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CAMPAIGN’S REPLY TO SPORT ENGLAND’S REPORT OF ACTIONS

MAY 10 2011

To:

Scott Pugh - Sport England Solicitor and NGB Complaints Manager
Richard Beer - Sport England Judo Relationship Manager
Emyr Roberts - Sport England Strategic Lead Coaching and Talent Development

We are disappointed by the tone and content of your email of May 6 2011.

You have been somewhat elusive in dealing with the issues you had agreed to action, as minuted from our meeting of January 28 2011. You have given extensive attention to matters that needed simple clarification and either evaded or dismissed other issues of concern, namely that all judo participants, in or out of the NGB should have equal right of access, and on equal terms, to the UK Coaching Certificate, and should not be discriminated against by being required to undergo individual competence testing before being entitled to apply to take part in a judo UKCC course.

The judo UKCC is a national award and the present criteria for entry of access, and mapping over of qualifications, for those outside the NGB for judo, is discriminatory.

For some five years Sport England had promised to meet with the Campaign. You had resisted the idea of the meeting until I engaged intervention from the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

Then, on accepting a meeting would be held, you vehemently objected to the taking of minutes.

When we met, you agreed with us, that the meeting was to be the first in a process to find resolve.

Subsequently it became clear that none of you were adequately versed on the issues for discussion

Richard Beer, Sport England’s Judo Relationship Manager, was unable to answer fundamental questions arising at the meeting.

We find it incredulous that after the meeting you wrote to me asking what the National Source Group (NSG) was.

It is inexcusable that your Richard Beer, as Judo Relationship Manger, did not know of the NSG.

Furthermore the documentation/information that I provided you all with, included detail of the NSG and its role. Did no one read this?

At the meeting, it was agreed, and minuted, that Sport England would take issues we raised to the BJA, noted as actions, and forward their responses in due course.

Now, having forwarded your reply, you invite me to raise any points of clarification arising from your response.

I make the following comments to each of the actions you list:-

 

UKCC Coaching Standards Group Report

Good morning to you all,
 
Despite being told by sports coach UK that their meeting with the Chairman of the Coaching Standards Group was imminent, I have had no further communication.
 
Please see the attached letter that I have sent to Martin Crick at sports coach UK.
 
Good wishes,
 
John Goldman

---

SAVE INDEPENDENT JUDO

A campaign to maintain the rights of independent judo groups

 

Campaign office:       
41, Willow Walk
Crediton
Devon EX17 1DD
e-mail saveindependentjudo@tiscali.co.uk


Martin Crick
Coach Education
sports coach UK

November 7th 2008


Dear Martin

In October you wrote to tell me that the Coaching Standards Group had met on September 12 to discuss principles of access to UKCC and that you were expecting to meet with the chairman of the group very shortly to hear his report.

There are two main issues that I had asked be looked at;

(1)    Access to UKCC judo courses for non BJA members

(2)    The mapping over of (assimilation process) non-BJA judo coach awards to UKCC.       

For nine months non-BJA judo people have been denied equal access rights to the national UKCC award. The BJA stipulate that non-BJA people have to either join the BJA or be tested by the BJA to gain a certificate of grade equivalence.

You say the BJA argue that they have imposed these restrictions largely on health and safety grounds.

Not only is this is discriminatory, it is sheer nonsense and does not hold water.

The BJA is a mess. Earlier this year, as part  of their "technical renaissance", the BJA revised their grading syllabus.

Prior to the new syllabus being introduced this spring, technical requirements for BJA senior grades were abysmal. The technical requirements for senior BJA Blue and Brown belts (now the entry levels for UKCC Levels 1 and 2 respectively) were less than those required for a Junior Orange Belt in the vast majority of non-BJA organisations. This means existing BJA Blue and Brown Belts, with very limited knowledge, are openly accepted as candidates to UKCC courses just because they belong to the BJA. In contrast, those outside the BJA, regardless of whether they are a Blue or Brown Belt or a Black Belt, as in my case a 7th Dan with forty five years experience in judo, has to take a test to gain a Blue or Brown before they can apply to take part in a course. Its all double standards isn’t it.

Whereas the new BJA syllabus is far more comprehensive than the previous BJA syllabus, it includes techniques that are unheard of in Japan and the rest of the judo world! The BJA have taken it upon themselves to invent names for a number of movements used in contest. Not only do these have no or little meaning to non-BJA people but those within the BJA are having to decipher what they are and  subsequently learn how to do them.

Another change to the BJA promotion system, is the exclusion of contest from the syllabus. The BJA, have dropped the contest requirements from their Kyu grade (under Black Belt) promotion syllabus.

Since the BJA had, for many years, been critical of non-BJA organisations who put a lesser emphasis on contest and the winning of medals than the BJA did, the rational behind the omission of contest is incomprehensible.

The fact is that the vast majority of non-BJA organisations have always included, and continue to include, competitive elements in their Kyu grade syllabus as part of their all round balanced development programmes.

Having taken contest out of the syllabus, the BJA introduced Kata.  A good and sound move. Kata is acknowledged world wide as the heart of judo, fundamental to judo practice and development. Kata is an aspect of judo that the vast majority of non-BJA organisation have always practised and continue to practise as an essential part of judo practice and development.

Now, just six months on, the BJA have dropped Kata as a compulsory component of grading examination! Kata is only required for promotions to 3rd Dan and above! It beggars belief and reason.

Does the Coaching Standards Group monitor what the BJA does?

The UKCC is a national award. Our demands our simple.

Non-BJA judo people wishing to gain a judo UKCC must be given right of access to the award without restrictions, and on equal terms as those who are members of the BJA.

Existing qualified non-BJA coaches must be afforded the same rights, and on equal terms as BJA coaches, in the mapping over of their existing qualifications to the  UKCC award.

We were told by the previous Minister for Sport that details of access to UKCC for non-BJA judo people would be included in the final submissions for endorsement of the judo UKCC to sports coach UK.

Those details, pre-requisites, that have belatedly been included, are unacceptable.

When can we expect to hear of the Coaching Standards Group report on principles of access to UKCC?

Good wishes,



John Goldman
Campaign Leader

Copies:

Rt Hon Gerry Sutcliffe
Tom Hibbert MBE
Angela Browning MP
Roger Knapman MEP
Andy Davies
Paul Clifton
Gordon Lawson
Jim Lawson
Others

 

Rt Hon Gerry Sutcliffe

Minister for Sport

 

 

Dear Minister

 

I attach a letter that I have sent to Martin Crick, sports coach UK, in response to the publication of the long awaited, over due, BJA document, “UKCC access for non-NGB members”.

Your predecessor, Mr Caborn MP, acknowledged that we had raised issues of concern regarding the development and implementation of the judo UKCC.

Sports coach UK acknowledges there are “difficulties” within the system – they candidly say so.

They also say they are 'genuinely anxious to resolve the judo situation.'

To date these have been just words Minister, with no indication that any action is being taken to seek resolve.

In fact just the opposite. The situation is being exasperated by the BJA’s continuing hostile and offensive behaviour and the introduction of rules that are unacceptable and inapplicable to non-members of the NGB. All in all this amounts to nothing less than an infringement of rights of those who choose to remain outside an NGB.

Sports/activities derived from the martial arts bear a relationship between the particular “brand” of the activity, and the coaching infrastructure of the NGB for that brand. In the case of judo the NGB brand is “Olympic judo”.

If you look at what the UKCC is supposed to be, and then look at how martial arts NGBs have always run their coaching, it is clear the two are not readily compatible.

The UKCC may be working well and benefiting other sports/activities. As the judo UKCC has been designed, and implemented, it a system fundamentally flawed. (This will prove to be the same in other martial arts if their NGB’s are allowed to follow suit of the judo NGB).

As it stands the judo UKCC is a BJA UKCC, which, may well be acceptable and workable within the restrictive confines of the BJA.

I hope you will reply confirming that positive steps are being taken to “resolve the judo situation”, confirming what measures are being put in place to deal with the issues we raise.

Yours sincerely,

John Goldman

Campaign leader
 

 

(webmaster see attached letter to Martin Crick, Sports Coach UK)

The latest letter from John Goldman to Martin Crick, Education and Training Manager (Coach Education) Sports coach UK:-

SAVE INDEPENDENT JUDO

A campaign to maintain the rights of independent judo groups

 

 

Campaign office:

41, Willow Walk

Crediton

Devon EX17 1DD

e-mail saveindependentjudo@tiscali.co.uk

Tel: 01395 265532

 

 

 

Martin Crick

Education and Training Manager (Coach Education)

sports coach UK

 

July 28 2008

 

 

Dear Martin

 

An overview of what has happened, where we are now - and a look ahead.

 

On May 18^th 2007 Robert Burles, Policy Official DCMS, wrote to me:

 

 “I would like to reassure you that our and sports coach UK’s position is clear. We expect all UKCC courses to be accessible including, in this case, to non-BJA members. The Chief Executive of the BJA has assured SCUK that they are working on arrangements to establish an appropriate system to achieve this, which will be reflected in their final agreed submission.”

 

SAVE INDEPENDENT JUDO
A campaign to maintain the rights of independent judo groups

Good afternoon to you all,

Below is a reply, from Martin Crick, to my email of June 24. Although Martin's approach signals that he, as an individual, is wanting to see resolve, he refers to being bound within these ever mysterious "constraints".

SCUK know they have blundered - the originators of the generic foundations of the UKCC never considered the diversity of the martial arts. Had they done their homework they would have quickly discovered that a generic coaching qualification for a named activity such as judo does not fit in with the way that these sports/arts with their differing styles, systems and even language, have always been run.

Having said the above, I know of no teacher/instructor/coach of the martial arts who does not continually look to improve standards and ensure that best practice and measures are in place for the well-being and safety of participants. I know of no organisation that, if not already doing so, would not wish to meet National Occupational Standards (NOS). The NOS are generic and are the units which the UKCC use. Coaching qualifications within the NOS are about coaching practises, management and development. They are not about techniques. Perhaps had the authorities said everyone should have a “Sport and Recreation UKCC” we would not be facing the problems we are today.

SCUK say, “we are taking active steps to begin to try and resolve the judo situation.” With no sign of a genuine willingness by the authorities to put right the mistakes they have made, these words fall hollow..

The best SCUK chief executive Pat Duffy can offer is, “It is impossible to undo what has already happened.”