Weds 9th November proved to be one the most inspirational and educational days of my Judo career.  Ben Fletcher, Britains No.1 in the -100kg and ranked at World's 28th, spent a day with Macs School of Judo.  

It started with a Whirlwind tour of three Primary Schools (Thurlbear, Minehead & Cotford St Luke) and one college (Somerset & Bridgwater College).  Ben attended assemblies at the primary schools and showed a fun and interactive presentation, culminating in allowing the students to throw him (including a headteacher!) to great delight and cheers from the pupils!

The day finished with Ben giving a masterclass to students of Wellington School, which in itself was educational and fun for the students.  I can honestly say that everyone that met Ben was impressed on how grounded he was and inspired by his story.

From 'Macs School of Judo' and on behalf of our students we would like to say a huge 'thank you' to Ben and we will be cheering you on in all your up and coming competitions.

Look forward to working with you again soon and good luck in the upcoming British Championships in December.

This Wednesday Wellington School welcomed Kingsley School on the 'Home Visit' for a joint Judo session.

It was a lovely full mat with varying abilities, belts, sizes and experiences.  Lots of smiles on face for games, technical work and excellent interaction between the two schools with Judo to unify them both.

Both coaches Simon Ward & Nigel McBrayne plan to make this a regular termly fixture with a view to creating a friendly 'cup' tournament.

Photo's from Kinglsey School's latest visit:

On Tuesday we had a meeting of two independent school Judoka groups!

We took a group of students from Wellington School for a training session at Kingsley School in Bideford.  Simon Ward is the Sensei there and is also the Western Area Coach.  

A huge 'thank you' from us at Wellington School as you made us feel very welcome and we all thoroughly enjoyed our time.
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Hopefully, we will be able to setup a regular term reciprocal arrangement.  Looking forward to hosting your visit in October!

It has only been a short 5 months of teaching Judo on the curriculum at Wellington School, but you could be easily mistaken for thinking it had been a couple of years with some of the talent and promise the students are showing. The sporting programme Wellington school have implemented not only give the students a wonderful opportunity to 'try' many new sports but also excel in the ones they wish to pursue.

After only 5 months of teaching Judo at Wellington School we have our first set of students grade. Some of them not only passed the first grade but also went on to successfully pass the second grade.

The first set of students to grade in school were:

• Edward Nuttal-Owen
• Harry Nuttal-Owen
• Charlie Hodgkinson
• Natalia Gullidge-Jones
• Jonty Millington

I'd like to congratulate them and wish them many continued years in Judo to come.


Sensei Nige