One thousand four hundred judokas and judokas, several dozen regional clubs represented, four hundred mats assembled for eight combat surfaces, fifty volunteers from the Raphaël Kodokan Judo club on the bridge…
For a weekend, the Jean-François-Krakowski sports hall in Saint-Raphaël turned into a real hive. An authentic regional judo festival, organized by the Raphaël club and its director Fabien Escaillas: “I would first of all like to thank Hervé Tarpéa, president of the Var departmental committee, and Lionel Gigli, president of the Paca League, for their confidence. This year was the second edition of the tournament in the city of Saint-Raphaël. Kodokan Challenge”. It’s a big organization for our club which was created in 2020 and which brings together around two hundred licensees, aged 3 to 77.”
Second place for AMSL Fréjus
Among them, Frédéric Chassé who, this Sunday, March 12, obtained his grade of 4e and. “We’ve been practicing judo together for ten years now. Frédéric was 1 dan and resumed judo after a long break. He continued to progress, to evolve, to find himself 4 dan. This is not nothing. Beyond this great performance, it is a great friendship that has emerged”, rejoices Fabien Escaillas. Six different competitions were on the program. Starting on Saturday with the regional “coloured belts” circuit and regional circuit 3e division.
Qualifier for the France 1 championshipre division, the regional cadet championship brought together no less than 232 participants, including 93 cadets. On Sunday, after the Benjamins departmental circuit, place in the championship by senior teams of the first division, also qualifying for the French championships. If Nice/Monaco won in the women’s category ahead of Judo 83, the victory in the men’s category went to the Cannes Mougins team.
To be noted, the very good second place of the AMSL Fréjus team which qualifies for the second division French championships which will take place on April 8th. This judo festival ended with the second edition of the City of Saint-Raphaël “Kodokan Challenge” tournament, which brought together 364 judokas aged 4 to 12. An event placed under the aegis of the fight against pediatric cancers, which raised 600 euros donated to the charity Leo never let go.
