On the 3rd -5th of January 2025 Keisen Judo Club sent a squad of 14 athletes to Koksijde in Belgium for a high-performance international training camp. For almost all the athletes this was their first taste of a full training camp and for most their first trip abroad with their judo.
The Koksijde judo camp is very well known and this year featured athletes from Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, and Hungary along with other British judo clubs. During the 4 judo sessions taking place on the 1200m2 mat, around 500 athletes were training who ranged from promising young beginners to full-time international Olympians.
Sessions consisted of hard 4-minute sparing of which the team would have completed at least 30 fights each across the weekend, and technical master classes where they could learn from international coaches and Olympians.
All the athletes performed exceptionally well, impressing other International coaches with their judo ability and professional attitude. All the players fully completed the camp despite being tired and taking bumps and knocks from the high volume of randori and still had smiles on their faces on the way home.
This was also an opportunity for our athletes to make new friends from other nations and clubs, whilst also growing closer as a squad and building the team ethos. Some of them enjoyed the trip so much that they were already asking if they could return next year.
Rivertrace helped make this trip and opportunity possible by sponsoring the club and subsidising the trip.
A special shoutout to James Draper, Development Engineer at Rivertrace and Head Coach of Keisen Judo Club, for his leadership in guiding the team through this amazing journey.
