Louis Plevin will be the first person from the Channel Islands to compete in the sport of judo at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

In order to qualify the 17 year old had to compete at senior level in the Welsh Open, the English Open, the London Open as well as a number of southern area point scoring events.

“I feel very happy and excited about representing Guernsey at the Commonwealth Games, and feel honoured to be the first person from my country to represent judo, and this will be one of the biggest days of my life.”

The 17 year old leads a busy life and fits training four times a week in between college, cramming for his AS Level exams and piano lessons.

As well as being a talented judoka he is Grade eight in Piano. He started in judo 10 years ago, at Guernesey Judo Club and followed in the footsteps of his little brother who started up the sport.

There is only one judo club on the tiny island, which is 26 square miles long and has 65,000 inhabitants. Louis gained his 1st Dan in September 2013 at the tender age of 16 and currently stands fifth in the BJA Cadet Ranking.

During the qualifying period he earned 40 points toward his 2nd Dan (10 of which were against a 2nd Dan).

He hopes that the experience gained by competing in Glasgow will be the springboard he needs to achieve his 2nd Dan before his 18th birthday. His best results to date include winning 2012 Bronze Medal Commonwealth Judo Association Cadets, 2013 Silver Medal BJA Southern Area Cadet Ranking event, 2014 Silver Medal BJA Cadet Ranking tournament London Open and 2014 Sliver Medal BJA Junior Ranking tournament London Open.

Words by Donna Richardson. Photo by Guernsey Post.