Aireborough & Wharfedale Judo Club News

06/12/03 - Christmas & New Year Break 2003 / 2004

The last Judo session of 2003 will be on Monday 22nd December. The junior sessions on Thursday 18th & Monday 22nd December will be games sessions. We resume in the new year on Monday 5th January 2004.

Best wishes to all for Christmas and the New Year.

25/10/03 - North of England u20 years

Adam Firth continued his recent string of good results with an excellent Gold Medal winning performance in the North of England Open Judo Championships for young men under the age of 20 years. The competition was held at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre on Sunday October 5th and Adam's win was in the open weight category which combined 73Kg, 81Kg, 90Kg and over 90Kg categories with Adam himself still weighing under 73Kg.

02/10/03 - Yorkshire & Humberside Team Championships

On Sunday Semptember 28th the Yorkshire And Humberside Judo Team Championships took place at Goole Leisure Centre. Aireborough & Wharfedale Judo Club entered a team into the Junior Event for those under 16 years of age. Most of the team members had never taken part in this type of competition before but they gave of their best, unfortunately finishing outside the medals. The Mixed Girls and Boys team consisted of Jessica Wild under 48Kg, Sara Firth Over 48Kg, Gregory Selman at 30Kg, David Allen at 38Kg, Jacob Womack who thought he was going to be under 46Kg but was just too heavy still took part in the 55Kg section and Joseph Selman Over 55Kg.

In the Senior Event it is quite common for clubs who are one or two players short of the seven weight team to borrow players to make it a more interesting and competitive event. Three members the club helped out other clubs in this way. Adam Firth competed at 73Kg for Goole who finished joint Bronze Medal winners and Graham Takhar and Tibor Tejfel helped out York at 73Kg and 81Kg respectively and they were also joint Bronze Medallists. Tibor Tejfel also helped out Huddersfield in the Veteran (over 35 years) team event and they took the gold medal in this section.

02/10/03 - Ipswich U20 Open Championships

On Sunday September 21st Adam Firth who is currently aged 16 travelled to Ipswich to compete in their Open Judo Competition for those under 20 years of age. In a busy career, surprisingly, this was Adam's first visit to the eastern area and he maintained his high standard of performance, winning a Bronze Medal in the under 73Kg category. This competition was part of Adam's build up to the National Championships in November.

01/08/03 - Competition Results

Graham Takhar has been very busy during July. Firstly he entered the North Wales Senior Open Championships on Sunday 6th July. Graham competed in the 66Kg category where he did extremely well to win a silver medal. Then only 6 days later, on the 12th July, Graham competed in the Goole Senior Open Championships, this time competing in the 73Kg category where he did equally well to win another silver medal. These are both very tough competitions, especially the Goole Senior Open Championship which is a 3 star points scoring event which makes this such a great achievement.

17/07/03 - West Yorkshire Promotion Exam

Several members of Aireborough & Wharfedale Judo Club took part in the Mon, Kyu and Dan Promotion Exam which was held at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre on Sunday July 13th.

In the Junior (Mon) Girls section Coralie Young and Amanda Novis were both promoted to 8th Mon. In the Boys section William Plastow was promoted to 7th Mon and Jacob Womack, Gregory Selman, Daniel Rivas, Owen Jackson and Adam Dinsdale were all promoted to 8th Mon.

Craig Holt attained 9th Mon and Joseph Selman was the clubs top junior being graded to 12th Mon.

In the Senior (Kyu) section Miles Delaney was promoted to 2nd Kyu and Adam Firth was promoted to 1st Kyu. This then enabled him to cross over into the Dan (Black Belt) Grading where he proceeded to beat 5 other 1st Kyu's, 2 in individual contests and 3 in a line up. Adam won all his contests in fine style using a variety of techniques. He then passed his theory exam to win his 1st Dan Black Belt on the day and become the club's youngest Black Belt winner at the age of 16 years and 3 months.

01/04/03 - Yorkshire & Humberside Championships

The Yorkshire And Humberside individual Judo Championships took place this year at Goole on Sunday March 23rd.

Unfortunately the club didn't have any Senior entries but two of the boys won medals, both in the 66Kg weight category. Adam Firth won the Gold Medal and Joseph Selman won the Bronze. This is Adam's last year as a junior but Joseph has two more years to see if he can win a gold medal.

18/03/03 - Coutances Judo Club

Our friends at Coutances Judo Club in France would like people from our club to contact them in writing or via email. If you would like to write to them you can do so at

Coutances Judo Club

8 Residence La Chesnoie

50200 Coutances

France

Or contact Estelle Le Duc via email at

estelleleduc@aol.com

Let's see if we can strike up some friendships prior to us visiting them and then inviting them over here.

14/02/03 - January & February News

Although it is only February club members have been busy already.

Graham Takhar took part in the North West Open Championships on January 26th. This is a very popular event which attracts top competitors and Graham did very well to win a Bronze Medal in the 66KG category.

Adam Firth is on the Great Britain Cadet Squad. He has already been on a training camp in the lakes and he did well but didn't get to the medal stages. However, on Sunday February 2nd Adam took part in the Midland Area Open Age Banded Championships for those under twenty years of age where he distinguished himself well, winning a Bronze Medal in the 66KG category of the under 16's section. All Adams opponents were GB representatives.

Jonathan Blissett completed the contest requirements for his Black Belt some time ago. He has now completed his theory section and is the proud wearer of a Black Belt.