Belarus and The Ukraine use Kent as Olympic base for judo teams
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by political editor Paul Francis
Some of the top Judo players in the world are to be based
in Kent for their preparation for the London Olympics.
Squads from Ukraine and Belarus are to be based in west Kent for
both the run-up to and the duration of the 2012 Games, using
Tonbridge School and Tonbridge Judo Centre, one of the region’s
leading clubs, for their training and preparation camp.
The news of the agreement is being seen as a major boost to the
county’s efforts to capitalise on the London Games.
The two countries have a strong track-record in the sport and
will each bring a squad of about 50 people for the Games and events
leading up to 2012.
Kent County Council, which helped steer negotiations with
representatives from both nations, believes the countries’ decision
to base themselves in Tonbridge will help promote the county’s
assets to other squads.
Mike Hill, KCC's Cabinet
Member for Communities, believes the county will benefit from both
countries' Judo squads training here.
Kent has 35 venues has identified as potential pre-Games
training camps suitable for a range of sports.
At the signing ceremony to mark the agreement at Maidstone’s
County Hall, Cllr Mike Hill, KCC cabinet member for
communities, said the announcement was an important moment for
Kent.
“We have put a lot of effort into the Olympics. One of the
main aims has been to persuade countries to base themselves here
and we now hope we can build on this,” he said.
The agreement was likely to be a spur to cementing stronger ties
with both countries that went beyond sport.
Mark Organ, Assistant
Bursar from Tonbridge School, talks to Kent Online
“We are keen to build on this to forge further sporting,
tourism, cultural and educational links over the long-term and
hopefully economic links, too.”
It is understood that KCC is in talks with several other
countries who are interested in using the county for preparation
and training camps. They include squads for other sports from both
Ukraine and Belarus.
Mark Organ, assistant bursar of Tonbridge School, said athletes
would have access to top-class facilities at the school.
The squads will use residential
accommodation usually used by more than 400 boarding pupils
during their stays.
Tonbridge Judo Club chairman and
senior coach Chris Bowles said: "This is fantastic news for our
club and British judo."
He said he hoped some of his
players could be in contention for a place in the 2012 GB judo
squad but had "some great prospects" for the 2016
Olympics which will be held in either Chicago, Rio de Janeiro,
Tokyo or Madrid.
The club, which celebrated its 50th
anniversary last year, has around 120 members aged from five right
through to senior players.
Sunday, September 20 2009
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