From the 1^st to the 3^rd of July, the mats in the Lisburn Racquets Club were buzzing as they were filled with Judoka from across Ireland.

As part of the Northern Ireland Judo Federation’s drive to bring clubs together for fun, networking and idea sharing a Unity Weekend was staged for Judoka of all ages.

Comprising of masterclasses, wellbeing presentations, randori, games and plenty of food, laughter and learning the Unity Weekend also welcomed clubs from Galway to the event.

Russell Brown, Chairman of the NIJF said:

“The numbers speak for themselves, 250 on the mat across all the sessions (49 of which were female) from 11 different clubs. We were delighted with the event and the turnout.

After a hard two years with Covid stopping Judo, to have clubs working together and being part of something was heartening to see. Our guests from Galway are now our friends, and we very much look forward to taking them up on their invitation to visit them to continue the relationship.

We’d also like to extend a big thank you to Stephen, Anne-Marie and the team at the Judo Academy for being exceptional hosts and providing a weekend to remember for everyone.

Also, a big thank you to our Judoka who trained with us and the coaches and volunteers that took part.

We will be making the Unity Weekend part of our annual schedule and look forward to seeing it go from strength to strength.”

The NIJF will be creating more opportunities for learning, competing and empowering their membership to learn and grow over the next year and we look forward to more of our clubs getting involved.

There are some pictures below of the event.