Azerbaijan Judo Federation (AJF) has announced the start of the Adaptive Judo project.
As per Idman.biz, this program aims to promote social integration and increase self-confidence of children with Down syndrome, autism and those in need of special care.
Instilling the core values of judo, the program promotes physical activity, mental well-being and social inclusion through an adaptive judo experience.
Last year, AJF officials participated in the "EJU Get Together" adaptive judo tournament held in Venray, the Netherlands, in order to take advantage of the successful international experience of adaptive judo. From 2024, AJF made adaptive judo one of the main directions of its development strategy, further specializing coaches in this direction. planned for their participation in adaptive judo seminars and training camps. In May of this year, coaches Rufat Ismayilov participated in the adaptive judo training camp and coaching seminar in Velika-Gorica, Croatia participated in the "Get Together 2024" adaptive judo tournament to improve their skills and knowledge.
As part of the preparation, AJF has already met with parents of children with Down syndrome. During the meeting, parents said that they welcomed the program with great enthusiasm and were looking forward to the positive impact it would have on the children's lives. The first judo classes for children with special needs are planned to start soon.
AJF education manager Orkhan Oruczade gave information about the project in an interview with the European Judo Union: "When we became familiar with the values of judo, we realized that people with disabilities and children have been neglected in all stages and development history of Azerbaijani judo. In recent years, an inclusive society in our country The measures taken in connection with the development of judo encouraged us to pay attention to this field as well.
In order to apply adaptive judo in Azerbaijan, we closely study the experience of different countries. We support the participation of our coaches in the programs organized by the European Judo Union in order to increase the level of professionalism in this field.
Judo is considered one of the popular sports in Azerbaijan. The achievements of Azerbaijani athletes in continental and world championships and Olympic championships in different years have made this sport even more popular. This popularity causes children to become interested in this sport. We think that children with disabilities are among the children who show such enthusiasm and interest. However, the fact that the current situation is unfavorable for them causes their dreams about this sport to be left unfinished. Therefore, making judo accessible to every person, which carries important values, is the most important direction in our activity."
Idman.biz
