Anglia Ruskin University has awarded scholarships to 10 talented young judo players to help them realise their Olympic dreams in 2016.

Anglia Ruskin is the only UK university to offer a Sports Coaching degree, run in association with the European Judo Union, specialising in judo

Judo is currently enjoying a surge in popularity following Gemma Gibbons’ silver medal at the London Olympics, the first medal for a British judoka in 12 years, and Anglia Ruskin student Danny Williams also competed for Team GB in the under 73kg class.

Williams is one of the 10 students to receive the scholarship for 2012-13, and will use the £800 to help pay for physiotherapy and travelling to competitions.  Anglia Ruskin is the reigning British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) men’s champions, and a further £200 will be available to any student who improves on their individual score in next year’s event.

In addition to Williams, scholarships have been awarded to fellow BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching (European Judo Union) student Adrian Markov; BSc (Hons) Sports Coaching and Physical Education students Michael Stewart, Natasha Collins, Tara Fitzjohn, Luc Bonnargent, Ronnie Plumb and Josh Plant; BSc (Hons) Sports Science student Glenn Miller; and Matt Kavannagh, a current British junior champion who studies BA (Hons) Law.

As well as the scholarships, all 10 students receive free physiological testing, strength and conditioning support, performance analysis, gym access and judo kits.

Four of these students – Stewart, Collins, Miller and Plant – will graduate next year and are considering a Masters programme led by Anglia Ruskin, in partnership with the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya, Japan.  Masters students spend half of the academic year at the Japanese university and half at Anglia Ruskin in Cambridge.

Anglia Ruskin recently launched a specialist judo research group and hopes to forge collaborations with other universities across the world through its links with the International Association of Judo Researchers.