Budokan Judo Club had another outstanding National Championships this year. In time, we will put together a DVD of the event, as we have for the last 2 years. If anyone has photos of our guys in action please forward them to me. We will also arrange a photo session at the club for all participants.

Again, the club had a few new starters to the Nationals this year and a number playing in new age and weight categories, in particular due to the introduction of the new 14s and Cadet Categories. The results again show that there is significant depth and consistency in the club which is very motivating and humbling.

The results this year were outstanding with the club bringing home:

1^st  x  5;  2^nd x  3;   3^rd x  7;   5^th x  3;   7^th x  3   

Individual results follow:

Commentary and Interesting Statistics for 2010

• 19 athletes (compared to 18 athletes in 2008 and 19 in 2009) competed in 24 divisions (23 in 2009)
• 15 athletes won matches (compared to 14 athletes in 2008 and 13 in 2009)
• 12 athletes won 14 medals (compared to 11 winning 13 medals in 2008 and 8 athletes winning 11 medals in 2009)
• Of our 19 athletes, 17 competed in the 2009 Nationals and of these 11 medaled and  3 obtained a 5^th place (ie competed for Bronze medal) this year
• 5 sets of siblings competed (compared to 4 sets in 2008 and 6 in 2009): Lanes, Katz’s, McIndoes, Edwards, and McDougalls
• 5 athletes (compared to 5 in 2008 and 7 in 2009) were selected to play in 2 age/open divisions each (this was affected by the new age categories and the restriction of 14s not being allowed to play in Cadets)
• 5 athletes competed in 2 divisions with 2 athletes medaling in both (as for 2008 and 2009) (Nathan Katz – Gold in Cadets and Bronze in Junior Men; Patrick Waite – Bronze in both Men’s 81kg and Men’s Open, plus Jake Young – Bronze in Junior Men and 5^th in Men; Vanessa Hall – Bronze in Junior Women and 9^th in Senior Women; Shaun McDougall – Silver in Junior Men). Josh Katz and Cameron Leishman who medaled in both U/13s and U/16s in 2009 were unable to compete in Cadets this year in accordance with the new rules for U/14s.
• 2 athletes competed in their first Nationals (and 2 more for Budokan for the first time), compared to 4 in 2008 and 6 in 2009 (Katelyn Boyd, Keirnan Tafft, and Amber and Kyle McIndoe)
• Of these 4 athletes, 1 medaled (compared to 3 in 2008 and 2 in 2009) and 1 fought for Bronze (Keirnan Tafft - Bronze, Amber McIndoe – 5^th)
• 3 first time medalists at Nationals (compared to 5 in 2008 and 3 in 2009) – Jessica Klajman – Silver, improving on her 2009 5^th place, Keirnan Tafft - Bronze, and Hamish McDougall - Bronze improving on his 2009 7^th place
• 1 athlete won a medal in his first Nationals Keirnan Tafft (Bronze), compared to 2 in 2009
• 2008 U/13 Bronze medalist and unplaced in U/16s in 2009, Aidan Sandri won his first National Silver Medal
• Jakob Edwards improved on his 2009 9^th place competing for a Bronze, unfortunately against club-mate Hamish McDougall
• Whilst Jessica Klajman was not awarded a Gold medal in Cadets U/70kg category because there were no other competitors, Budokan recognises her achievement and acknowledges her 1^st place in that category. In competing in the next highest weight category, she did well to win a Silver Medal
• 2009 U/13 medalists Kendall Lane (Silver) and Josh Katz (Bronze) competed in 14s and improved their placings, both winning Gold medals
• Kendall Laneand Josh Katz won their first National Gold medals
• Nathan Katz won his first Junior Men National Medal (Bronze) and has now won 4 National Gold medals and Naomi de Bruine has now won 2 National Gold medals.
• Shaun McDougall, Silver medalist 2006 and 2009, and Gold medalist 2007, consolidated his 2009 Junior Men Silver Medal with another Silver this year
• 2008 dual Bronze medalist in Junior & Senior Men, Jake Young improved on his 7^th place in 2009 by winning a Bronze this year in Junior Men and unlucky not to medal in Senior Men
• Vanessa Hall improved on her 5^th place in Junior Women in 2009 with a Bronze this year and also competed in her first Senior Women’s Nationals putting up a great fight against the National Champion
• With 3 Senior Men’s 5^th placings behind him, Patrick Waite finally broke through the medal barrier for his first Senior Men’s Bronze medal in the largest category of the competition, Men’s 81kg with 26 competitors. He then went on to win a Bronze in the Men’s Open
• Whilst there were no medals for Katelyn Boyd, Madison Lane, Amber and Kyle McIndoe, Conor and Jakob Edwards, and Cameron Leishman, numerous matches were fought and won, and their tenacity and efforts were commendable
• Our athletes competed in 65 matches, winning 37 of them. Largest Division was Men’s 81kg (Patrick Waite) with 26 competitors. Most number of matches played in a single division was Boys 14s U/38kg (Josh Katz) with 5. Most number of matches played in 2 divisions was 6 (Nathan Katz, Jake Young and Patrick Waite)
• Again, the ever competitive Dale Keogh competed in the National Kata event setting a fine example and showing her support of the competition. Her dominance in Kata continues with Silvers in both Katame-No-Kata (improving on her 2009 Bronze) and Ju-No-Kata
• All our athletes prepared with dedication and maturity for this competition. Their commitment is unquestioned and whilst some may not have achieved the result that they desired this year, the experience of this Nationals will be of enormous benefit to all of them in subsequent competitions including next year’s Nationals in Perth
• As always, we had an enormously strong support group of parents and club athletes. The spirit of Budokan was always strong, with many coming back to watch the Junior Men/Women and Seniors on Sunday, and then a large group attending Dreamworld and Whitewater World on Monday. Thanks to Donna for coordinating the accommodation and to Marcel de Bruine and Greg Tafft for taking on the videoing task over the weekend. Thanks to all parents and supporters for their positive spirit
• In the 9 National Championships in which Budokan has been represented since 2002, 154 of our athletes have competed in 191 divisions and have achieved 117 medals:
  44 Gold, 22 Silver, and 51 Bronze medals, plus 29 x 5^th, 21 x 7^th, and 6 x 9^th placings.