Golden moments for Budokan Judo Club
Budokan Judo Club have creamed their rivals in two major competitions, bringing home a massive haul of 47 medals, including 16 gold, to cement their reputation as one of the most successful clubs in NSW and Australia.
More importantly, the Castle Hill club is attracting more newcomers to its ranks and increasing the popularity of judo in The Hills District and surrounding suburbs.
The club is run by highly-experienced and passionate Hills judo coaches Rob and Kerrye Katz (who competed at the 1988 Seoul Olympics). They had 61 athletes competing in 85 competition divisions at the Sydney International Open and the ACT International Open.
In addition to the gold haul, their female and male representatives won 18 silver and 13 bronze medals. In addition, Budokan Judo Club’s five competitors in the kata events captured three golds and one silver.
“Both the Sydney International Open and the ACT International Open were very successful events for Budokan Judo Club,” head coach Rob said. “Our participation is higher now than ever which means we are building significant depth in competition experience across all our age categories.”
Rob, rated as one of Australia’s most successful judo competitors before he retired, said their better Cadet (15-17 years) athletes are competing in both Juniors (18-20 years) and Senior categories meaning that if they progress through the rounds, they can get 9–12 matches in a day.
“This is great preparation for international events. Performances at these two events resulted in four of our cadets being selected for two competitions and training camps in Europe next month, which is really encouraging for all our athletes, including our youngest (under 11) competitors,” Rob said.
“Our international senior athlete will continue his preparation for the Paris Olympic Games with the Pan-American- Oceania qualifying event in Brazil scheduled end of April.”
According to the official results at the ACT and Sydney International events, Budokan Judo Club’s medal tally across Juniors (U/11, U/13, U/15), Seniors (Cadets, Junior men/Women, Senior Men/Women), Veterans and Adaptive divisions, was the highest of any participating club. Rob said his athletes are training hard for the big championships slated for Melbourne and Perth prior to the June Nationals.
