Budokan Judo Club Achievements 2011

Achievements and Awards Report 2011

 

Our year can be summarized in just 6 words: “2011 Judo NSW Club of the Year”

 

At the NSW Awards Dinner it was impressive to all 27 Budokanis and about 100 members of other clubs in attendance that Budokan was represented by athletes in 8 of the 10 possible age categories. During the evening it was gradually revealed that Budokan would win 4 of these 8 categories. The following lists the Budokan winners and finalists:

 

Senior Men:                Nathan Katz (Finalist)
Junior Women:           Naomi De Bruine (Finalist)

Junior Men:                 Nathan Katz (Finalist)

Cadet Women:            Naomi de Bruine (Finalist)

Cadet Men:                 Nathan Katz (Winner); Jakob Edwards (Finalist)

Senior Girls:                Kendall Lane (Joint Winner)

Senior Boys:               Cameron Leishman (Winner); Josh Katz (Finalist)

Junior Boys:                Sam Beedham (Winner)

 

Congratulations to all these Budokan winners and finalists. With respect to the Club awards, in 2010 Budokan won the Junior Development Club of the Year. This year Budokan was awarded the NSW Club of the Year, a fantastic achievement for all club members, reflecting not only on Budokan's sound membership base, but also on the club’s very high participation levels and achievement in all competitions, and in terms of its contribution to the development of Judo NSW from coaching, technical and administration activities to volunteering at competitions. Overall, these events represent a major milestone for Budokan, a significant recognition of the club in the Judo community, and a strong driver to push us forward onto greater heights of membership, participation and achievement.

 

At the JFA(NSW) Annual Congress, as was the case for Dale last year, Kerrye and I were greatly honoured by being inducted as Life Members of the JFA(NSW).

 

Last year we developed a club profile which was used as a basis for our nomination against the club awards available at the Annual Awards Night. This was updated for the 2011 Awards Night and the latest version is attached.

 

Key areas against which to acknowledge our achievement and within which to consider further development are as follows:

 

Membership, Finance/Risk and Facilities:

  • Membership:This is governed bymember retention and new membership.In 2009 our membership was at 96:
    63 juniors and 33 seniors. 2010 numbers were similar and saw an increase in beginner seniors and a drop in U/10s numbers. We had a registration high of 104 at end FY 10/11, but rolling into FY 11/12, we had a drop out of a number of families. At this time we are at 82 (51 Juniors and 26 Seniors). In October 2010, we were at 89 (60 Juniors, 29 Seniors). Comparison with the 104 high indicates: Only a 5% downturn in MONS; 30% drop in Junior and Senior B/G and Cadets and 18% drop in Junior and Senior M/W. Female membership is exactly double the 16% State average. Senior to Junior ratio at NSW level is 20% / 80% and we stand at 40% / 60%. Drop out rate across the State is 57% after 12 months. I have about 160 names on the list of previous members who didn’t re-register but this list goes back a number of years.

 

  • Venue:
  • Little was needed regarding venue maintenance this year. The use of the Storage Pod during the move-out for the Castle Hill Show significantly reduced the work effort and is worth the additional cost to using Kennards.
  • Of greater importance, our review of the footprint for the Hills Station as part of the North West Rail Link project causes concern. Under the current plan, the club venue will need to be relocated. A significant amount of lobbying with both the local member and the Council has received acknowledgment of our situation. Our priority is to ensure that these community representatives continue to consider our situation and ensure that we are looked after.
  • Tenant Clubs / Cross Training:  We continue our mutually beneficial relationship with Makotokan Aikido and Universal Combat Academy clubs. Between the 3 clubs, the hall is used just over 20 hours per week plus club technical and State Squad sessions. Because the dojo is shared with the Aikido and BJJ/MMA clubs, there is the opportunity for members of the clubs to cross-train. Budokan has had the benefit of a number of BJJ athletes training with the seniors.
  • Other Venue utilisation:
  • Depending on plans for Squad training next year, we have potential to increase the number of sessionsoffered to members, in particular those competing in State Opens, nationals, and beyond. Saturday afternoon would not impact on other clubs.
  • Our preference is to have the State Squad training at Budokan and continue our pressure on the JFA(NSW) for new “Clubs of Excellence” submissions. Recent indication from Michael Briers is that this issue is still very active.
  • We were approached by The Parramatta Eels NRL Team to use the dojo for some off season training. These 7 sessions provide the club with $630 income
  • Earlier in the year, we assisted Model Farms High School in running Schools Judo programs for two terms including Years 11 and 12 this year using the Budokan dojo. This provided a benefit to students and the schools and gave the club a good profile with 2 new members resulting. Unfortunately, Jake Hickey is no longer available and maintaining this program relies on available coaches.
  • Corporate Sponsorship & Promotion:Despite significant effort to obtain corporate sponsorship from Castle Hill RSL, Coca Cola Amatil and Komatsu, as well as (less formally) Parramatta NRL, we have not secured a sponsor. Having said that, I spoke with the Komatsu State Manager on 18 November and have a new corporate contact there. Donna also arranged some sponsorship for Jake from Komatsu HR Department for Samoa. Nathan’s profile has also resulted in individual sponsorship by Senseis Martial Arts shop which helps both him, the club profile and Judo. We have almost completed a Budokan Ippons Montage created from 2 years of competition footage and this will be used for future approaches to organisations as well as placed on YouTube as an advertisement for the club.
  • Risk Warning and Waiver of Claims: Introduction of these forms as part of membership renewal went without a hitch. We need to remain vigilant to ensure that all members have completed these forms and to ensure that the dojo remains a safe place for all users and visitors..
  • Incorporation under the Associations Incorporation Act: A number of annual reports are due. Committee support is requested to pick up this requirement.

 

Club Services:

  • Club Participation:  This year, although no formal club visits, we have had international visitors from Iran and France and we currently have a young French athlete training with us for 6 months. The Club’s profile continues to be displayed as Budokan is used as an alternate venue to Olympic Park for the year-round Saturday Squad training.
  • Training Aids:We recently added the rubber Uchi Komi training bands to the dojo. These provide a very valuable solo training aid. Current difficulty getting the siren for the “Match Timer” repaired.
  • Strength and Conditioning Training: The club’s elite athletes continue to be rolled through strength and conditioning education via “Progressive Fitness”, Kerrye’s sports training business, and Kerrye’s and my gymnasium. Over the last 10 years, we have provided and monitored strength and conditioning programs for well over 20 of Budokan’s elite athletes. This time and service is donated.

 

Club Sponsorship / Selections / Awards:

  • National Talent Identification and Development (NTID) Squad:Past NTID representatives from the club are: Nik Zellner (2007), Jake Young with reserves Nik Zellner and Kevin Da Silva (2008), Kevin with reserve Shaun McDougall (2009), Nathan Katz and Jake Young with reserve Vanessa Hall (2010) and this year Nathan Katz retained his position on the 20-strong National Squad. Nathan was also one of 6 NTID athletes to be sponsored for a 3 week training camp in Strasbourg France during the period 30thApril to 14thMay.
  • Dan (Black Belt) Grade Promotions:With the introduction of the new National Grading syllabus and provision for elite young athletes, an opportunity presented itself for Nathan Katz to apply to perform the 1stDan Black Belt Grading. This was approved by the National JFA Grades Commission and he performed the grading to a very high level, being the first 16 year old in Australia to be promoted under this system. Well done!
  • Elite Athlete Support:Budokan continues to provide financial and additional technical support (via technical clinics) to its NSW representatives to the Nationals and to athletes who represent the club, NSW, or internationally. In 2011, the club funded its 23 NSW State Team athletes who competed at the Nationals, our Kata competitor to the Nationals, the State Coaches who officiated, and also to the athletes who represented Australia internationally and participated at national NTID events. The value of this sponsorship has increased from just over $5000 in 2009 to nearly $6000 in 2010, to just over $8000 this year (including $6900 cash to athletes/coaches/managers for Nationals, OJU, Cadet Worlds and World Cup plus Budokan shirts, back-patches, coach registrations, NCAS costs, Teams entry cost) . I doubt that there is another club in Australia that supports its members to this extent.
  • Annual Awards Night:  The outstanding results achieved by the club at the NSW Awards night have already been covered. On the 29thNovember, we will celebrate our 11thclub annual awards night. This night is a real celebration of the club and its members and it epitomises the basis of our philosophy.

 

JFA Issues:

  • National Membership Database and On-Line Registration: Will completely change how we do business. Probably best to get a club laptop with internet access
  • New Junior Grading Syllabus:Will probably commence officially on 1/1/12. We are finalising grades before conversion.
  • Sporting Code: Continued involvement with the BoM to cover off on competition management

 

Competition Participation & Performance – 2010 – 2011 comparison:

 

  • Senior World Cup, Samoa.  Nathan Katz and Jake Young were selected to compete in this Olympic qualifying event, the first time in many years that Budokan has been represented at a major international senior competition. This is a great achievement for these athletes given that Nathan still qualifies in Cadets and Jake in Junior Men. No medals, but experience that will be very valuable to them in the future.
  • Junior World Championship Competitions (South Africa). Nathan Katz and Jessica Klajman were selected to compete at this event but elected not to participate.
  • Cadet World Championships (Kiev, Ukraine).  In the first Cadet World Championships in which Australia has been represented,Nathan Katz, Jakob Edwards, Amber McIndoe and Naomi de Bruine qualified to compete. Naomi was ineligible due to not yet meeting citizenship requirements and Amber elected not to participate. Nathan and Jakob competed and although no medals this time, the competition was a fantastic experience at the highest level of competitive Judo.
  • Oceania Continental Judo Union Championships (Tahiti): Budokan had a fine contingent of 4 athletes competing in 5 divisions in Tahiti this year. Representatives and results were Gold x 1 and Silver x 2 with: Nathan Katz – Gold (Cadets), Silver (Junior Men); Amber McIndoe and Jakob Edwards – Bronze (Cadets) and Shaun McDougall (competed Junior Men).  This compares well with the 2010 OJU where we had 6 athletes competing in 7 divisions with Gold x 1, and Silver x 3.
  • Nationals:  With the introduction this year of Junior Boys/Girls in addition to last year’s Senior Boys/Girls and Cadets, 23 athletes competed in a record 30 divisions with the following results: Gold x 4; Silver x 8, Bronze x 5, 5th x 3. In comparison, in 2010 with 19 athletes in 25 divisions the club won 5 Gold, 3 Silver, and 7 Bronze medals, and 3 x 5thplaces.
  • ACT Open:  15 athletes in 21 divisions with the following results: Gold x 4; Silver x 3, Bronze x 9, 5th x 2 compared to 2010 with 19 athletes in 22 divisions with: Gold x 4; Silver x 5, Bronze x 8, 5th x 3
  • Queensland Open:  14 athletes in 20 divisions with: Gold x 3; Silver x 6, Bronze x 4, 5th x 3 compared to 2010 with 17 athletes in 20 divisions with: Gold x 5; Silver x 6, Bronze x 3, 5th x 2
  • NSW Open:25 athletes in 34 divisions with: Gold x 8; Silver x 7, Bronze x 5, 5th x 3 compared to 2010 with 17 athletes in 22 divisions: Gold x 4, Silver x 7, Bronze x 4, 5thx 5
  • Auckland(NZ) Open: Although Budokan competed in this event in 2010 with 4 athletes, the timing this year (clashing with OJU in Tahiti) prevented our participation.
  • NSWStateTeams Competition.  We had planned for 6 Teams to participate in the State Teams event. Unfortunately the Cadet Girls (Amber McIndoe, Naomi de Bruine and Jessica Klajman), the Senior Women's B Division team (same 3 Cadet girls) and the Masters Women (Dale and Kerrye) had no other teams to contest, so we entered only 3 teams: The Junior Boys came second in their division (Zac Colman,  Xavier Tafft and Sam Beedham), the Senior Boys ( Lachlan Brothers, Kiernan Tafft, Conor Edwards, and Cameron Leishman), and the Cadet Boys (Cameron Leishman, Aidan Sandri, Nathan Katz, and Jakob Edwards) both won their divisions. Hopefully next year we can get a stronger representation in the other divisions (Junior Girls, Men's A and B, Men's Masters etc) and be matched up in those divisions unable to be contested this year. It would be great to get back to the 10 teams we had competing in 2009 but last year we didn’t participate in this event so we are slowly clawing back our numbers.
  • Senior Kyu (Coloured Belt) Grade development:We need to build up the Budokan senior Kyu (coloured belts) grades so that we pick up in our participation in these events.  
  • Budokan MONSters and Junior Boys/Girls Competition.  This year we hosted our 10thMONSter competition since 2002. Whilst we introduced Senior Boys/Girls to the competition last year, with the Junior Boys/Girls category being introduced to the JFA this year we elected to go with the younger category. Although this decision reduced the age range of eligible athletes by 3 years, numbers were down by only 20% from 87 to 68 with Budokan being represented by 18 athletes. Budokan’s 11 MONS won 5 x Gold, 4 x Silver and 5 x Bronze, also winning 3 of the special awards. Our 7 x Junior Boys/Girls won 3 x Gold, 5 x Silver and 2 x Bronze, also winning 1 of the special awards. The day was a great success and in the process, the club also made $1900 (minus trophies used).

 

Summary of Achievements against Objectives for 2011.

 

 

Objective

Action

Increase services to member athletes

  • Website updated and revamped incorporating athlete profiles and achievements. Response from athletes quite poor.
  • 2010 & 2011 DVD for club athletes at the Nationals were not completed; however a Budokan “Ippons Montage” is almost complete. This can be used to assist with sponsorship, marketing and as a service to members (DVD copy to athletes)
  • We are fortunate that we have Bryan Medbury assisting the senior session and also support from older athletes for the MONS and Junior sessions. This is encouraged.

Increase promotion, community exposure, sponsorship

 

 

 

 

 

  • Update website to indicate benefits for sponsors and promote all sponsors
  • Maintain affiliation with Local Newspaper (Hills Shire Times)
  • Maintain contact with Radio interviews (2CCR FM90.5)
  • Completed Club Profile document and approached potential corporate sponsors:  Castle Hill RSL Club, Coca Cola Amatil, Komatsu and Parramatta Leagues Club. Approach to Komatsu is still active and being pursued.
  • Still to increase awareness of available scholarships/grants and apply – Donna enrolled in Sport NSW Course 30/11/11
  • Still to increase awareness of recognition schemes/awards and apply
  • Encouraged our elite athletes to apply for local community awards and this also increases the profile of Judo as well as Budokan.
  • Large banners unable to be left in the public areas of local community.
  • Pamphlets used for Northmead Public School demonstration handouts

Membership, participation and results at all major events

  • Work needed to build up membership beyond the 2010/11 peak.
    • Mentoring strategies of younger athletes by older more experienced athletes is fairly informal and based on older athlete interest.
    • Advertising in schools lost momentum after the Dundas’ left.
    • Schools program dependant on reliable and qualified coaches.
    • To expand the current coverage of results that we enjoy in the Hills Shire Times by profiling the benefits of Judo to attract interest.
  • 23 athletes competed in a record 30 divisions at the 2011 Nationals in Perth, and increase of 20% compared to 2010. Results were: 4 Gold, 8 Silver, 6 Bronze. This was higher than last year and also the most medals won by any NSW club.
  • NTID membership was sustained with more potential for 2012
  • National Team selection numbers this year improved with representation at OJU, Cadet Worlds and Senior World Cup events and selection to Junior Worlds.
  • Attached Club Profile has details on selection, participation and results.

Budokan-sponsored events

  • We were looking to stage 2 Budokan competitions in 2011 but this was ambitious. The combination of MONS and Junior Boys/Girls is workable for one mat area.

Greater affiliation with State and National Bodies

  • Reasonably stable in comparison with 2010 with the following:

National Coaches - Rob & Kerrye Katz continue

NSW NCAS Coordinator- Kerrye Katz continues

NSWJunior StateCoach - Kerrye Katz, Rob Katz Assistant Coach continue

BBR Kata Instructor and National Kata Judge – Dale Keogh continues

NSW Competition Volunteer Coordinator and NSW State Team Manager positions no longer filled by Budokan

NTID: 1 athlete compared to 2 in 2010

A core group of 4-5 volunteers at competitions. We need to build on this.

  • Co-author NSW Sporting Code – Rob; Commission - Kerrye
  • Still aiming for NSW Judo Board membership from the club
  • Still aiming for National Commission membership from the club

 

In conclusion, despite the enormous success experienced by both the club as a whole and in individual performances, it has been disappointing that over the last couple of years, we have lost some key families and this has had an impact on the depth of our senior training sessions in particular. We are working hard to build a safe but challenging transition for Senior Boys and Girls moving to Cadets and this will strengthen the senior group and continue to improve the club’s progress in performance at that level.

 

The challenges for 2012 will be interesting as the Northwest Rail Link issues are revealed. We have made good progress to date by educating key figures in Government on the community services provided by the club. We will continue to lobby them to ensure their support. The development of a package suitable for approaches to potential corporate sponsors and the progress made in this area to date has been a long-time coming and hopefully 2012 will see some success in the pursuit of corporate sponsorship.  

 

Our core objective is above all to provide the best training Judo experience for our members so that they can achieve their goals and be more focused in their daily lives. Our thanks to those who support us applies more than ever: our coaches for their skill, heart and commitment, our strong and supportive Committee, the positive and united parents who comprise our “travelling circus”, and the amazing group of athletes who we have the pleasure of coaching and whose growth and maturity we can see blooming week after week.

 

 

Rob Katz                                                        Kerrye Katz                                                  

Coaching Coordinator                                     Coaching Coordinator

President, Budokan Judo Club Inc.         Budokan Judo Club Inc.                21stNovember 2011