Drake Judo Club agrees Link with Plymouth Marjon University
I am delighted to announce that after a month or so of discussions DJC has agreed an official Black Belt link with the University of St Mark & St John.
"So what does the link entail?" I hear the curious Judoka reading this post ask.
Well some of the top sports teams in Devon and Cornwall use Marjons as their base of operations including; Plymouth Argyle, Plymouth Raiders and Plymouth Albion - the reason for this is the quality of the facilities that Marjons have at their disposal.
Our link with the university will have many different benefits, i have endeavoured to lay our below what will make up our connection
Part of the link will be that our players will have access to the facilities inside the £20million Sports Science Lab
For an in depth look at what facilities the Sports Science Lab offers please follow the link;
We will also gain access to the Sports Therapy & Rehabilitation Clinic which already treats some of our region's top athletes.
This facility will enable us to get expert advice on managing and rehabilitating injuries, prolonging and in some cases, improving the sports careers of our players.
For an in depth look at what facilities the Sports Therapy & Rehabilitation Clinic offers please follow the link;
We will also be able to use the fitness suite, which has a superb range of equipment.
So what benefits will our players receive?
Part of our link is that we will be matched with 3rd year Students who are studying for various degrees, they will engage directly with DRJC and deliver session straight to the athletes, this means our players will receive the following;
Strength & Condtioning programs - tailored specifically for a particular player and to specific competitions and through testing will look to improve certain areas
Nutrition and Weight Management - currently we have given advice on these subjects but lack any formal qualification to do so. Players will be able to healthily manange competition weight without any restriction and learn the do's and don'ts of sports nutrtion
Sports Psychology - having issues with nerves or negative feelings, more and more sport is being decided in this field, an exciting opportunity for our judoka
Drug Testing - as an athlete you have responsibility about what goes into your body, information on what is banned and what isn't(its not always obvious)
Attending sessions and competitions - Students will be coming away with us and attending competitions to manage all of the above, making our coaching delivery much more professional
As you may be aware our current membership is around 100 people, we have lots of juniors from 4 up to 10 years old and our primary focus as a club is to keep recruiting this age range, you may also be aware we now have approx. 20 players who are from 10-12 and about to start competing on a national level or certainly competing out of the Western Area
We do not currently have many players in the 13 - 21 category and so naturally this is a gap we wish to fill therefore we are going to start a satellite class which will take place every Tuesday from 8pm - 10pm - This session will be for Students, Youth and Elite players and will be held in the gymnasium, we will be looking to recruit Students directly from the University and encourage Youth players to train alongside us
It is part our ambition to take Students to the British University Championships (BUCS) this will then complete our offering as a club to accommodate players of all ages from Primaries(SHO), Juniors, Youth, Students, Seniors and Masters
We will be sending out an official press release early next week
Exciting times!
Ross