Performance Management Group Update – Ranking and Selection Policy, British Championships and Adoption of New IJF Rules

Following a meeting of the British Judo Board of Directors on 24th January a number of changes were made to the GB Junior and Senior Ranking System and Selection Policy, the date of the British Championships and the adoption of new IJF rules.

The PMG would like to take this opportunity to highlight the key changes and the reasons behind them.

1. Ranking System and Selection Policy

A new ranking system and selection policy has been agreed for the GB Junior and Senior Programmes together with qualification criteria for the British Championship event.

What is the Senior British Ranking System for?

The sole purpose of the  British Senior Ranking list is to identify players to compete in the British Senior Championships in December.

All players start with 0(zero) points on the 1st January and the top 16 ranked players in each weight category after the final ranking event of the year will be given a place to compete in the British Senior Championships.

Additionally, the British Senior Ranking System strengthens the GB domestic competition programme for all Home Countries and Area Ranking events, providing an incentive for Senior players to compete and also for Junior/Transition players to compete against Senior players in order to prepare them for the next level of competition. 

Domestic Ranking List

The GB Ranking List will only show ranking points won in GB domestic competition. GB players performances in Europe and the World will be tracked based on their ER and WR.

Our Elite players will not be penalised, both in terms of entry to the British Championships and Seeding and will not have to qualify for the British Championships via the GB Ranking List, providing they are performing on the European and World Stage. Our Elite players will gain automatic entry to the British Championships based on the following :

  • World Ranking List : Top 60
  • European Ranking List : Top 30

Essentially, it is vitally important that as many GB players as possible can break into the Top 30 of the European Ranking List and progress to the Top 60, 50, 40, 20 of the World Ranking List. These players need to focus their attention on preparing and performing at that level. Players below this level, must earn enough GB Ranking Points to qualify for the British Championships.

In addition, the Top 4 Juniors on the GB Junior Ranking list who are in their final year as a Junior will also qualify for the British Senior Championships.

It is also important to note that the British Junior Championships will remain open entry.

 

Only the Top 4 at the British Senior and Junior Championships qualify for the GB Squad

By selecting the GB Squad based on the Top 4 on the day, we are creating a pressure environment where players have to perform when it counts. Ultimately this will help them long term long to cope with the pressures of performing on the day at the Olympic Games.

 

Rolling Co-options

Players can be co-opted on to the GB squad throughout the year based on their performance at the ranking events. This process enables players to be developed as they progress along the performance pathway and rewards their continuous performance.

 

In summary, the GB Ranking System provides a strong domestic competition for our fringe Senior players and emerging Juniors, whilst our Elite players can focus on preparing and performing at World level.

Ultimately, the whole GB Squad comes together to compete against each other at the British Senior Championships.

A full copy of the Ranking System and Selection Policy can be found here 

2. Change of Date for British Championships

The British Championships have been moved from January to December with the next events to take place in December 2013.

The move to December is to ensure that team selections are based on a “formed squad”. It enables players to relax over the Christmas period or alternatively attend training camps. The IJF, EJU and domestic calendar does not pose an obstacle to moving the event forward. Weather conditions have also been taken into account as part of the decision.

3. Implementation of new IJF rules

The board discussed the impact of the new IJF trial rules at the board meeting and they agree  in principle with their implementation.

Following this discussion, the PMG has been asked to prepare a paper highlighting the changes, their impact and a possible plan for integration and implementation across British Judo’s members, clubs and competitions.

This paper will be discussed at the next board meeting on 26th February with any further decisions to be communicated after this date.

A copy of the new IJF competitions rules can be found here and a video presentation highlighting the changes can be found here