‘WE HAD A BLAST': Words from Gisborne Judo Club coach Jason King, pictured with the eight female judoka he took to a training camp in Wellington. Back row (from left) are Cleo Parkin, Allie Jones-Boyd, Zara Kirkpatrick, Alex MacKay and Isla Jacobs Front: Shelby Kirkpatrick, Macy Jacobs and Amelia Gibb. Picture supplied
‘WE HAD A BLAST': Words from Gisborne Judo Club coach Jason King, pictured with the eight female judoka he took to a training camp in Wellington. Back row (from left) are Cleo Parkin, Allie Jones-Boyd, Zara Kirkpatrick, Alex MacKay and Isla Jacobs Front: Shelby Kirkpatrick, Macy Jacobs and Amelia Gibb. Picture supplied
EIGHT up-and-coming Gisborne female judo players travelled with their coach from Gisborne for a training camp in Wellington.
Gisborne Judo Club coach Jason King has coached at the camp for the last four years and had taken a contingent of local athletes the previous two years.
King, who has 46years of experience on the mats and has been teaching others for 34 years, said the camp was a great opportunity for local athletes to experience other gyms' approaches to training and competing.
“They make a lot of friendships. They're training, not competing — training with other people they're not used to.”
Those friendships and connections that they built would then carry on through seeing each other through competitions, which happened regularly in such a small sport (in New Zealand), he said.
