New Starters

New starters to the club can attend up to 4 sessions before they must purchase a British Judo Association Licence ( an Introductory Licence lasting for 3 months or a Kano/Junior Licence lasting one year). At their second session the student must pay a club joining fee / beginners course fee of £15.00 ( waved if student has completed a Judo Beginners Course, run by Danny, at one of the local schools ). When the introductory licence expires, the student must obtain an annual membership licence from the British Judo Association ( the 'BJA' ) which is the National Governing Body to which the club is affiliated. This is a mandatory requirement for insurance reasons - NO LICENCE NO JUDO.
Club Membership / BJA Membership forms can be obtained from Bob Parker at the training sessions on Saturday mornings. Having obtained an initial annual licence, BJA renewal memberships can be acquired online or by phone, directly from the BJA ,but please note that transition from Kano club to Junior membership requires an application for a NEW junior licence and cannot be done as a renewal. Please speak to Danny, Bob or Daz if you need clarification on any of this information.

From 01 Feb 06, BJA annual membership will be £15.00 for KANO club members ( 5 to 8 yr olds ) and £19.00 [ £18.00 renewal ] for Juniors ( 8 to 15 yr olds ). Club fees for saturday morning sessions are £3.00 per club member, payable to Bob, prior to the start of training.

Transition to Red Belt

A number of parents have asked about when their child can recieve a red belt. Any child who is aged 8 or over when joining the club must purchase a BJA Junior membership. This membership includes a free red belt which is sent with the new membership record book. So far so good...

Now the complicated bit...Children in the Kano class may have a Kano Club licence which expires after their 8th birthday. Normally, parents would wait until the Kano licence expires and then purchase a new Junior licence ( as their child will now be over 8 yrs of age ). However, The BJA will allow a Junior licence to be purchased if the child's 8th birthday occurs during the following twelve month period of the new licence. So, if your child has not yet turned 8 and you still have some months to run on your Kano licence you can purchase a new Junior licence - and here is the good news - your new Junior licence's start date will begin from the end of your old Kano licence's end date ( remember to quote your old kano number on the new Junior licence application form ) ie. you dont lose the unexpired months on the old Kano licence ! Told you it was complicated...any questions ask Bob. No really, ask Bob...

When the membership pack-up for KANO members is received from the BJA, parents are kindly requested to pass badges and stickers to Bob so that Danny can distribute the relevant items after particular training sessions.

Please note that players cannot compete in gradings / competitions unless thay hold a valid, in date, BJA licence. The BJA have recently introduced a direct debit scheme for renewals of licences - contact the BJA for more details.