The Dieter Renz sports hall, home base of the Bottrop Judo Pirates, where the judo stars of the 1st Judo Bundesliga for women and men otherwise fight for points and championships, was literally bursting at the seams last Friday when the students of the Bottrop Fichteschule demonstrated their acquired judo skills to a packed grandstand of parents, relatives, siblings and teachers.
Big, amazed eyes accompanied the children on four mat surfaces and saw for themselves the fighting skills of their little judoka. Most of them had experienced this Japanese martial art for the first time and were surprised by the skills of their little white dwarves in kimonos on the tatami. “Since the school managed to make the event a school event, the response was of course enormous. With almost 180 children and countless spectators, it was a very worthy setting for the kids’ great achievements. They definitely deserved it during the 10 judo weeks at their school and it was a lot of fun with the little fighters,” said project manager Sven Helbing, happy about the full house and the committed kids, parents and teachers. And further: “I have rarely seen the Dieter Renz Hall so full. And the atmosphere was brilliant.”
Also record participation among the belt examinees
The commitment of the school, parents and children was also reflected in the participation in the judo training that ran parallel to the project weeks at the partner club JC 66 Bottrop. Never before in the 16 years that the project has been carried out in Bottrop have so many children taken part in the weekly judo training, the “Judo Values School” at JC 66 and the voluntary belt test at the end of the judo weeks. A total of 30 (!) children can now call themselves new holders of the 8th Kyu, the white-yellow belt, and have thus risen from the rank of judo beginners to that of real judo students. Most of them are looking forward to being on the judo mat again soon and preparing for the next step, the yellow belt. After the project has been completed, the JC 66 continues to offer them the opportunity to take part in training with the Bundesliga club. “With around 400 members, we are already one of the strongest judo clubs. And more and more children are constantly being added, especially through the Bottrop judo school project,” says Helbing, happy about the increase in young judoka at JC 66. Maybe you will see one or the other in the Dieter Renz sports hall at the Bundesligatatami in a few years and then they will be among the celebrated Bundesliga stars.
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