Judo in schools in South Africa: A judoka’s perspective

Elite sport systems comprise the phases of an athlete’s progression from school to international level, as incorporated in the Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model. The model includes elements such as talent identification and development, scientific support, training facilities and coach development. However, varying degrees of implementation are accounted for by contextual differences. Judo is a popular Olympic sport that is practised in schools in South Africa, mostly as an extracurricular activity. The aim of this paper is to describe the perceptions of judoka in South Africa, of their school judo programmes, in the context of an elite judo system. The study utilised a self structured questionnaire and a purposive random sample of 26 judoka participated in this study. Results indicate that constrained school judo programmes exist in South Africa. The programmes would benefit from a national competition league for schools that establishes partnerships with external service and facility providers, to enhance access to scientific support such as psychology, bio-kinetics, physiotherapy, and training facilities. This would contribute to a comprehensive database, informed by monitoring and evaluation of talented athletes and would embed the programme within the framework of LTAD to establish age and developmentally appropriate participation opportunities. Unique talent identification and development approaches could also create opportunities for strategic competitive advantage. Results reinforce existing literature on long-term scientific approaches to the development of athletes and Judo South Africa’s existing LTAD manual, combined with the presence of judo in numerous schools across the country, provide a platform for practical implementation of recommendations in this study.