Success at the Soeverein Judo Cup Belgium

On Friday 6 April at 6.00am two Cobra competitors (Ethan and Jack) began their eight hour journey along with the Nottinghamshire Squad to attend an International judo competition that was held in Lommel, Belgium; a trip that would eventually see the Cobra players earning two out the five total Nottinghamshire medals.

On arrival at our accommodation for the weekend, which was a beautiful youth hostel in Overpelt, we unpacked our bags and settled into our rooms which each contained four beds and an en-suite. The hostel was self contained and we had exclusive use, once unpacked all of the children headed outside onto the huge park whilst the adults made use of the self service bar area.

In the evening we held a quick team talk and then we made our way into town to find a local restaurant for our dinner. We managed to find a nice little place that served a variety of food and had something that everyone would like and it was not too expensive. Once refuelled we headed back to the hostel bar where Chris settled in as head barman for the weekend (Paul was the DJ and money man). Saturday’s competitors headed to bed ready for an early start the next day.

7.00am Saturday and it was time for everyone to get up and head down to breakfast for 7.30am, we were served with a continental breakfast and hot and cold refreshments.

After breakfast we made our way over to the competition venue and claimed our seats for the day’s contests.

After a warm up session our first players were called to the mat, all of the competitors today were grouped into pools of four and this would mean they would all have at least three contests each. Ethan was up first he won all of his contests securing a first place and gold medal, Jack’s contests followed and he secured a bronze medal.

We then waited for the remaining Notts players to finish (who secured the remaining three Notts medals) and headed into Lommel town centre to a Snooker and Pool venue, the children played pool whilst the adults took part in a couple of games of killer. We then headed back to the hostel for a quick change before heading back to our local restaurant for our evening meal.

Sunday we were again up early for breakfast and the whole team and supporters made their way over to the venue for the second day of competition.

This was a much more difficult day and all of the Nottinghamshire players fought really well but did not claim any medals. Once all the contests had completed we headed to a local McDonald’s restaurant before returning to the hostel for a deserved rest and refresh. In the evening we headed again back to the local restaurant for our final weekend dinner with them and then finished the night in our very own disco.

The next day we were up and ready at 6.00am for the return trip home.

This was a fantastic event, we had great weather, company and players we are very proud of. We would like to thank the parents and children supporters from our club (Chris, Adam, Murray and Chloe) who made this journey with us and supported and encouraged the players throughout and also provided some laughs along the way.