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Hamilton judo club’s inclusion section has been named club of the year by Judo Scotland, completing a remarkable hat-trick of successes for the martial artists at the governing body’s annual community awards. The group was formed in 2019 to provide tailored additional support and disability sessions and has now grown to welcome more than 60 members each week to junior and senior classes, as well as running female-only classes, creating a community development programme and helping volunteers to achieve coaching qualifications. Club members were presented with their prestigious award by Judo Scotland disability development officer Stephen Somerville – making it their third honour of this year’s awards, after coaches Simone Hamill and Antony Martin respectively won the volunteer and disability coach of the year titles. Judo Scotland said: “Hamilton judo club Inclusion’s dedicated coaches encourage participants while parents and carers are welcomed into a breakout area next door. “The club has provided more than judo for its members – they have created a community for parents and carers to connect and share their experiences [and] built a community of support and understanding for everyone who walks through the door.” Hamilton volunteers joined in with the organisation’s Judo Girls Rise initiative and created weekly female-only sessions “to provide a safe and nurturing environment where women and girls can develop their judo skills whether they are complete novices or seasoned judoka”, with two female volunteers since achieving level one coaching qualifications. Last year saw the launch of their twice-weekly inclusion development sessions at Whitehill neighbourhood centre, targeting people experiencing barriers to participating in sport and which runs in partnership with South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture, Active Schools and South Lanarkshire Disability Sport Hamilton judo club Inclusion head of coaching and development John D’Ambrosio called the trio of awards “a fantastic achievement” and said: “These show the value that we’ve put into the club, the way we run it and the family environment we’ve created – this award validates what we do so it means we’re going down the right way of doing things. “It’s a great way to showcase all the volunteers and coaches who have put the hard work in over the years, to give something back to them. Our volunteers and our coaches are some of the best – they give up their time to come here, enjoy what they do and give a lot back. I think they deserve everything. “ He added of the club’s future plans: “We’re always looking to add different parts to the club; we’re doing a lot of work in the social care space, we’re working with schools, and we’re hoping to do some safe falling workshops. “Pushing into 2026, we’ll continue and hopefully do a bit more. We’re always looking to see who might need us, who could benefit from judo so we’ll wait and see, hopefully we can add in a few more things.” *Don't miss the latest headlines from around Lanarkshire. Sign up to our newsletters here . And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here .
