Disappointment for Great Britain in Judo World Cups

British athletes could not build on their Commonwealth success from last weekend as they left the judo World Cups in Bulgaria and Georgia empty-handed.

The Welsh competitors fell short of their targeted success, with British champion Brandon Dodge, from the Gower, eliminated at the first hurdle by Russian Sergey Krtyan in the men’s under-60kg at the Tbilisi tournament.

Commonwealth under-78kg champion Natalie Powell, who picked up gold in her division at last week’s competition at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff Bay, overcame Greece’s Vasiliki Lymperopoulou before being knocked out by Canadian Marylise Levesque – who narrowly missed out on a medal herself – in the women’s tournament in Sofia.

It will now take an impressive performance in the forthcoming World Cups in Hungary and Poland for Natalie, of Builth Wells in Powys, to earn qualification for the 2012 Olympic Games.

It was a disappointing weekend for all British athletes, with none making the final eight in any of the seven weight divisions in either the men’s or women’s tournament.

Hosts Georgia dominated the men’s event, picking up six golds, with Germany’s Dimitri Peters the other champion. Meanwhile, there was a more even split among the female champions in Bulgaria. Germany took home two golds, with China, France, Russia, South Korea and Tunisia picking up one each.

Double gold for Wales as Cardiff hosts Commonwealth judo

Natalie Powell and Curtis Dodge picked up senior gold medals for Wales as Cardiff’s Millennium Centre hosted the 2012 Commonwealth Judo Championships.

Fergus Dullaghan also scooped a silver medal for the hosts at this week’s tournament, the first sporting event ever held at the Cardiff Bay complex and the biggest judo competition to be staged in Wales.

Natalie saw off a robust challenge from England’s Caroline Kinnane in the final of the under-78kg division, while Curtis defeated Canadian Derek Langlois in the under-73kg category.

Both athletes see the championships as an ideal platform for future international success. Natalie, from Builth Wells in Powys, has her sights set on a place in the world’s top 100 – and even a place at this summer’s Olympics.

She must perform well at upcoming World Cup events in Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland to be in with a shot of lining up at the London games. But, at just 21 years old, she is optimistic about what the future could hold. “I have only really started taking it seriously over the last two years,” she said.

She also paid tribute to a noisy crowd at the Millennium Centre, which gathered in large numbers for the final day of competition. “I found it awesome,” she said. “I did not expect it to be so loud.” She picked up her medal from Welsh government business and enterprise minister Edwina Hart.

Among the bouts and medal ceremonies, the crowd was also treated to dance displays from young Welsh judoka and a harp recital – all part of a strategy to promote Wales and Cardiff, according to event organiser Paul Williams.

Curtis was also quick to praise the home backing he received, using many of the same awestruck terms as Natalie. “It was awesome,” he said. “I loved the atmosphere and the feeling it gave me.”

Despite taking home the gold after triumphing in an even contest with Langlois, the 19-year-old from Swansea does not have the London Olympics as his focus. This is only his first year competing in the senior section – and he has also only just moved into a heavier weight classification.

“This is my first year in under-73kg,” he explained. “I moved up from under-66. At the moment I am four kilograms under my weight division.”

But Curtis is also confident of future success – something which perhaps is not surprising for someone whose family has had remarkable success in the sport. His brother is British champion in his category, while his sister has also picked up Commonwealth medals.

“I’ll take each fight as it comes,” he said. “But I don’t think 2016 [Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games] is an impossible goal.”

“I want people to know me. With a bit of hard work I can pull it off.”

Commonwealth Judo Championships in Cardiff

Between January 23-25, the Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay played host to the Commonwealth Judo Championships.

Five hundred competitors from 29 nations made their way to South Wales to compete in a range of different senior and junior categories.

Check back in the next few days for a detailed report, including a chat with the two senior Welsh gold medallists – Natalie Powell of Builth Wells and Swansea’s Curtis Dodge.

Three cheers to the Premier League for its sports funding

Despite being by far the most popular sport in the UK, football is much-maligned by critics who point to the diving, the waving of imaginary cards and a general lack of respect for officials and bad behaviour of fans. And that is without mentioning recent racism incidents.

So congratulations must go to the Premier League for their part in helping develop grassroots sport away from the football pitch.

Liverpool players surround referee Lee Probert during their side's win over Bolton in August. Photo: Flickr, dannymol

The last Labour government set up a scheme, in partnership with the Premier League, the Youth Sport Trust and Sport England, called ‘Premier League 4 Sport‘ – its somewhat cheesy name not detracting from the tangible benefits it has made to non-mainstream sports in Britain.

Each Premier League club teams up with local table tennis, judo, badminton and volleyball clubs with the intention of widening youngsters’ involvement in sports. The league has announced it will contribute a further £2m to the project, which has far outperformed expectations, allowing children easier access to three more sports – netball, basketball, handball and hockey.

To date, it has been a startling success, with 40,000 children given exposure to these sports, far outstripping targets set at its launch.

On Monday, the Guardian reported the launch of a scheme by culture secretary Jeremy Hunt to invest £1bn over the next five years into grassroots sport, partly a response to the coalition having come under fire from opponents for its abandonment of a Labour-initiated school sports programme.

There is no doubt money is tight and, naturally, spending has to be focused on priority needs.

But the Olympic legacy – after all, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – must not be squandered. And that is why the role of institutions such as the Premier League is so welcome.

Their selflessness in investing in eight other sports should also be applauded.The grants from the Premier League will not only help the nation’s children, but will help breathe life into a variety of non-mainstream sports that so often fail to attract the attention of either the media or potential players.

*For more on the Olympic legacy, check out the Olympic Cardiff blog

Netball in Wales, part 2: question and answer with Mike Fatkin

An Early Bath talked to Mike Fatkin, the Chief Executive of Welsh Netball, about the challenges he has faced in promoting the sport and the difficulties and opportunities encountered since his move away from a similar post at Glamorgan County Cricket Club.

An Early Bath: How many people play netball in Wales?

Mike Fatkin: We estimate 10,000 adults playing regularly, over half of whom formally affiliate. Netball is a key component of the Dragon Sport primary school initiative, meaning that well over 60 per cent of primary schoolchildren will be exposed to it. We do struggle with the drop-off between primary and secondary schools.

AEB: Why do you think netball is seen almost exclusively as a women’s/girls’ sport?

MF: I’m not sure, but I suspect it’s historical. Boys play at Dragon level, and the teachers like the fact that because most of them are restricted to two thirds of the court they can’t dominate like some boys do in other team sports. At global level it’s the same, with some mixed, but relatively little all-male netball.

The match between Orkney and Shetland netball is one of the more popular games in the UK; photo: Flickr, orkneysports

AEB: Netball is well-established in schools, but why do you think media coverage of top club sides and Wales itself is relatively small?

MF: Personally I think sports editors just go for the main male sport staples. I’m not sure whether that’s laziness or not. They claim that’s all their readers, viewers and listeners want it, but with circulations dropping, I don’t know why they are so reluctant to try. It is a similar story for other female sports and athletes, as shown by the BBC Sports Personality of the Year shortlist being all male.

AEB: The ANZ Championship in Australia and New Zealand is very popular, with team paraphernalia in sports shops and results on all sports news bulletins. Do you think a similar scenario could ever come about over here?

MF: I’d like to think so but we’re a mile off that at the moment. It is a huge sport Down Under and receives extensive media coverage. I do think if the media provided some more coverage it would create more role models, not just helping girls who traditionally drop out of sport earlier than boys, but also in providing a platform for us. The Fiat Netball Superleague is well supported and receives some coverage from Sky, but we really want to build on that.

AEB: Wales’ coach Melissa Hyndman was nominated for elite level coach of the year at the recent Sport Wales awards. What hopes do you have the success she has brought can help develop a more mainstream following for netball?

MF: Her nomination was good for the sport. She’s made a big difference in focusing the players on the need for greater professionalism and commitment and they are beginning to understand how and where they need to improve. We are also expecting her to work her way down through the age groups to provide a solid ‘Welsh way of doing things’ from bottom to top. We have created an Under-15 team recently as the earliest entry into international participation was Under-17, which Melissa and I both believe is too old. She has ruffled some feathers but my view is that had we continued to do the same things in the same way we couldn’t have expected to get different results. I think she’s done a very good job.

AEB: Do you believe netball should be an Olympic sport?

MF: Yes. Not only is it something we believe we deserve but it is frustrating seeing the likes of golf and tennis coming in when they have enough different platforms as it is. We understand that the absence of a widespread European base is a factor, something which we need to address.

AEB: You used to be the chief executive at Glamorgan CCC. What are the difference and similarities in terms of the challenges now you’re at the top of Welsh Netball?

MF: The main difference is profile. It is quite nice working outside the perennial glare of the media but at the same time it makes the generation of publicity and commercial sponsorship very difficult. We have had success in making a number of positive changes in the last two years but we still struggle to bring in sponsorship and other commercial revenue. I enjoy the fact that netball as a sport has struggled for advocates and people to champion it and I hope I can make a difference in using my profile to get the sport a wider audience. The other main difference is from professional sport to amateur. I was used to players and contracts and agents; there is none of that in netball. I miss the pressure of the contractual negotiation but not all of the time!