May was a busy month for East Yorkshire Judo Academy!

 Since their successful trip to the Copenhagen Open in Denmark, the team has attended several competitions and training camps.

On April 28th Logan Campbell travelled with the England team to Berlin, Germany and competed in a round of the European Cup. Spencer Cammish took part in round 2 of the North East Judo Grand Prix where he earned a bronze medal and built on his silver medal from round one.

A week later in the English Minors Championships (for those aged 10 and 11) Spencer was fighting again along with his teammate Hayes Campbell. Both boys fought hard, impressing their coach whilst earning themselves a place in the medals with Hayes winning a Silver medal and in a different category Spencer winning a bronze medal.

Whilst the boys were winning silverware at the English Minors Hayes’ brother, Logan Campbell along with Tommy Jackson and Sean Tooby were away for the weekend on England training duties. They spent the weekend at the British Judo centre of Excellence completing 2 full days of training with the best players in the country.

Then came the turn of the London Open on May 18th. East Yorkshire Judo Academy had a team of 8 players in attendance all of whom put on a great display of judo. Sean Tooby fought in his weight group and due to the next weight group up having low entries it was agreed that the heavier boys could fight against Sean and the rest of his weight group. In unstoppable fashion Sean won all his fights including those against the heavier group and took the Gold medal. Gracie Wilson won a Silver in her category, only losing one match and after getting ever closer to beating her main rival in what was a great fight. Ellesha Tennison fought well in a tough group showing growing confidence to win a Bronze medal. Tommy Jackson and Maddy Kissenisky had a good day on the mat with both unfortunately losing out after reaching the bronze medal fights. Sisters Eleanor and Sophie Buckle and Spencer Cammish all worked hard reaching various rounds of the competition and did not disappoint showing off their ever-developing skill set.

One week later and starting on the 25th of May was the Fighting Films Trophy held in Kendal. Over 2 days EYJA had 7 players competing. It was a fantastic weekend for the team with 6 players picking up 8 medals between them. On the Saturday Ellie Hatfield was the first of the medal winners picking up a Bronze. Ellesha Tennison put on yet another gritty performance to win herself a Bronze medal. Maddy Kissenisky, fighting in a merged weight group as one of the lighter players did exceptionally well to take a silver medal. Tommy Jackson fighting in the -16’s won a Silver medal but felt he could have done better! The opportunity arrived when he was offered the chance to fight in the seniors category. Tommy stepped up to the challenge and managed to win the category and a Gold medal! Ellesha was then offered the same chance to fight in the senior section which she took without a moments pause. It was a decision that was to prove most excellent as she went on to win her second bronze medal of the day. On the Sunday it was the turn of the younger players. Sophie Buckle went out onto the mat in fine fettle, ending all her fights early on the way to a gold medal. It turned out to be a tough competition for Brad Woolcock who fought with his heart on his sleeve but was unable to reach the medal rounds. Spencer Cammish showed what it is to have a fighting spirit after not having the best fights in his -12’s category. He was offered a chance to fight in the -16’s which he accepted. Spencer was determined to show what he can do and turned his day around by winning a silver medal and being tantalisingly close to the gold!

Maddy, Ellesha, Tommy and Brad stayed in Kendal for a 2-day training camp. The camp involved all aspects of judo from fight training, technical learning and fitness training. In one session the players were running through the beautiful lake district countryside, lifting big rocks and logs and sprinting up very steep hills! Great character building….

Straight after the Kendal training camp Tommy Jackson flew out to Sweden to compete in the Budo Nord Cup. Tommy fought very well winning a bronze medal against a high level of competition.

June promises to be another busy month for East Yorkshire Judo Academy with players competing in the Goole Championships and later in the month at the Kent International. They’ve got players that will be at the county training session, 8 players attending the monthly training day for the England development programme and 3 players that have been selected to attend a training camp with the Great Britain squad.

If you’d like to try judo as a beginner (of any age!) or a returning player, please contact Danny for more information via email on danny@eastyorkshirejudoacademy.com

East Yorkshire Judo Academy are looking for sponsors to help with the supply and running costs of a new team minibus. The bus will be used to help players who cannot get to out of town training events and competitions, giving them a better chance of development. It will also be used to help the elite players by reducing their parents ongoing expenses and hopefully allowing the players to attend more events as a result. If you feel you could help with this please contact Danny on the above email address.