WELL
60 medals are ready: The Aargau Judo Championships are taking place again in Wohlen after 14 years
On Sunday, June 12th, the Aargau Judo Championships will be held in Wohlen. In the Hofmattenhalle, over 180 athletes compete in 62 categories for the Aargau title. It will be a special day for many young judokas, for them it will be their first major tournament.
Finally a big judo tournament: Until now, the fighters in the U11 category (under 11 years of age) have only been on the mat in small competitions. Like here at the 2021 Christmas tournament of the Wohlen Judo and Aikido Club.
The judo mats were specially delivered from the mat warehouse in Basel. 60 shiny medals await the new cantonal champions. “A lot has to be organized for the Aargau Championships,” reports Andreas Schmid, President of the Wohlen Judo and Aikido Club. He is happy that the competition is taking place in Wohlen again. This was the case for the last time in 2008, when the 14 Aargau judo clubs take turns running it.
After the competition had been canceled for the last two years due to corona, it seems to be a successful year. “We already have more than 180 registrations and are expecting a few late registrations on the day of the competition,” says Schmid. “Then we would have 200 fighters on the mats, in previous years there were about 150 participants.”
Corona brought more people to judo
The student categories are particularly well represented, with more than 80 young martial artists taking to the mat in the U11 and U13 groups on Sunday. It will be a particularly exciting day for the children in the U11 group. They are taking part in such a big tournament for the first time, so far they only know judo from training sessions, internal competitions or fun tournaments.
The participants in the master category usually have more mat experience. Judokas who are more than thirty years old start in this group. There are more registrations in this category than in previous years. Schmid is happy: “There are some athletes who started or got back into judo during the Corona period.”
Ju-Jitsu should gain attention thanks to judo tournament
After the Aargau Championships, there will be a Ju-Jitsu tournament open to participants from all over Switzerland. Schmid likes that this sport is getting more attention. “Ju-Jitsu is much less common in Switzerland than judo, but it belongs to the same association,” he reports. So the organizational work is particularly worthwhile when the mats and the feast are used twice.
The Wohlen Judo and Aikido Club will be challenged on the day of the competition. Of the 200 club members, 35 take part in the championships themselves. Many help with the competition and the festival. The festival is run by the club with 60 of its own people. They feed those present with a wide selection from spaghetti Napoli to schnitzel bread and a special judo burger.
Aargau Judo Championships on Sunday, June 12, from 7.15 a.m. at the Hofmatten sports facility in Wohlen. Late registrations on the day of the competition are possible. More info at www.jacwohlen.ch.
