The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE sport of judo continues to raise its profile in the Bahamas and now prepares for a groundbreaking venture in less than a week with the Bahamas Judo Open 2014.

The tournament is scheduled to be hosted on Saturday, May 10, at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium and will feature many of the country’s best practitioners in the sport along with visiting fighters from the United States and Cuba.

The individual tournament bracket is slated for 9am to 2pm, followed by the team tournament from 3-5pm. The event is dubbed “Judo: The International Dashin - Battle of the Black Belts” and admission is free for children under five years of age.

In the individual competition, both male and females will compete in the Bantam (1 - 28kg, 2- 30kg and 3 - 35kg), Intermediate (1 - 43kg, 2 - 52kg), Juvenile (A - 64kg, B Female - 70kg and 90kg), IJF Junior (Female - 78kg and Male - Open), Seniors (Female - Open and Male - Open).

In the team event, team members can be comprised of competitors either at the division or one division down.

The Bahamas Judo Open 2014 will be one of the first events to benefit from a bilateral sports agreement signed by the Bahamas and Cuba last September. It is aimed at creating a vibrant network between the two countries aimed at enhancing sports and education.

His Excellency Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba, Ernesto Soberon Guzman, also expressed his optimism in the growth of the programme.

“We have planned right now 20 camps between Cuba and the Bahamas, hosted either here or in Cuba. For the teams I think that it would be a great opportunity to develop sports in our two countries,” he said.

“This is the Highest level team of any sport, to ever leave Cuba. Every one of the six-member team is a national champion.”

Kaitlyn Bouyssou, USA Youth Olympic gold medallist, expressed her optimism about competing against the elite team from Cuba. “Only in The Bahamas do I get a chance to fight the great Cubans,” she said. “I’m excited to meet some new friends from the different countries.”

Bouyssou will be one of 12 USA national champions to compete in the event.

“The agreement means the parties shall work with a view of fostering, promoting and strengthening technical co-operation in the fields of physical education and sports,” Dr Johnson said at the time of the announcement.

“We can’t say enough to emphasise how important this co-operation agreement will be for the youth of our country. Their (the Cubans) sense of fundamental training, with equal emphasis on sports development and academics, has been astounding. It is wholesome and geared to provide the best possible opportunities for development in sports and education.”

In promotion for the event, a father and son duo composed a fight song for the Bahamas Judo Open. Oral Hudson and his son Tajaro Hudson, a national judo sporting champion, composed the song called “Dashin” which explains how the fast growing sport of judo is on the rise.

“When we were kids we played dashing. That meant that you threw someone to his back without striking him. It was a lot of fun as long as we didn’t do it on the cement,” said Oral Hudson. “My son Tajaro has been doing judo for about 10 years, and has won many international medals.”

Any one interested in downloading or watching the music video can go to www.Bahjudo.com.

“Our sponsors, BTC Bahamas and Solomon’s Super Center, liked it so much that they put the song dashing on their Facebook pages and Solomon’s plays it in their stores.” said D’Arcy Rahming, president of the Bahamas Judo Federation. “The song is so catchy that the kids sing a version of it.”

Tournament sponsors include the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, Solomon’s Super Center, The Atlantis Resort, RBC, BTC, Dupuch Real Estate and Bahamas Elite.