Grangemouth judo club gets to grips with first outdoor class

Deanburn Judo Club coach Jayne Clason, a Commonwealth Games and GB judo star, was faced with a dilemma when the public holiday meant Grangemouth Education Unit, in Abbots Road, was unavailable.

The club has only recently been able to hold classes again following relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions so Jayne did not really want the youngsters to miss a week if they did not have to.

That’s when the option of an outdoor session in Zetland Park came up.

Jayne said: “The centre was closed due to a public holiday so I thought it would be a good idea to run a fitness session in the park. Something fun and different for the kids to get involved in.

"They seemed to have a great time – in fact some were asking if we could do it more often. We have done fitness sessions in the park during the summer holidays before but not for a long time.

"I will need to organise more in the future.”

Like all local sports clubs, Deanburn was out of action for much of 2020 and the start of 2021, but things are looking up as old and new members have come along to enjoy the Monday night classes.

“The club was off for such a long time I worried we would lose a lot of kids,” said Jayne. “But thankfully when judo returned our judo family came back together again. We even have a competition coming up on October 17 at North Shields.

"This will be great to get the kids back to competing again.”

All this judo action has fired Jayne up and she is looking forward to competing once again in memory of her dad Robert Clason, who founded Deanburn.

"The British Senior Open Championships are on November 21 at Kettering and I’m considering coming out of retirement to compete in honour of my dad and make the kids at Deanburn Judo Club proud.

"If I can get match fit I will definitely be representing Deanburn at the biggest event of the year.”

The club is always looking for new members to join.

Visit www.facebook.com/Deanburnjudoclub1988 for more information.

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