The England Judo Coaching Team have conducted a review of the current delivery of the England Talent Development Centre (ETDC) sessions to provide England Programme fighters additional opportunities to attend high-quality weekly randori as part of the revised England Judo training opportunities.

As part of the revised delivery of England Judo training opportunities, fighters will now have the option to attend 23 weekly sessions, an increase from six sessions under the ETDC programme.

The new delivery approach will provide a greater opportunity for England programme fighters, and those aspiring to join the England National Squad, to access a greater number of training and randori sessions to boost their weekly training load in collaboration with their club judo opportunities, further accelerating overall technical and physical development.

Through utilising the existing club network across England, a new approach of training opportunities is aiming to increase access to additional training and importantly, Randori which is the fundamental training unit of Performance Judo. The collaboration of these clubs is critical to the long-term development of GB’s future elite fighters towards future Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The new delivery approach will deliver against three key areas:

1. A clear need to increase “Time on Task” and increase randori volume.
   1. Anecdotally, international judoka of a similar age are doing a higher volume of training
   2. The target of 75% of England Programme (EDS & EPP) Cadet – Senior fighters doing at least 4x judo sessions per week

2. Supplementing what a fighter’s club training can provide.
   1. Through collaboration with our club network in England, the new schedule of England Judo training opportunities is created to provide a wider variety of training sessions to boost and supplement a fighter’s weekly training volume
   2. The new schedule of England Judo training opportunities also provides a variety of training partners and training stimulus

3. Increase the opportunity to do more judo training.
   1. This will be achieved by increasing training options and reducing travel time
   2. Utilise existing training sessions to reduce further potential session clashes
   3. Supporting Area Training opportunities
   4. Overall improving accessibility and opportunities to ‘do more’

In light of this, the new delivery model is as follows:

• A timetable of identified training sessions provided throughout a week
• Clubs to charge a mat fee
• Creation of free to attend England National Randori session held at the British Judo National Training Centre, every Wednesday evening – 7:00pm – 9:00pm
• Additional communication of BJA Area run training opportunities to further enhance and increase training ‘time on task’

Speaking of the new delivery model of England training opportunities, British Judo Head of Performance Pathways, Matt Divall said: “This is an exciting step for the delivery of judo to our England Development Squad (EDS) and England Performance Potential (EPP) fighters, ensuring greater time on task and increasing randori volume. These are key factors when looking at performances on the global stage.

“I would like to thank the 6 ETDC delivery centres for the fantastic work they have performed with the England Programme to date and for their understanding and support as we move towards this new delivery model.

 “This is an exciting time for England Judo and I look forward to seeing many more England Programme fighters on the mat and performing on the international stage.”

The view the new England Judo training opportunities delivery model, please click here

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