This year’s theme for National Inclusion Week is #ThePowerOfNow. As part of the week, British Judo has highlighted some of the excellent work taking place throughout the judo community while thinking about the actions we can continue to take to be inclusive to all.

Today’s NIW daily action is to expand your circle, focusing on the power of a diverse network. In October 2020, British Judo expanded its circle by launching a new steering group to focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in judo.

The steering group comprises a diverse network of individuals who represent the views of the British Judo community, driving forward projects that improve sporting equity and support inclusion.

Simone Callender	Former international competitor and 2002 Commonwealth Games champion.
Paul Ajala	Former British champion, international judoka, coach and British Judo Board member.
Dennis Stewart	West Midlands area coach and Olympic medallist.
Jad Harris	Head Coach at St Albans Judo club.
Claire Lish	Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Advisory Group and British Judo Board member for inclusion.
Kerry Tansey	Adaptive judo lead and team manager. Former international competitor referee, coach and education deliverer.
Sami Smithson	Head of Inclusion, Safeguarding and Wellbeing at British Judo and former international judoka and coach.
Wendy Allen	Table official and referee.
Stephanie Allen	Table official and referee.
Deryn Allen-Dyer	Table official and referee.
Marina Dain	Deputy Safeguarding Manager at British Judo and former national competitor and regional committee member.

Since its forming, the steering group has focused on; raising awareness, developing training opportunities for the judo community and developing an action plan to support British Judo’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

The steering group has been investigating training for the British Judo community, these training courses highlight key issues such as Gender Equity, LGBTQ+, Racism in sport, Transgender awareness and how to be more inclusive to judoka with additional needs.

Campaigns that the steering group have supported since forming have included Black History Month and Pride Month. The group also helped to coordinate the first Fearless Female Fighters (FFF) event which took place at WIS in Cardiff last year. The FFF event was a huge success with over 75 judoka participating and there was even British Judo royalty in attendance.

The British Judo Association also had the opportunity to participate in a Transgender awareness course. The course was hugely popular, meaning the course had to be expanded to online access. It was both informative and educational. There was a lot of positive feedback from participants who joined the course. Since this course, we have also seen some of our first transgender athletes compete in competitions and engage with clubs and events.

Several smaller support and focus groups have also been formed targeting areas such as LGBT+, women & girls recruitment and retention, adaptive judo and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). These sub-groups are led by members of the steering group and welcome members of the wider judo community to be included in shaping the future and receiving support should they need it.

British Judo aims to provide opportunities for all participants to be fully inclusive.  British Judo inclusion, in addition to supporting all minority groups, has the remit to promote judo for all players that through statement cognitive disorder and or physiological type or infirmity, cannot aspire to the highest levels of the mainstream pathway.

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