Lake Macquarie PCYC manager Brendan O’Brien said it was volunteers like John Locke and Dennis Boyd who kept the club’s important community programs running.
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Mr Boyd is a life member of the PCYC at Windale and has given over 30 years to the judo program there.
Mr Locke has been volunteering his time for over a decade.
He found the club when he moved to Newcastle after a serious motorcycle crash, which threatened to stop him from ever doing judo ago.
“I was told judo was not going to be an option but I was determined to get back on the mat,” he said.
“That was part of my reason for coming here to begin with.”
Judo has been a part of Locke’s life for 40 years and he passionately believes in its benefits for youth.
“Judo is primarily about self-improvement and how to develop expertise through exercise,” he said.
“Students learn to work with one another, to keep each other safe, and they develop self-confidence that translates into the classroom, home and society, and keeps going.
“Judo gives them lifelong skills and covers a lot of areas, not just the physical aspects.”
As The Star spoke to Mr Locke one of his students took it upon themself to start putting his younger fellow club members through their warm-up.
He was unprompted, as were the other students, ranging from ages five to eight, who quietly followed his instruction.
It was moments like that, Locke observed, that kept volunteers like himself giving to community programs such as this one.
It was also being able to look at the walls of the PCYC dojo, which are littered with pictures of gleaming students, showcasing their achievements by proudly holding aloft medals from various tournaments.
The photographs also document the progression of the judo students as they move through the levels of the Olympic sport.
But achievement is not everything.
“It is very family oriented, that is what judo is all about,” Mr Locke said. “It is about bringing people together.”
The PCYC manager echoed the sentiments.
“They have been running the program for 10 years and these guys are doing very well with very little funding,” O’Brien said.
Judo is a sport of unarmed combat derived from ju-jitsu and intended to train the body and mind.