Member News

December 30, 2006

Ring in the New Year with an Adopted Athlete

A Letter from USA Judo CEO Jose H. Rodriguez 
 
It was Christmas Eve and I had just turned up the TV volume up so I could hear listen to CNN while I was in the kitchen attempting to cook some Cuban food for dinner (it's hard to get a good Cuban Christmas Eve dinner in Colorado!) when a news item caught my attention.  It seemed that the stock market and traders in Wall Street had done so well this year that many of them were getting end of year bonus of millions of dollars! The piece then went on to discuss how these folks would be spending their million dollars bonuses.
 
As I went back to the kitchen, I began to think about how many folks within the USA Judo family out there may have gained as well from investments for which they will need to do some deduction when they sit with their respective CPAs and file their taxes.

As we come down to the last few days of the year, I would like to ask those of you that may have been blessed during the fast-closing year with financial success to please  consider making a last-minute donation to our "Adopt an Athlete" program.  Your contribution will help our athletes prepare for the Pan American Games and World Championships in 2007 as well as the rapidly approaching 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games!

We have such a talented group of athletes preparing themselves to wear our Red, White and Blue and see to it that our flag is carried onto the medal podium, but they need the funds to properly train and compete internationally.  

Little by little we at USA Judo have been addressing the issues of coaching, training sites and overall athlete performance. We now have some of the best coaches in the United States working together to ensure our athletes are well-prepared for the coming year's tournaments.

But the athletes need your help to reach the medal stand!

Already, we have had supporters who have  joined our “Adopt An Athlete”  program and have donated in some cases more than $15,000 directly to one athlete to help with  the training and competition expenses of a judo player personally selected by this generous donor. This supporter has requested to remain anonymous which also has been the case with other donors.

Imagine if we had a few more of you out there who would participate in this program... what a difference it would make in providing our athletes the necessary support to prepare for the 2008 Olympic Games.

When talking with many of you I've often heard about the excllent programs in countries like Brazil and France and, indeed these countries have some of the best judo in the world. However, most of the time we do not follow that statement with the fact that they also have a lot of funding with which to train their athletes, and bring in other athletes to train and compete in their country.  

This call goes to those within the American Judo Family who may have been so blessed this year that they have funds to support one or two of our athletes. If you are not sure who may be available to adopt, please visit our Web site (www.usjudo.org/adoptanathlete.asp). There you will find a list of some of our top Senior and Junior Elite athletes.  Please, do not put it off any longer, 2007 will be a very important year to our athletes preparing for Beijing as well as those in our junior development and U-23 programs that are now preparing Team USA for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

If you are already supporting athletes in your region or in your dojo, I congratulate you and hope that you continue. If you are able to support our members of our USA Judo Elite team and you have any questions please do not hesitate to call me or drop me an email at Jose.H.Rodriguez@usajudo.us, you will get an answer back within a few hours I guarantee you!

To all of you... May God Bless you and may 2007 be a very  healthy and happy one for each of you!!

Yours in Judo,

Jose H. Rodriguez

USA Judo CEO