Sooo much happening with Auckland Judo!!!

Hi Team…

A huge amount happening with Auckland Judo, so here goes…

1. Thanks Western Judo Club!  Gonna miss you heaps…

2. Thanks to Ryan Dill-Russell - Top Competitor / Top Coach!

3. Judokwai -thanks!

4. WBOP - great effort, great results, well done!

5. AIO - good luck + volunteers

6. No Squad training this Saturday / Training as usual from 5 August

7. Looking smart team!  New Jacket   : )

8. Want to win, train with the Auckland Squad on Saturdays - 3-5pm Judokwai… simple!

1. Thanks Western Judo Club!  Gonna miss you heaps…

One of New Zealand's top judo clubs has stopped operating.  A massive thank you to Lee and the whole Calder Family for so many years of contribution to the Auckland & NZL Judo Communities!  Many years of… introducing kiwi kids to judo; New Zealand medals; National Representatives (to World Championship level), great competitors; great competitions; amazing fun-days; a top notch venue (that was also shared with the Auckland Squad, whenever requested, at no charge).

We are so sorry to see the club stopping (for the moment) - we look forward to Lee (and the Calder Family's) reappearance on the Auckland /NZL judo scene… amazing people, and at a time that suits them - it will be wonderful to have them back.

Any of the Western crew who need a place to train, will be very welcome at Auckland Squad and many of the other Clubs around Auckland - we love you guys!

2. Thanks to Ryan Dill-Russell - Top Competitor / Top Coach!

While I was in the States, Ryan Dill-Russell took over full coaching and management responsibilities of Auckland Squad - I am reliably informed (possibly by my son) that Ryan is more fun; better looking; runs better classes; is stronger; cooler and way better than the standard Auckland Squad Coach.    Ryan has always been humble, and many of you will not know his full background.  As a competitor, Ryan has ranked Top 15 in the World; has been Oceania Champion multiple times; represented NZL at many World Championships and also is one of the 2014 Commonwealth Games team, who threw Judo New Zealand into the media spotlight with a record equaling 5 Commonwealth Games medals.

Ryan, it is always a privilege to have you at Squad training - and to have you running things exclusively for a month, gave us all an amazing opportunity to improve, and learn from the best…. thank you!

3. Judokwai -thanks!

As always - thanks Judokwai for the amazing facilities you provide 'free of charge' every week - truly appreciated!!!

4. WBOP - great effort, great results, well done!

So proud of our Squad's performance at the Waikato Bay Of Plenty Open in June…

- To our Champions… Tatalong; Keegan; Lynton; Lewis; Mitchell, Matthew; Taylor; Zack; Niek; Kawa; Emma; Justine; Charlotte; Jurlina

- To our Medalists… Amir, Blake, Michael; Teddy; Meghan; Tara; Hayden; Stuart

..and as always, congrats to the Auckland Clubs and Coaches who train us; and support us in competition!

Also… big congrats to our crew who did so well at the Canterbury Open; the Auckland Secondary Schools (including Cristyn, who took the Open-Weight Title)

5. AIO - good luck + volunteers

Best of luck to all the Squad at the Auckland International Open - it will be a pleasure to see you dominate this event!!!

If you are there on the day - please do make sure you put in some time volunteering in some way / we have a great core of people running the event, but they do need our help on the day!!!  Let's make sure we all do our part - and thanks in advance to the Auckland Judo Association and the event organisers for making sure New Zealand's premier Open is successful for another year - thanks!!!

6. No Squad training this Saturday / Training as usual from 5 August

Back to training as per usual from August 5 - as a Squad, we are having a great year… keep up the great work.

7. Looking smart team!  New Jacket   : )

Looking good team - make sure you are wearing your gear at the AIO!!!  Be proud.

8. Want to win, train with the Auckland Squad on Saturdays - 3-5pm Judokwai… simple!

Finally, to Auckland Coaches… please send your competitive Senior Boys/Girls; Cadets; Juniors; Seniors; Masters at Squad on Saturdays, and they will deliver your club winning results at competition - I promise!!!

For those Auckland Judoka who do not want to commit to Squad on Saturdays - we love you too, and can't wait to see you at competitions and share a little of what we do on Saturdays.

Warmest regards…. Rob

Robert Levy

Auckland Area Coach

robertlevy@xtra.co.nz