Judo scholars train with Olympians In Serbia

Published: 19 December 2017 at 10:00

At the start of December, three Anglia Ruskin students went to Serbia to train with Rakovica Judo Club, which is the top-ranked club in the country.

The club has current Olympians and European champions who train with them just on the outskirts of Belgrade.

Mateja Glusac, a sport scholar and Masters student at ARU, used to train as a junior at the club and he has helped establish the links with Rakovica.

The aim of the trip was to try and develop a link between the club and our high-performance scholars, which would allow students to experience a level of training above what can be found in the UK.

Our students were able to train in the morning, with either a gym or running session, and join the club’s judo session in the evening. They competed against judokas who have a wide range of styles and fight at a very high level.

Louis Plevin, a final year Sports Science student, said:

“The trip to Serbia was incredible!

“We met a lot of like-minded judokas and it allowed us to see the intensity that is required in training to reach the next level.

“We learnt a lot and we plan to take this back to our new dojo in Cambridge.”

All the students that went on the trip have come back with a new appreciation for training and were offered to come back to Rakovica whenever they like.

This will be excellent preparation for BUCS Nationals when the judo club aims to beat its haul of five medals from last year's Championships – and a return visit could be excellent preparation for any students that qualify for the European University games.