The Clyde Judo Club Christmas Party was last Saturday and we all had a good time with a buffet, dancing and party games.
We have plenty of pictures (don’t worry Brian, I haven’t posted the one of your unusual dancing style), include the cake for the mystery Birthday guest.
The 2011 Clyde Judo Awards were presented and a well-known Judoka visited from the North Pole.

A visitor from the North
The 2011 Clyde Judo award winners are:
‘Spirit of Judo’ 2011
Rachael Peden
This is for a “never say die” attitude when competing against girls twice her height and a great spirit in the club.

Rachael Peden – Spirit of Judo 2011
Player of the Year 2011
This is a joint award to Christopher Love and Erin Peden.
Christopher and Erin have performed exceptionally over the year, winning in the toughest of competitions (too many to mention!) and working hard at club training.

Player of the Year 2011 – Joint award Erin Pedon and Christopher Love
Best Junior Male 2011
Connor Wilson
Connor has achieved this because of his performance in competition, good grasp of theory, dedication to training and a marvellous attitude.

Best Junior Male 2011 – Connor Wilson
Best Junior Female 2011
Rachel Towle.
For a consistently high standard at competition throughout the year, including winning the Judo Scotland Grand Prix prize for the A band U28kg category.

Rachel Towle – Best Junior Female 2011
Best Newcomer 2011
Kyle Watt.

Kyle Watt – Best Newcomer 2011
Best Under-8 Player 2011
Rachel Lamb.
For tenacity and determination.

Rachel Lamb – Best Under-8 Player 2011
Best Single Performance 2011
Marcus Ray
Marcus gave us an exceptional performance at the Scottish Age Band championship (B U55kg Gold) and has kept up the good work since.

Marcus Ray – Best Single Performance 2011
Best Technician 2011
Laura Green.
Laura has made a huge improvement in all her techniques this year and always trains hard and with a smile.

Laura Green – Best Technician 2011
Contribution to Judo – Coaching 2011
Keiran Meenan.
Keiran has been helping out at training sessions. The younger Judoka have responded very well to Keiran’s tuition and he is making a significant difference to their Judo.

Keiran Meenan – Contribution to Judo – Coaching
Contribution to Judo – Refereeing 2011
Eleanor MacLennan-Patton.
Eleanor has been following the Judo Scotland Young Volunteers programme and acted as a referee or timekeeper at a fair number of competitions this year.

Eleanor MacLennan-Patton – Contribution to Judo – Refereeing
Most Improved Player 2011
Benedict MacLennan-Patton.

Benedict MacLennan-Patton – Most Improved Player 2011
For those who didn’t get a close look, this is what the awards look like:

Clyde Judo Awards
The coaches were presented with a small token of our appreciation (too small, we never can thank them enough for their efforts on behalf of our children):

Clyde Judo Club Coaches
Did I mention games? Bonus points for the best caption to this:

“Dressing the Christmas Tree”?
The audience certainly appreciated the show:

Getting ready for the awards
And I almost forgot the mystery Birthday:

Birthday Cake
Last, but not least, we need to thank all of the people who helped make the Christmas Party happen. Thank you – we all had a great time.