Pragnell rates Gisborne club as country’s bestby John Hill
Thursday, 20 April, 2006
JUDO
OCEANIA Judo Union development coach Andrew Pragnell had nothing but praise for Gisbrne Judo Club coach Jason King and his judoka after spending a week at the local dojo.
"Jason’s a top coach and it’s not hard to see why Gisborne are, in my opinion, the No. 1 judo club in New Zealand," said the former Waiheke Island resident, who is taking eight players from countries within the Pacific Island on a two-month tour around New Zealand, training competing and learning new techniques.
"There’s an amazing group of people involved with the club, players coaches and supporters.
"The vibes you get are great, really hospitable. We’ve been sleeping at the dojo and while we’ve been here we’ve had the chance to try surfing, one guy lent us his longboard, and outrigger canoeing which the guys have enjoyed.
"But it’s more than that they’re also an extremely talented group, including many young players who have more competition and international experience than my guys."
Pragnell, who became fulltime OJU development coach in 2005, after doing it voluntarily for the previous two years, has been a New Zealand rep for the past six years fighting in the under 100kg division
"I’ve brought over players from Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Nauru.
"The majority of my work is done in the islands, doing grassroots coaching and putting in place programmes in schools and in the police to build up judo throughout the Pacific Islands.
I took a team from the Pacific Island to Germany and Egypt last year as a player/ slash coach in Cairo where the world championships were held.
"Judo is a huge sport in Europe and Asia so we didn’t expect to win, it was about experience.
"Before we went to Cairo we did a month’s training in Germany, exposing our players to that high level. While in New Zealand Pragnell and his team, who won a gold and silver at the East Coast championship at Napier in the u60kgs division, will travel to Tauranga, Auckland and Wellington before heading across the Cook Strait.
"At the end of the tour hopefully they will all have a higher skill base that they can take back.
"They’re all players and coaches in their own countries and pass it on to the juniors.
"They’ll also have extra competition experience so that when they compete at the next South Pacific Games in Samoa next year, they’ll be able to take that experience to the Games and win medals there.
"The Olympics is always No. 1 followed by the world champs but for these guys the big ones would be the Oceania champs and the South Pacific Games.
"The South Pacific Games is really important, in the Pacific Islands. The government get behind it a lot and judo has been a part of it for a while now.
"Part of my job is to set up tournaments, so last year we ran a couple of tri nations competitions, three countries that have reasonable air links, as travel is a problem.
"I’ve got 17 countries so it was a busy year last year spending time in them all."
OCEANIA Judo Union development coach Andrew Pragnell had nothing but praise for Gisbrne Judo Club coach Jason King and his judoka after spending a week at the local dojo.
"Jason’s a top coach and it’s not hard to see why Gisborne are, in my opinion, the No. 1 judo club in New Zealand," said the former Waiheke Island resident, who is taking eight players from countries within the Pacific Island on a two-month tour around New Zealand, training competing and learning new techniques.
"There’s an amazing group of people involved with the club, players coaches and supporters.
"The vibes you get are great, really hospitable. We’ve been sleeping at the dojo and while we’ve been here we’ve had the chance to try surfing, one guy lent us his longboard, and outrigger canoeing which the guys have enjoyed.
"But it’s more than that they’re also an extremely talented group, including many young players who have more competition and international experience than my guys."
Pragnell, who became fulltime OJU development coach in 2005, after doing it voluntarily for the previous two years, has been a New Zealand rep for the past six years fighting in the under 100kg division
"I’ve brought over players from Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Nauru.
"The majority of my work is done in the islands, doing grassroots coaching and putting in place programmes in schools and in the police to build up judo throughout the Pacific Islands.
I took a team from the Pacific Island to Germany and Egypt last year as a player/ slash coach in Cairo where the world championships were held.
"Judo is a huge sport in Europe and Asia so we didn’t expect to win, it was about experience.
"Before we went to Cairo we did a month’s training in Germany, exposing our players to that high level. While in New Zealand Pragnell and his team, who won a gold and silver at the East Coast championship at Napier in the u60kgs division, will travel to Tauranga, Auckland and Wellington before heading across the Cook Strait.
"At the end of the tour hopefully they will all have a higher skill base that they can take back.
"They’re all players and coaches in their own countries and pass it on to the juniors.
"They’ll also have extra competition experience so that when they compete at the next South Pacific Games in Samoa next year, they’ll be able to take that experience to the Games and win medals there.
"The Olympics is always No. 1 followed by the world champs but for these guys the big ones would be the Oceania champs and the South Pacific Games.
"The South Pacific Games is really important, in the Pacific Islands. The government get behind it a lot and judo has been a part of it for a while now.
"Part of my job is to set up tournaments, so last year we ran a couple of tri nations competitions, three countries that have reasonable air links, as travel is a problem.
"I’ve got 17 countries so it was a busy year last year spending time in them all."
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