| Member News
April 19, 2007
USA Judo Unveils New Home for the North Miami Training Site
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The ribbon is cut for the new home of the USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami. |
(North Miami, Fla.) – USA Judo, the City of North Miami, and the Miami-Dade Sports Commission joined together to celebrate the opening of a temporary training facility for USA Judo at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday.
The ribbon cutting and the temporary training site, located at 1965 NE 148th Street in North Miami, are the first steps toward the ultimate building of a new training site that will house combative sports including not only judo, but also karate, boxing, fencing and taekwondo.
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City of North Miami Mayor Kevin Burns presents a check to USA Judo President Dr. Ron Tripp. |
The new temporary facility will house the USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami until a permanent facility is constructed. The site is a component of the City of North Miami’s development agreement with the Biscayne Landing master-planned community, which calls for various off-site stipulations, including the National Training Site and a state-of-the-art municipal library.
Upon completion, The North Miami facility will serve as a year-round training site for each of the National Governing Bodies for judo, karate, boxing, fencing and taekwondo.
In addition to the ribbon cutting ceremony, USA Judo and the Miami-Dade Sports Commission will be playing host to the nation’s best judo athletes competing in the USA Judo Senior National Championships over the weekend, to be held at Florida International University’s Pharmed Arena on Friday and Saturday.
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North Miami Coach Jhonny Prado thanks the City of North Miami. |
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Mayor Burns presents the new Training Site. |
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“We’ve been working with the City of North Miami on this project for several years now and we are all pleased to see how much success the USA Judo National Training Site athletes have already had,” said Jose H. Rodriguez, USA Judo CEO. “It is our hope that this success will only continue to grow with the creation of this new facility and in 2012 I hope to be introducing you to members of our Olympic Team from right here in North Miami that will be representing the USA in London.”
Attendees at the ribbon-cutting ceremony included:
- Jose Rodriguez, CEO, USA Judo
- Dr. Ron Tripp, President, USA Judo
- Kevin A. Burns, Mayor, City of North Miami
- Dennis Kelly, Deputy City Manager, City of North Miami
- Mike Sophia, Executive Director, Miami-Dade Sports Commission
- German Velazco, 2006 Junior World Team and USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami Coach
- Jhonny Prado, 2006 Junior World Team and USA Judo National Training Site at North Miami Coach
- Jason Morris, 2008 U.S. Olympic Head Coach Nominee
- Eddie Liddie, Director of Athlete Performance, USA Judo and 1984 Olympic medalist
Miami-Dade County is a United States Olympic Community Partner. Miami is one of only 11 communities chosen to participate in this movement. The USOC Community Partner program is designed to promote the Olympic movement throughout the country, as well, as Miami-Dade County.
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