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Swiss International SN Judo Festival
International Training Group 1 
International Training Group 2 
Rhinefall Waterfalls – Excursion 
Waterfall View 
Mixed, Mixed Team Event 
Go Green Team 
Opening Ceremony Dancers 
SN Referees
Last weekend (20-23/6) the SNJU proudly supported the Swiss International SN Judo festival in conjunction with Special Olympics Switzerland and the hosts, Uster Judo club.
Thursday 20/6
It was an incredible 4 days of inclusion, play, fun, sightseeing and competition. The event started on Thursday with the arrival of international teams from Romania, Ireland, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany and France. Two international inclusive training sessions were arranged by the hosts Judo club Uster and were run by SNJU directors James Mulroy and Cilia Evenblj. Fun and games was the topic of the day and a great session was enjoyed by all.
Friday 21/6
Friday morning it was time to see of the wonders Switzerland has to offer. With volunteer guides everyone boarded the train to see the magnificent Rhine fall, waterfalls. What an amazing trip with incredible views, great company and a soaking boat trip to the base of the waterfall.
In the afternoon it was off to the venue for check-in and the now infamous mixed, mixed international team event. This event mixes countries, players, coaches, weights and levels to create mixed mixed team who all compete together in a fun and friendly contest.
Dinner was served for all at Scout House where most of the visitors made their home for the duration of their stay. As the very tired athletes headed off to get some sleep, the coaches, referees and guests gathered for our seminars and workshops. In our quest to deliver new and interesting education seminars, James introduced a seminar on autism assistance dogs and their benefits and roles. He then handed over to parent Eamon who presented George the dog and informed every one of his and his children’s experience using a service dog. The seminar was certainly interesting and attracted a lot of questions. Next up was the topic of divisioning and the importance of the involvement of coaches and referees. This was expertly delivered by Cilia. Last on the list was the contest and play safety rules seminar delivered by James.
Saturday 22/6
And on to the main event… Saturday morning saw the arrival of the Swiss teams and the check-in and divisioning. The divisioning was led by Cilia and assisted by all the coaches as discussed the previous evening. The result of the divisioning was 24 beautifully created pools that were even and fair for the athletes. Competition started at 1.30 and was a beautiful display of friendship, skill, determination and judo spirit. The divisioning proved its worth with fair yet competitive pools in all categories.
After the medal presentation it was back to the scout house for an evening food, drink, fun and laughter, a great end to a great event. Congratulations to Cilia for a great run event and to everyone involved in the preparation and execution of a wonderful festival of judo.
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Special Feature – Judo Klub Sokel, Solenvia
The SNJU are proud to introduce you to one of our member organisation/clubs, who are the first to be featured in our Special Features section of our website.
This new section of the website is aimed at promoting and highlighting the amazing work that is going on all over the world in the area of inclusive judo.
Welcome to Judo Klub Sokol, Slovenia.
Judo Klub Sokol is a judo club that has been working in the city of Ljubljana, Slovenia for over 24 years. They are an enthusiastic small club with a lot of warm-hearted and open-minded people, aiming to contribute to the development of their society.
They started as a section of the Judo Club Golovec in 1987. This section became so numerous that they decided to set up an independent club in 1993, with the main goal of spreading the philosophy of this martial art in Ljubljana (Slovenia). Initially, the club started with a very few members, but with the effort and dedication of everybody, started growing slowly.
In the recent years, the club has experienced a substantial growth, and it has turned into an institution that works for the improvement of society using sports as a tool to achieve this goal. However, it has never lost the atmosphere that characterizes it, being always a family club where everybody is welcome and free to bring new ideas.
As a good example of this, most of the people who are working or volunteering in the club were practising judo with us previously, and some of them are even combining working and participating in classes as judo pupils as well. All trainers are professional judokas with broad experience on teaching. Some of them were very successful competitors in national and international judo competitions.
They are also one of the few sport clubs in Slovenia that welcome judokas with disabilities in our classes, including them in every activity we make, and integrating them into the groups, in order to give them an opportunity to participate as anyone else.
Inclusion is the main topic that concerns us nowadays. They are working very hard to show society that it is possible to include people with disabilities in the same classes as people without disabilities, thus normalizing a situation that they find unfair.
“Many times families with kids with disabilities have to face barriers when they are trying to enrol their kids in sports, just because they are different. That is our reason, to work for a more human world, in which everyone can participate and bring their skills to our activities”.
The club works with people aged from 5 to 75 years old. Currently, with a membership of circ. 300 students.
Here are some great videos about inclusive judo from Judo Klub Sokol:
- Festival juda za vse Jožeta Škrabe, Koper 2018 – 2nd Judo Festival for All Jože Škraba 2018
- Obisk predsednika RS Boruta Pahorja – Visit of the President of Republic of Slovenia Borut Pahor in inclusive judo training 2019
- Svetovne igre SOS in obisk predsednika – World Special Olympic Gold Medal and president on national TV 2019
- Adrijan in Benjamin – evropska promotorja združenega športa – Adrian & Benjamin are SOEE young promotors of unified sport
Contact person: Viktorija Pečnikar Oblak
Email: viktorija@judoklubsokol.si
Telephone: 00 386 31 766 880
Address: Pokopališka ulica 35, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, EU
Open hours: Monday till Friday from 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM
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SNJU Renewal Invite
Dear SNJU friends & members,
We thank you for your support to date and hope we can rely on your continued support into the future.
Over the past 12 months the SNJU have been working tirelessly on the promotion, development and raising awareness of SN/adapted Judo worldwide.
In this time we have
- increased our membership to 56 member clubs/organisations/Federations spanning over 26 countries
- launched an online SN referee training program
- Hosted a number of high profile SN judo tournaments
- Been instrumental in the running of the Special Olympic World Games – Judo in Abu Dhabi
- Run a number of adaptive coaches courses in various countries
- Identified and assisted in the setting up of new SN programs in various countries
In the coming months we will be
- Involved in an European Erasmus+ project to research and develop the effects of judo in people with special needs / autism
- Launching an international online SN coaching program
- Delivering special needs seminars at the upcoming EJU festival in Croatia
- Running year 2 of the SN World Games in the Netherlands
- Assisting in the running of the Swiss SN Championships
- Running further adaptive coaching courses
This is us just getting warmed up, there will be lots more development of SN judo worldwide as our program grows and more and more people get involved in this amazing part of our sport.
To continue to be part of this wonderful journey we how invite you to renew your annual membership with us. This membership renewal is due the 1st April each year and cost just a nominal fee of €20. You can renew by following this link https://snju.org/product/webstore-snju-membership/
We thank you in advance for your support and look forward to working with you all in the future.
SNJU Team
Tomas, James Tycho, Cilia, Bob
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SNJU cooperates with EU in the ERASMUS+ Project
The SNJU board of directors in conjunction with the University of Barcelona are proud to be the driving force in a European Erasmus + project application to study the benefits of the adapted sport of Judo for people with autism.
The study will last for three years and will see six European countries (Ireland, Sweden, Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Switzerland) working closely together in research, data collecting, seminars, international training & events and much more.
We are very excited to prove what we already know, that participating in judo is hugely beneficial for people with autism and indeed many other disabilities.
The first meeting of the whole group will take place in Barcelona on Friday 1st February 2019. -
Enrollment for the Ben van der Eng Memorial is open!
Dear Judo friends,
It is a great pleasure to be able to invite you for the great Special Needs Judo tournament in Beverwijk.
The 21st Ben van der Eng Memorial Tournament takes place on April 12, 13 and 14, 2019. Due to the large amount of participants and the fact that we do want divisioning, and we do want to show some educational stuff, in 2018 it was already necessary to include the Friday afternoon in our schedule. In 2019, the Friday afternoon is an integral part of the organisation.
Hence, the tournament will be (tentatively) scheduled as follows:
- Friday april 12 (afternoon): Divisioning and workshops
- Saturday april 13 (ochtend): Special Needs World Judo Games
- Saturday april 13 (afternoon): SNWJG Kata
- Saturday april 13 (evening): Party in Castle Assumburg
- Sunday april 14: BENG XXI
Another change is a dedicated website for the tournament: http://bengmemorial.com
All information on the tournament can be found at THIS LINK.
Subscription forms can be downloaded HERE.
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SNJU event support criteria
SNJU endorses tournaments all over Europe. But up to now, there were no rules as to how SNJU does this, Wat can be expected, and what the rules are for such an endorsed tournament. A committee formed from the SNJU board have compiled a set of rules that endorsed tournaments must adhere to.
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SNJU Romanian SN Judo Festival, Cluj Napoca, September 2018
The colourful tatami at Cluj Napoca. Click the image for more pictures. The SNJU were very proud to support last weekend’s second SN Judo Festival in Romania in conjunction with the Down Syndrome Association. This year the event was held in the picturesque city of Culj and was expertly hosted by Antoaneta Vanea and her team from Down Syndrome Association Cluj.
The festival started with the arrival of the international teams on Friday and was followed by entertaining and busy Saturday. Saturday started early with breakfast in the impressive Univers T hotel which was followed by a coach trip to the even more impressive salt mines of Turda.
On Saturday afternoon we delivered our Rules and Regulations seminar to a large group of referees and coaches which was very well received and is a really important part of our education programme which ensures the full safety and enjoyment for all our athletes at these events.
Saturday evening was dinner and party time with music, dancing and delicious food & cake. A great time was had by all.
Sunday morning started with divisioning, with all the athletes, coaches and officials on the mat having a good time while the important job of creating even pools began. We also conducted additional referee development training with the help of the coaches from Sweden.
First block of competition started at 11 and saw the younger competitors take to the mat. The enthusiasm, joy and effort from everyone was amazing. After the medal presentation a short break for lunch before the start of the afternoon block and the older athletes time to shine. Some fantastic and heart-warming judo was on display and we congratulate everyone who took part.
Monday morning a guided tour of the city of Cluj was arranged before the international teams were driven back to the airport to start their trip home.
We would like to thanks and congratulate all the amazing athletes for their strength, ability and character, Alexandru Zelko for organising the event, Antoeneta and her team for hosting the event and the referees and official for a job well done.The SNJU Team
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SO Switzerland Judoturnier
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Save the Date! SN-Judo Tournament in Uster (CH)
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The website is updated!
The website is complete! There may be some adjustments in the coming few weeks, but this is what it is going to look like. If you go to snju.org you see a static page rather than the familiar blog. The blog is still there though- you can access it through the big SNJU logo, or the menu item “SNJU Blog”.
The second big change is the way you receive emails. Look at the bottom of the email, and you will see that you can completely unsubscribe yourself, or you can only subscribe to certain categories.
With these changes, our site is now fully compliant to European rules.
