Last weekend saw Coimbra, Portugal, host the EJU Refereeing and Coaching Seminar 2023. The seminar is open to referees and coaches from federations across the world, with this year’s seminar the second year the EJU have joined the IJF to deliver the education tool.

The seminar is an important educational tool and is imperative for coaches and referees alike in order to benefit the athletes, some of whom will be attending the Paris Olympic Games in less than 500 days.

A total of 160 referees, coaches and coach commissioners from five continents attended the seminar with British Judo represented by Graeme MacLachlan, James McBeath, Archi Shrimpton and IJF World Tour referee Lisa Rivers (nee Harrison).

Over the course of two days, over 200 video clips were analysed focusing on different scenarios and topics. All of which are available to download here.

Both sessions of the seminar gave participants the opportunity to express their opinions and ask questions with demonstrations and feedback from the referee panel. The weekend demonstrated the importance and positive impact on communication and education for all levels of judo.

Reflecting on the seminar, Shrimpton said:

“The EJU seminar is an important opportunity to discuss the latest rules, fine tune our collective understanding of judo actions and to meet and network with each other. There’s always something I take away to work on personally – this year it is the finer points of kansetsu-waza applied when standing or throwing (a big no-no!), as well as jumping or pushing actions that shouldn’t score. It is also helpful to understand the perspective of national coaches and how they are approaching techniques with their athletes. Back in the UK, our role now is to support sharing the key updates with our national referees and coaches.”

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