about how the club connects with families from Ukraine and how the Camberley Judo Club is a central point of the community. For Ukrainian children, a specific Ukrainian session is live on a Wednesday evening.

Carly said: “Ukrainian Wednesdays was my idea. I wanted to take the Ukrainian Judo Team on board when the war happened.

“Through conversations with staff members at the club, I kept telling the coaches we needed to act quickly. It was organising it within the local community and via the local council.

The club has gone one step further and now sponsors a senior member of the Ukrainian National Team.

“I had never thought about sponsoring an athlete; however, a girl was looking at the club who was interested. The question was could I sponsor her? Within two days, I completed the paperwork and sponsored Yuliia Kurchenko, aged 19, from Ukraine, and she was here.

“Until that point, she had been on the circuit going from country to country. Previously, she had not got somewhere to go. Yuliia and the other seventeen other Ukrainian children are now a fundamental part of the community.

“The impact is that these people had somewhere safe to go. They know they come here in the holidays and do not leave their job.

Connection With Camberley Judo Club

“Their consistency has improved. Their language now has also improved. These are significant changes to see. We are a big judo club in our area.

“Everyone knows who we are; we have a strong relationship in the community. This group of children are fantastic and is developing. It is great to give back.”

Since joining Camberley Judo Club, Yuliia has enrolled at University, studying sports science degree for two days a week and has a full-time job to support her judo career.

“She is also training during her time and meeting her team abroad. She is developing a lot with her lifestyle; Camberley is helping her on that journey.

In December, Yuliia travelled back to Ukraine to compete at her National Championships in Kiev, where she won the -78kg title.

Now a member of the Ukrainian National Team, this year she has competed at the Paris Grand Slam before placing 5^th at the Sofia European Open.

Yuliia was joined at the Ukrainian National Championships by best friends Alina Shylova and Vladyslava Snitko who have also relocated to the United Kingdom and train full-time alongside the GB Judo women’s team at the National Training Centre in Walsall with complete access to the GB Judo programme.

The pair joined the GB Judo National Training Centre after the British Judo Association reached out to the Ukrainian Judo Federation to offer support.

This connection resulted in British Judo acting as a sponsor under the Home for Ukraine scheme with British Judo arranging accommodation and other associated costs for the pair.

Alina won gold at the Ukrainian National Junior Championships in the -57kg category before a 5th-place finish at the senior championships, booking her place on the Ukrainian National Team for 2023.

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