British Junior Kata Championships - 16 September 2007
St Albans Judo Club (SAJC) juniors again showed they have what it takes to become national champions. 
The competition was The British Junior Kata Championships. Three pairs entered the Nage-No-Kata and 2 pairs entered Katame-No-Kata. At this level the competition was tough; concentration, speed and accuracy of movement were needed. Bradley Howell and Victoria Cleevely were the first of the SAJC pairs on the mat and they didn't disappoint. A fine performance by them was good enough to take the gold and national title in the under 12yrs section of the Nage-No-Kata. They were followed by Tom Borzak and Megan Taylor in the 12-15 yrs section who after demonstrating good control and spirited attacks did enough to clinch the top spot and came away as gold medalists and with that the National title. Gemma Wright and Sophie Day after only a few weeks training together managed fifth place; if they continue as they have done, who knows, gold may be theirs next year.
The next honours went to Bradley Howell and his sister Elena when the demonstrated Katame-No-Kata in the under 12yrs section. What can one say; gold was theirs. Victoria Cleevely and Megan Taylor then followed in the 12-15 yrs section of this kata. They tied for 1st place but came away with silver on the judges' decision. Not to be left out, two coaches from the club also entered the British Senior Open Kata Championships and the on the same day. Zoli Borzak and Bob Cleevely first demonstrated Katame-No-Kata and then Juno-Kata. The standards of the tournament were extremely high and the pair managed a respectable 5th and 4th place respectively.
Congratulations to all that entered, they did themselves, the club and their coaches proud.
Brian Roberts Open Kata Champs, Kidderminster - 29 July 2007
SAJC sent 2 pairs of juniors and a pair of seniors to this competition which was held at Samurai JC
The first to go were Bradley Howell and Victoria Cleevely in the junior Nage-No-Kata. These were followed by Tom Borzak and Megan Taylor also competing in this kata.
Both pairs improved on their performances earlier in the year to clinch bronze and silver respectively.
The pair of seniors started with Juno Kata with Bob Cleevely as tori and Zoli Borzak as uki. The many hours of training paid off and the demonstration was sound. This was followed with Katame-No-Kata, this time with Zoli as tori. As with the Juno Kata the pair put in a good performance and were rewarded with gold medals in both katas.
Well done to all that entered.
HSJA Invitation, Berkhamsted - 8 July 2007
16 members of St Albans Judo Club, representing their schools, entered this competition; 11 returned with a trophy. Gold medals went to Kelly Wright, Chris Williams, Liam Field, Jordan Butler and Lawrence Rowles. Silver was carried off by Lucy Day, Victoria Cleevely, Megan Taylor and Jamie Pearson while bronzes were taken home by Liam Rowles and Tomi Borzak.
Daniel Toy and Connor Nash were both beaten to a bronze by the narrowest of margins whilst Callum Karuthasami, Robert Williams and Sam Payne gained valuable experience to hopefully earn a trophy in next year’s competition.
All competitors fought well in what turned out to be a tough competition, the quality of their judo showed as they threw their opponents with some good , classical techniques. Several coaches and family members gave their support in the usual way; not very quietly.
BJC Welsh Junior Nationals - 1 July 2007
Eight members, their families and coaches from St Albans Judo Club travelled to Cardiff for the Welsh Junior Nationals. A huge O-Goshi for an Ippon win followed by more quality Judo from Lucy Day took her to her first National Gold and started a gold rush for the club. Victoria Cleevely followed with 4 Ippon wins to take her 2nd National gold in 2007 having won Gold at the BJC Junior Nationals at Hereford earlier this year.
New to contesting at this level, Conner Nash showed continued improvement and a promise for the future with a spirited performance taking one win in a strong group. On another mat Tomi Borzak having won 3 contests with a variety of throws had the team on the edge of their seats during the final of the u 45kgs. Tomi was in front on points until the dying seconds when he was caught of balance and thrown with O-Soto-Gari for Ippon; he had to settle for Silver.
Brothers Liam and Lawrence Rowles gave 110% effort contesting in very hard groups but, despite winning several fights with some classic judo, both finished outside the medal positions.
The Espiors (16-18yrs) were on next and Jamie Pearson competing in the over 71kgs took Gold with a fantastic Seoi-Nage; his trade mark technique. Abigail Wilkins, defending her title win from last year, fought in a determined manner using all her skill to win all her contests took gold and the title once again to complete the clubs tally of 4l Gold and 1 Silver from 8 entries.
Dunkirk - 13 May 2007
3 judoka from St Albans JC were selected to compete for the S London area team in this annual team event. The 2 juniors, Tom Borzak and Liam Rowles came back clutching bronze medals. Dave Clark, competing in the senior team was, after winning all his fights, unfortunate not to be in the medals. The team of 5 was reduced to 3 when 2 members had to retire due to injury. It was good experience for the younger members.
BJC Junior Nationals – Hereford, 6 May 2007
The weekend saw 12 judoka from St Albans Judo Club competing for a national title at this competition held in Hereford. First up were the under 10 year old group which was led by Victoria Cleevely aged 9. Three contests later, after beating opponents who where much bigger than her in the open category, Victoria emerged ‘victorious’ and claimed the gold and along with it the national title. Following her was Lucy Day who managed to claim the silver. Hot on their heels were Tom Webb and Connor Nash, both competing in the same category. Tom managed to win bronze but Connor was beaten in the bronze medal contest but finished a respectable 5th.
The next 4 to compete, Liam Rowles, Lawrence Rowles, Megan Taylor and Tomi Borzak were in the 10 to 15 year old category. Lawrence claimed a bronze, the other 3 after some very tough contests finished the day knowing that they had done themselves proud with their performances.
The next category, espoirs (16-18 years old) was equally as entertaining with the quality of judo as the previous 2. Abigail Wilkins (bronze), Jamie Pearson (silver), Jamie Longland (bronze) and Matthew Browne (bronze) all showed skill and determination to achieve their results.
All 12 did the club and themselves proud with the quality of their judo and all look forward to compete in the Welsh Junior Nationals later this year.
Herts Area Closed - 22 April 2007
28 SAJC competitors joined others from the area in what was a memorable day. Of these 23 went home with a trophy; 9 gold, 6 silver and 8 bronze. As usual with this event it was well attended with all clubs in the area being represented.
BJA Southern Area Junior Open Kata Championships 15 April 2007
Four junior members, their families and coaches travelled to Woodhatch in Surrey to compete in this competition. Nage-No-Kata was their chosen discipline and months of arduous training certainly paid dividends for the two pairs. Bradley Howell 10 and Victoria Cleevely 9 were called up to open the championships. An exciting and mature display of the kata in the under 12 yrs section was received with applause from all. Setting such a high standard proved to much for the other competitors and the ecstatic pair carried of their first Gold medal for Nage-No-Kata.
S Region Kata ChampionsTomi Borzak 14 and Megan Taylor 13 having only been training together for a few months, raised the standard even higher with spirited attacks, perfect timing and precisely executed techniques again pleasing the supporters. The pair were also rewarded with Gold Medals. Both pairs are looking to compete for National titles later this year.
BJC(MAC) Kent Open at Gillingham 1 April 2007
8 St Albans judoka travelled to Gillinham, Kent for this competition; 5 juniors and 3 seniors. The day proved very fruitful and apart from the medals won many positive experiences were taken away. Gold medals went to Abigail Wilkins, Danny Anderson, Lawrence Rowles and Megan Taylor. Silver went to Tom Borzak and a bronze to Sam Beale. Gemma Wright and Victoria Cleevely battled on but were unable to secure a medal spot this time. All fought well and all came back winners.
South London Area Open - 24 March 2007
11 St Albans Judoka travelled to South London for this competition and returned with 11 medals; 5 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze. Gold went to Dave Clark, Jamie Pearson, Liam Rowles, Lisa Paveley and Tom Borzak. Silver went to Abigail Wilkins, Gemma Wright and Jordan Butler while Lawrence Rowles, Lucy Day and Sophie Day claimed a bronze. The standard of judo was as expected; very good. The travelling supporters, friends & family, gave their support in the only way they know; vocal encouragement. Well done to all that took part.
BJC Grade & Vets - 11 March 2007
The 6 entries to this competition, again held in Luton, resulted in 2 gold medals, 1 silver and 1 bronze. There was a lower turnout from SAJC than in previous years but they didn’t disappoint. All the competitors, Dave Clark, Dave Toy, Abigail Wilkins, Jamie Longland, and Danny and Sam Anderson demonstrated their ‘more than capable’ abilities to the delight of their loyal band of supporters. Well done! We hope to have more entries in next year’s competition.
HSJA Championships, Berkhamsted - 4 March 2007
21 competitors from SAJC entered the Herts Schools Judo Association competition this year. Several hours after the start the medal tally finished at 7 gold, 3 silver and 7 bronze medals with only 4 competitors not reaching the final medal positions. All the competitors demonstrated some good judo and should be proud of their performances.
Islam Karimov Kurash Tournament - 25 February 2007
Danny Anderson and Victoria Cleevely won gold at the International Kurash tournament in Dartford.
St Albans Judo Club took a squad of eight to the competition to challenge for medals in the sport which is similar to judo.
Victoria, aged nine, produced some huge throws to win gold in her category while Danny Anderson later stepped up to win his age group with a stunning performance.
Dave Clark, the British 90kg champion, fought his way to the final and was narrowly beaten on points by an opponent from Uzbekistan where Kurash originates.
Other medallists from St Albans were Tomi Borzak (bronze), Jamie Longland (bronze in youth and senior categories), Abigail Wilkins (bronze), Sam Beale (bronze) and Bob Cleevely (bronze in the over 45s masters).
St Albans Judo Club earned praise from the watching Uzbek officials and their team of 36 fighters.
