Member News

May 15, 2006

From the Desk of the Director of Coaching and Athlete Development, Eddie Liddie

State Organizations and Clubs Offer Athlete Incentives for Pan Am Medals

USA Judo is pleased to announce that several state organizations and clubs have generously offered cash incentives for athletes who earn medals at next week’s Pan American Championships, May 25-27 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Ki-Itsu-Sai Judo Club in North Lauderdale, Fla. will match USA Judo’s award of $500 to any athlete in an Olympic weight division who earns a gold medal at the event. 

In addition, Enrique Lopez and the National Judo Institute in Orlando and Miami, Fla. will award $200 to any athlete who wins a gold medal, regardless of division.

The states of Colorado and Texas also will be supporting their home athletes as the Colorado Judo League is providing the incentive of $500 for a gold medal and $300 for a silver medal to Colorado athletes Kirk Hoffmann (+100kg) and Ryan Reser (73kg), both from the Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site in Colorado Springs as well as Djamaldin Aliev (Greenwood Village, Colo./European Judo/Olympic Training Center USA Judo National Training Site/100kg).

Texas Judo Inc. and the Texas Judo Fund will provide a bonus for Texas athletes who place at the Pan Ams in the following amounts: $500 for a gold medal; $300 for a silver medal; and $100 for a bronze medal.  Pan Am Team members from Texas include: Nicole Kubes (Fort Worth, Texas/Fort Worth Judo/78kg), Taylor Takata (Harlingen, Texas/Harlingen USA Judo National Training Site/66kg) and Andre Taylor (Plano, Texas/Becerra Judo/55kg). 

The awards listed above are in addition to the USA Judo’s athlete incentive of $500 for athletes who win a gold medal and $300 to athletes who win a silver medal.   Athletes who win a gold medal also will become fully funded athletes regardless of their International point level and will be reimbursed for all reasonable expenses incurred, including flight (if the athlete was not already partially funded), room and board and other reasonable related expenses.   Athletes who win a silver medal will receive reimbursement for their airfare, not to exceed $1,000.00 or an amount determined to be reasonable, provided the ticket is purchased within 14 days of departure.  If the athlete is already a partially funded athlete, he/she will receive reimbursement for his/her room and board and other reasonable related expenses.  All Pan Am Championship Shiai Team members in Olympic weight divisions will be eligible for USA Judo athlete funding incentives.