Sheffield University Judo and Covid restrictions

We're getting close to the normal start of the university academic year and of course this year is going to be anything but normal.

Recruitment issues

The usual routine for Sheffield Judo club is a "sports fair" at the end of September in the union buildings, where we try to garner interest for Judo from new and returning students.

Apparently this is being replaced this year with some sort of virtual Q & A over video chat with the club committee. On the upside, it'll be possible to have a civilised discussion with potential students without the din of the Sports Fair going on around you. However the downside I believe could be huge.

My reservation is that when strolling round the sports fair a student may see us stood there in our pyjamas (JudoGi) and have their curiosity piqued, come and talk to us. With a virtual thing it seems we're more likely to only get students contacting us who know they want to either continue training or specifically start Judo.

I suppose there is also the "I want to start a martial art" / "I want to learn to defend myself" crowd who may have some background knowledge, but I also suspect a large number will have pre-conceptions about Judo (eg "did that as a kid", "it's only a sport") which we wouldn't have a chance to correct.

Training issues

Once sports fair is out of the way, the last few years we've run taster sessions on the weekend after sports fair, this has helped I believe with the number who then turn up to give it a proper go in term.

I don't think we're going to be able to do quite the same this year, in fact training at all is going to be heavily restricted until.... sometime!

At some point we'll be able to run some sort of session, but with guidelines about keeping distance still in force for the foreseeable future, those sessions are going to be far removed from proper Judo sessions. 

I'm concerned we'll lose interest of those who would ordinarily love Judo if we're restricted to what amounts to fitness classes. I guess I'd better get my thinking cap on to come up with alternative training plans for the club.

I'd love to get some suggestions from other clubs on what they are thinking of for their non-contact sessions!

Hosted competitions

Sheffield University Judo club run two competitions each year.

SUKT (Sheffield Uni Kyu Tournament) is our annual event for the lower grades to have a go. Traditionally held at the very end of November/early December.

USIST is our team event, generally higher grades, but not exclusively. Entry to USIST is restricted to students. We have had teams coming from all over the UK but also Germany, Holland and Belgium.

By fighting (getting rooms booked with the university sports organisations seems to be a somewhat....difficult) to keep the date similar each year we ensure coaches and clubs get to know when it's going to be and becomes part of a clubs annual calendar, much like we have competitions we try to get our players to each year.

If I'm feeling optimistic, real Judo training might be back in February or March at the earliest. 

If proper training is that far away then SUKT can't really happen as it's before Christmas. 

USIST has moved around a little bit to work around the BJA/BUCS student nationals, but it's always winter term. The only reason we can move it is because clubs target it as an event and will do all they can to be there, it's a well established event (twenty something years). This event could also be at risk. In 2020 we ended up cancelling USIST.

I can't help feeling if these events don't happen then it will likely become harder to rebook the venue next year (assuming we're back to full training then!) as some other event that can happen with social distance measures in place will want to run as they did this year in what was our slot. With a good wind training will be back to normal in time for our SUKT booking, in which case we'll be able to run something. If not SUKT then perhaps a big training session with nearby university clubs, a grading session/exams perhaps, maybe even a dan grading as that may be easier at short notice than a full competition!

We certainly need to make use of the booking(s).

Let's be positive

We may (I don't believe it, but let's hope) be able to get back to proper training this side of Christmas. If people stop being idiots and gathering in large groups!

Even if SUKT doesn't happen, we have the room booked so we could build bridges with other clubs. We could see a bumper crop of grades if we have a multi hour session to work on tidying player technique.

The mats will be clean! Our mats don't get cleaned as often as they should be. Probably twice a year when I throw lots of disinfectant wipes at the students to clean the mats after SUKT and USIST as all the mats are out.

We have to allow another student club use of the mats (a 'traditional' Jiu Jitsu club).

They frequently don't wear zori off the mats, dragging whatever muck is on the floor of the changing rooms, toilets and leisure centre generally onto the mats (frankly it's amazing we don't have ringworm/verruca outbreaks all the time!).

Now at least mats will be cleaned every session for a few months!