London calling

EXPECTATIONS were blown out of the water last month when the Combined Services’ top judo players secured podium finishes at the national team championships.

Both the men’s and women’s squads took bronze medals from the competition in Kendall after two week’s hard graft with world-class coaches at the University of Bath.

The success may have come as a surprise to some, but for team coach Capt Phil McGregor (APTC) it served as the perfect vindication for his grand plan to reinvigorate Services judo.

“My goal is to bring as many people as possible into the sport and ensure that we develop élite players to where they should be. That is, competing at Great Britain and Commonwealth level,” he said.

“Training is critical to success and we usually race around for a couple of days before competing. I was convinced that getting the right training in place was the first thing to do and Team Bath were instrumental in helping us.”

The development of the Combined Services team has been fast-tracked thanks to a number of key players entering full-time training programmes.

Ghanaian international Tpr Emmanuel Nartey (1 RTR) is already based at Team Bath and only missed out on a spot at this year’s Beijing Olympics due to an administrative error.

He is due to be joined in the West Country next month by four colleagues, including Nigerian number one and former African under 81kg champion Cpl Abbas Salihu (RLC).

The loggie, who won the African Championships in 2000 and 2001, competed in the 2002 Commonwealth Games and is his regiment’s current sportsman of the year, hopes that a more demanding coaching programme will push him to reach his full potential.

“At the moment I’m number one in my weight, but I wasn’t in with a chance of making the Olympics because I missed some qualifying matches,” he told SoldierSport. “With full-time training I think 2012 is a possibility.

“Capt McGregor has made a massive difference. Just to have someone who is willing to go to the regiments and explain how important it is for us to get to train with world-class coaches is important.

“Sometimes it is not how you train but who you train with and we have benefited from learning from coaches who have good records as players.”

Another Army man with his eyes on a berth in the London Games is former Great Britain youth international LCpl Johnny Morris (1 Lancs).

The junior NCO took a break from judo to concentrate on promotion after signing up for the Army, but since returning to the mat the Dartford man has picked up where he left off with a string of impressive performances at under 81kg level.

“I won seven or eight national medals and I was due to go to the Europeans before I joined the Army,” he said. “I think I’ve improved because of my military training. I have that inner steel to dig deep when others might think they have nothing left.

“Four years is a long time, but as long as I keep building I don’t see why I can’t make the London Olympics.”

Morris’s transition into full-time training will be eased with the help of experienced campaigner Nartey.

The trooper admits he is “depressed” about missing this year’s Olympics, but his loss could be Britain’s gain as Nartey is hoping to switch nationalities.

And with a growing military contingent joining him at Bath, he refuses to write off the chance that he could be representing his new nation on home soil in four years.

“London is a possibility as long as I am still getting support and backing,” he said. “I have the determination to achieve it so it could happen.”

While Salihu, Nartey and Morris lead the charge for international recognition, the rest of the Combined Services line-up provides strength in depth.

The mix of experience and raw talent is apparent in the women’s squad, which features skipper Cpl Stephanie Alexander-Hart (RLC) competing alongside Pte Francesca Sieloff, a 17-year-old junior soldier from Army Foundation College Harrogate.

“Everyone is training to win,” said Alexander-Hart, who along with Fus Victor Ahaviour (1 RHF) completes the Army’s presence at Bath. “There’s always someone pushing you for your place and that is a healthy thing.”