New Premises for 2007!
New Premises' Plans: Premises Plans Premises Sections
Dear Friends in judo,
It is with pleasure that we announce the forthcoming opening of our new dojo at the end of February 2007. Whereas the old dojo had a floor space of 2200 square feet, the new dojo has over 5000 square feet, which gives you some idea of how much bigger it is. We will have two contest areas, both 7m x 7m with an improved 3m safety area all round. Perhaps even more significantly, we have vastly increased and improved spectator seating, with also a larger balcony viewing and cafeteria area. Although this is our home dojo, when we were planning it we gave careful thought to the competitions and events we hold, so it is purpose built for those activities.
As a result of having the much greater capacity, we have changed our events slightly to suit the new venue. Please be assured that the same ethos of friendliness, good sportsmanship and the overriding best interests of the players will at all times remain unchanged. The idea remains to try to cater for all types and levels of judo. Please be warned that we still expect many events to be over-subscribed, so enter early!
One new type of event that we started last year is the Mini-Me Minimons. We recommend these as the best introduction for new junior players to (mildly) competitive judo. We feel these events are amongst our best, so do come and try them out. Please note that they are limited to Midlands clubs plus specific invitations at present.
Obviously, even with our considerable experience, we can't anticipate how everything will go with the new premises and revised events, so please bear with us if there are a few teething problems. We have carefully planned to avoid these, but there will always be something …
The new premises are very close to the old ones, still in Lisle Avenue , Kidderminster . Regular visitors will know that as you go down Lisle Avenue , the old premises were along a driveway on the right. Now, instead of turning right, go about fifty yards further down the road and you will see the new premises on the left. However, the old car park can still be used. We are attempting to run as many events as possible on Sundays this year, when parking will be much easier and we can use the whole street as well as the parking spaces around the new dojo and the old car park. This should be more than adequate.
We are continuing to develop and improve our events. The computer system Stefan and Ben developed is now used by major events such as the British Junior Nationals and the Heart of England, and we continue to try to improve it and also improve other parts of our system. As always, feedback is most welcome. We seriously consider that we run the best organised judo events in Britain , and if you think differently, please let us know where we need to get better!
With our new mat areas, we felt we could return to holding a veterans and senior high grades event, as well as moving our County Team Challenge from Walsall to the new dojo. The Bev Teams will also move to the new premises, though over two days.
Hope to see you at our events during the year.
Sarah Newbury
Chair,
Samurai Judo Club.
