About Lewes Bridgeview Judo Club
*The information contained here is currently in progress
Dave Fielding was introduced to judo at Brighton judo club, at which he also introduced his twins aged 4 and his younger son then aged 2 to the sport! In 1990 he formed Lewes Bridgeview Judo Club (L.B.J.C), a local club for anyone aged 4 years upwards. The club was based in the local community hall with originally a rickety shed outside where mats could be stored. L.B.J.C has always been a non-profit organisation, keeping mat fees and membership to a minimum (I think they used to be 50p a session!) to cover the hall hire costs. My dad did his coaching qualification but has always coached for free. As club players rose, any extra pennies could be put by into a club account, which paid for crash mats, and some years on, a storage cupboard within the hall itself-a luxury!
L.B.J.C boomed, which was greatly influenced by its extremely friendly, family orientated, social nature. It has always been a very sociable club, with parents catching up with a cup of tea during the kai’s session. Sunday evenings was certainly the social outing of the week for many parents in the local area! As for the seniors, most of our players met for ‘a drink in the bar’ after training, as there was a social club next door. Unfortunately the social club closed down last year, but we still gather at one of the local Lewes pubs regularly.
We often had visitors from other local clubs who commented on the friendly nature both on and off the judo mat, many who returned to train regularly with us and still do today.
The camaraderie continued outside Sunday judo sessions, with club day trips to theme parks or coach trips to judo competitions, all subsidised with club funds and organised by my dad. The organisation was always perfect, and gave many of the kid’s opportunities of outings they would never normally go on. We’d often fill up a whole coach, and with a few parents’ support, mums and dads always knew their children were in safe hands. Although at the time I was one of those kids, I now can understand appreciate the work my dad used to put into these outings.
When players built up, particularly the kais, who adored (and still do) my dad’s coaching style, he began to promote the competitive side of judo, encouraging players to attend competitions, events and gradings throughout the judo calendar. We had a great deal of success, and Sussex Judo had a whole new army of judoka to build its strength and diversity. My dad always believed in supporting the two biggest competitions in Sussex, the Sussex Trials, and the Sussex Team Championships. Every year we would enter as many judoka as possible and I have very happy memories of the amazing atmosphere of our club ‘team’. Our success really shone as we won the trophy for the Sussex club of the tournament for several years running, and had become the number one club in Sussex.
Dave Fielding also did a great deal for the B.S.J.A, turning Sussex Schools’ judo around. Not only did he set up after-school judo clubs in several local schools, he became Sussex Coach for both the B.J.A and B.S.J.A; all on a voluntary basis of course. I went to Grovelands Primary School, where my dad set up his first school club. When we did a judo demonstration to see if any kids wanted to start in the club, we were swamped with over 300 kids, and a waiting list had to be made! The huge boost for Sussex judo showed and during his time as Sussex coach, Sussex won Gold in all four teams (mens, womens, girls and boys) at the Southern Area Intercounties competition.
Over the years L.B.J.C has produced many top class judoka, including Sophie Johnson (currently the British number two in the U48kg group) and Taylor Bell, also a strong competitor for the Olympics. My dad has spent many hours supporting Sophie and Taylor, with individual coaching and travelling all over the country to be mat side when they compete. Club funds have also been donated to support them both, and the whole club recently organised a judo demonstration evening to obtain sponsorship deals for Sophie’s judo career.
Several years ago, my dad set up a French exchange with a judo club from a small town just south of Paris. Our French guests came for a long weekend, where they were hosted by families of the club. There was of course a big judo session, but also big outings and gatherings for everyone to mingle and sample French wine, and even the kiddies trying out their French/English! The exchange trip was a huge success both with judo sessions and social gatherings, and the annual club trip to Fouju, and likewise visit from our French friends became a real highlight of L.B.J.C’s calendar. Although we have not been over to Fouju for a couple of years, we remain in touch with our Fouju friends, some who are planning to come and visit this summer.
It is believed that the success of L.B.J.C is due to its unique friendly, social nature and dave Fieldings onderful coaching style and the clubs outstanding contributions to judo locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.
