No class system operates in SylviaÕs judo world

Date Published: {J}

IF anybody had told Rosshill resident Sylvia O’Flynn a decade ago that she would, one day, be to the forefront of a national martial arts association, she would have laughed herself silly all the way back to her native Cork.

Yet, today, O’Flynn stands as Chairperson of Judo Ireland, an organisation which caters for 19 clubs throughout the country, many of which are based in the West of Ireland. She points out her organisation is a separate entity to the Irish Judo Association – which boasts of 46 clubs nationally – after a split over funding occurred some years ago.

“They (Judo Ireland) felt the funding was staying at the top, with the elite (competitors), rather than filter down to individuals or clubs,” explains the Judo Ireland Chairperson.

In any event, O’Flynn does not wish to dwell on the negatives and, instead, focuses on the positives of an association that is doing a lot of work to promote sport among young people, both locally and nationally.

For O’Flynn’s part, she got involved in the sport when local instructor John Creaven, founder of Galway Judo Club, established Renmore Rapid Judo Club approximately six years ago. “My middle son (Liam) had some co-ordination difficulties, so I said I would send him there for a few weeks,” she says. “When I was there, John said ‘you might do a bit of the paperwork’. And that’s what led me into it.

“I hadn’t the slightest idea (about Judo). I knew it was a martial art but it could have been karate and I wouldn’t have known the difference. Now I do. I could tell you the moves and everything. That was six years ago last month. So, John started it and we, the parents, took it over.”

O’Flynn’s administrative role in Renmore Rapid Judo Club, which just recently won the John Allen Trophy for Club of the Year at the Judo Ireland All-Ireland Championships, led her to get involved at a higher level. She was subsequently recognised for the diligent work she had been carrying out locally when elected Chairperson of the national organisation last October.

That said, for her, the club and its members continue to be her utmost priority. “We have about 60 members in Renmore; they range from five up to 16, male and female. It is about half and half, believe it or not.

“The main classes are (in Renmore Sports Complex) on Thursdays from 7pm to 8pm, and they are the beginners. Then, from 8pm to 9pm is the more advanced. The more advanced also go on Tuesdays again, from 7pm to 8pm, for an extra class.”

She says every week someone new joins. “We have a few kids who after two or three weeks will really have the hang of it and we move them onto the advanced class. The smaller, younger ones, though, we try to keep them together, even if they show a lot of potential.

Because they are very young and, physically, they are too small.”

O’Flynn runs the club with the help of many parents, including Finola Croke, who, coincidentally, is Secretary of Judo Ireland. “We have a fantastic set of parents in Renmore,” says the mother-of-three. “They really are brilliant.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.