Member News

August 11, 2006

USA Judo Staff Named for Junior World Championship Team

USA Judo is pleased to name Jhonny Prado (Coral Springs, Fla.) as the head coach for the team that will compete at the Junior World Championships, Oct. 12-15 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Prado is joined by assistant coach German Velazco (Coral Springs, Fla.)  Considered to be two of the premier junior coaches in the United States, Prado and Velazco, a 2000 Olympian for Peru, coached both the 2005 Pan American Infantile (11-14-year-olds) Team and the 2006 Pan American Junior (15-19-year-olds) Team. 

“I’m very excited to work with all of these athletes.  Most of this team is new to the Junior Worlds, but they’re all training hard and I think this group has the potential to perform very well in Santo Domingo,” Prado said.  

Prado and Velazco, both head coaches at the North Miami USA Judo National Training Site, are the personal coaches for two of the Junior World Team members – Jeanette Rodriguez (Margate, Fla. / 48kg) and Franchesca Durand (Coral Springs, Fla. / 52kg).

"I would like to congratulate the ‘USA Judo North Miami Training Site Dynamic Duo’ of Jhonny Prado and German Velazco on their prestigious appointment as head coaches for our Junior World Championships team,” said USA Judo CEO Jose H. Rodriguez (Colorado Springs, Colo.)  “I think Jhonny and German both depict the sort of talent that we have in this nation with our coaches.”

The pair, who will be coaching their first Junior World Team, led Team USA to 25 medals at the Pan Am Infantile Championships and 28 medals at the Pan Am Juniors.  In addition to Rodriguez and Durand, Prado and Velazco have at least seven other athletes ranked in the top five of their respective IJF-Junior (under 20) divisions.

“I have no doubt that if we can continue to financially support our coaches who are producing top-level athletes that we will become the powerhouse that everyone talks about,” Rodriguez said. “It is my hope that these two coaches’ success becomes a motivating factor for other coaches to work hard to meet and exceed their success. There is indeed a great future for judo in the USA thanks to our coaches!"

Humberto Lopez (Miami, Fla.) will be the Team Manager for the trip.  Lopez served on the staff for the 2004 Junior World Team and also was the manager for the 2005 Senior World Team.

If credentials are available, each club that has an athlete represented will be allowed to request a maximum of one personal coach.  Additional information will be disseminated after credential numbers have been finalized by the tournament organizers.