Nenagh hosts 4th International Inclusion Judo Games
The Tipperary Judo Friendship Inclusion Games 2019 was held on Sunday 20th October last in Nenagh’s St. Mary’s Secondary School Sports Arena, a world class venue by any standard.
Participants from all over Ireland, the UK, Italy, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland descended on Nenagh to take part in what was the only fully autism friendly event of its kind in the world.
The Tipperary Judo Friendship Inclusion Games was organised to bring together two great elements of sport, competitiveness and inclusion. Judo as a sport is the second most participated sport in the world and is an Olympic, Paralympic, Special Olympic and Special Needs/Autism sport. Although mainstream judo and special needs judo train side by side all the time, rarely do they ever compete together at the same event.
This event attracted competitors, both mainstream and special needs, male & female, adult and child, from the length and breadth of Ireland and across Europe, all of who embraced and supported the uniqueness of this event. This event was also the only autism friendly judo event in the world. A number of elements were added this year to make it as autism friendly as possible, some of these additions included colour coding control tables at fields of play with colour balloons, express check-in procedures, no public address announcements, visual schedulers on large screens and non-judo related challenge games off the field of play to occupy athletes while they were waiting their turn. We also have highly trained adaptive referees to ensure the full enjoyment and safety of all those taking part.
The event was attended by over 240 competitors and hundreds of parents & supporters. The local host club, Black Eagle Judo / Judo Assist had an incredible medal tally of 14 Gold, 11 Silver, 14 Bronze and 22 participation medals.
To read more, pick up a copy of this weeks Nenagh Guardian locally or subscribe to our e-paper to access it online each Wednesday.