JUDO BC DIGEST

Letter to the MembershipSubmitted by : DarcyYuleJuly 20, 2007Some thoughts about judo in BCIt has now been about five weeks since the Judo BC AGM. And I have given theissue of NCCP, Judo BC membership and liability insurance considerable thought.NCCP is a great idea to ensure that adequately trained/educated persons arecoaching or training athletes, whether competitors or recreational players. Every Judoinstructor whether 20 years old or 70 years old is never too old to learn new things tomake him or herself a better coach. It only makes common sense that a 20 year beginnerinstructor will need to be evaluated by his or her sensei before being given theresponsibility to conduct a judo class. For the 70 year old senior sensei, surely his or herteaching experience and reputation speaks for itself, thus a required evaluation is bothredundant and disrespectful. It is on this Judo Canada requirement for independentevaluation, which I most adamantly must disagree with the dictates of the Judo Canadasystem.The new NCCP Level A and B multi-sport theory training is beyond Judo BC or JudoCanada ability to change. However, the Level A & B technical [Dojo assistant & DojoInstructor] courses are strictly within the control of Judo Canada. It is my view that theJudo BC executive should be telling Judo Canada that: "our membership is not satisfiedwith the coaching certification evaluation methodology and the mandatory nature of thenew Kyu grading syllabus combined with the Long Term Athlete Development Model”. Youshould note that Mr. Wright points out in his annual report and I quote: ‘This is animportant document [referring to the LTADM] as it will affect how judo must be taughtto our athletes”. I believe this concern was expressed in a strong way at the AGM. Ithought the AGM would be the focal point where this issue would fully come through tothe Judo BC Executive and the general membership. Unfortunately I don't think myselfand others were heard. Why do I say this? Many specific concerns were brought up,recorded, and are to be followed up on by a committee whose membership is yet unknown.However, all these comments, even if all are followed up, are simply just band-aids. Thereal problem is that Judo BC will bleed to death as the requirement for each individualclub to have a Level 2 [Dojo Instructor] remains unchanged and the ease ofattaining Level 2 certification remains mired in an over prescriptive evaluationmethodology!At one time I was under the impression that each Judo BC member club had to havea Level 2 instructor because Judo BC could not get liability insurance to cover Non-Level 2clubs.. I found out this impression is completely wrong. The level 2 requirement is a6 `