Now the club is back and hosted the Euregio Judo tournament for the 20th time on Saturday. This year in cooperation with the clubs from Bleyberg and Pepinster, as the president of the Eupen Judo and Ju Jitsu Club, Ralph Godesar, explains.
“We haven’t been able to organize a tournament for three or four years. But now we on the board agreed that the Euregio tournament should take place again. Unfortunately, we just lacked resources. Both in terms of volunteer work, but also something When it came to finances, the collaboration with Bleyberg and Pepinster came in very handy. And we are very happy that it worked out, because the tournament was great this year. So hopefully the tournament will take place next year in Bleyberg or in Pepinster and then again in Eupen. We’ll have to think about that in the next few months.”
With the return of the Euregio tournament, the organizers have set a new participant record straight away. 360 judoka fought for the medals. This has not happened in the last 19 editions of the tournament. Among others, the national teams of the Netherlands and Luxembourg were guests. But what was most noticeable was that a lot of children and young people took part in the tournament – much to the delight of the organizers, as Kim Ruyen from the Judo Club Bleyberg explains.
“It is very important for young people to take part in tournaments so that they can see the progress they are making and feel how strong they really are. Those who only train and never see what the training actually does are more likely to give up and leave the club. That’s why it’s so important that the children can compete in the tournaments and of course winning is also fun.”
Ralph Godesar is also proud of the youth work of the East Belgian clubs. “We are very proud of our youth and we do a lot to ensure that youth work remains strong. For example, we already have a group aged three and a half who learn coordination with us and are then gradually integrated into martial arts. Without youth It’s just not possible. We need new trainers, we need people to step up on the board and if you don’t get them from the youth, where else will they come from? And as my colleague already said, martial artists have to compete – and that’s exactly why are tournaments like this important.”
The youth were not only strong on the mat, but also in the preparation for the Euregio tournament. While Ralph Godesar and Kim Ruyen mainly delegated, the youth put in a lot of effort to bring the sports hall on Stockbergerweg into shape and prepare everything for the big comeback. With so much passion, the sport of judo in East Belgium probably doesn’t have to worry about the future.
Lindsay Ahn
2025-01-19 09:26:00