British Schools

Kelly, Ollie and Beth --- Comments(0) Log in to view/leave comments

Another trip up to Sheffield 6am up and ready to go.
The event , British Schools Championships 2010 ,3 B.S.J.C players entered let's hope it goes well.
9.30 am were here Kelly's already weighed-in 1 day she will be at the top of her weight cat instead of the bottom or middle.
10 am kels all warmed up feeling good despite being youngest in her age group ,her names called she will be the first fight of the day. The arena is filled with anticipation no mistakes ,everyone's watching.
Away we go within a minute kel has won , great start . Next fight she throws the girl for ippon with a technique I had taught her 15 minutes prior in the warm up area which makes me smile. The final a she was up against a B.J.C international Player this was a very tough fight her opponent was stronger than her eventually losing by a yuko .
Silver for Kelly a good start and relief for Kelly.

Next up was Ollie Millard his first fighting in a British Championships his nerves were running wild ,in the warm up room I thought he was going to cry or be sick .
His name has been called here we go ,Ollie's struggling to to keep focused due to all that's going on around him .
Go on then mate your on it's a tough fight Ollie start's off losing by a yuko then mounts the big come back . Then Ollie scores a yuko then he pulls into the lead and the fight is his ,well done Olz.
Next fight my tip to win the comp William from our friends club Gendros Swansea He had previously dispatched a top player in 5 seconds. Here we go then Olz attack him mate before he attacks you. The fight starts with Ollie attacking him nearly throwing William but then getting span over on the ground for a hold down.
I knew it was going to be tough for him a group of 15 top players . Olz then started his campaign fighting for bronze.
Once again he was first to attack nearly throwing the player but then being span in the air for ippon . Olz come out of this event placing 9th but more importantly know that the gap between him and first is not far .

Last up and near the end of the day Bethan ,another player who was not a natural judo player but is determined to be. Warm area she looked exhausted but to be fair she done most of her warm up with me .
Her group is then called her first fight was a blue belt away we go .Beth looks menacing all the way through but still making a few mistakes through nerves but she eventually wins with a ippon throw,great first fight done.Next fight biggest girl in the group she is cool as cucumber just dispatched her last opponent in seconds this girl was here to win it . She uses a strong left arm over the top to wrap around the head clamping in and throwing people with it. Beth you need to control that arm and throw her. I spend a great deal of time firing Beth up for this fight as I know it going to be a almighty test. Their names are called and off we go ,the girl tries to swing her arm across Beth controls it and tries to throw her ,they hit the ground Beth rolls her over into a hold down this is where it get's tricky. She on the edge of the area trying hold the girl down but keeping them both in the area,the seconds tick by 17 second the girl gets out and Beth rolls her back into it . At this point I'm preying Beth holds her down because if that girl get up she going take it out on Beth in a big way , oh she's got out here we go but getting up off of that mat is a different Beth a more determined girl than I've ever seen before . They clash again the girl once again taking the same approach but this time Beth is having none of it throwing her opponent osoto gake to win the fight . Winning this fight had created a new Beth plus she was now in the final and guaranteed a medal the only problem was Beth was floating with joy she was like a helium balloon and she was not coming down and fair play to her she had achieved a dream which she thought was untouchable ,so we lapped up the moment . The final ,she tried to refocus and went out to fight but was thrown eventually with a uchimata ,she come off the mat still smiling to a coach who was still smiling.

What a day.

Pete

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