Ernest Bevin's proud judo legacy

Former pupils from the all-boys secondary school have gone on to grace the top flight of English football and feature in the NFL and NCAA basketball in America.

Sean Davis is a key player for Premiership outfit Bolton Wanderers, running back Jermaine Allen has been on the books of 2010 Super Bowl winners, the New Orleans Saints, while Great Britain basketball star Eric Boateng is a college standout for the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Yet only one sport has seen players compete at the Olympic Games.

Ernest Bevin’s Judo Club has introduced some of British judo’s most eminent names to the sport and has been at the heart of the school’s sporting activities for nearly 50 years.

Amid the pursuits of the college’s diverse sporting agenda, judo has - throughout that time - been an integral and highly visible feature.

The sport has captivated boys at the school since the early 1970’s when a PE teacher, who practiced the sport, thought it would be a good activity to engage the pupils and release some of their excessive energy levels.

Judo quickly rose up the agenda as the club’s fledgling members began to sweep the board at schoolboy level tournaments.

The old adage says success breeds success and the college’s talented young players were promptly moving onto honours at county and national competitions.

One of the club’s most famous feats come in 1976, when former pupil and Ernest Bevin judo coach, Val Morrison, represented Great Britain at the Montreal Olympics.

The highly-talented judoka finished a credible fourth.

Former British international Eric Bonti, 37, who started his judo career at the all-boys school in 1984 - and has since returned as a PE teacher - said: “That was a really significant moment and it showed how far the sport had come at Ernest Bevin.”

A golden generation followed in the 1980s with the sport’s rising popularity seeing the college host their own championship which was contested during assembly.

If the tension of fighting friends wasn’t enough, the battles were staged to one of the big screens most recognisable soundtracks, Bill Cosby’s epic Rocky theme, Gonna Fly Now.

“At different times we had distinguished judo figures such as Neil Adams here and, back in those days, the core of the British Schools judo team was made up of Bevin fighters.”

One of these was Winston Gordon, who returned to the school as full-time judo coach last year..

“Ernest Bevin is where it all started for me,” said Gordon.

“Judo was part of the curriculum and, at a display in assembly, PE teacher Margaret Hicks asked if anyone wanted to try and escape a hold-down.

“I was one of the fortunate ones to get picked out and I couldn’t get out the hold.”

Gordon, now 33, never looked lack. Along with current club coaches Bonti and Darren Hawney, plus former Commonwealth champion Keith Davis, he made his mark on the international stage under the results-based regime of Margaret Hicks and her then-husband Simon.

The sport was temporarily put on hold after a fire in 1993, before a new dojo was created when Wandsworth Lightning Judo Club was founded at Battersea Sports Centre, largely under the guidance of the late Simon Hicks.

Under Simon and Margaret, the club’s gifted players went on to win senior national and Commonwealth titles, as well as medalling at the European and World Championships.

Bonti said: “Margaret and Simon took us up to international level.

“They both have a huge impact on our careers and enable us to really progress and reach our potential.”

By now, Gordon had truly come to the fore. He produced London’s best finish on the mat at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, losing a dramatic semi-final after being penalised for straying off the match.

But he lost the bronze medal mat and failed to reach the repechage at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

As Gordon laid siege to the domestic under 90kg ranks and battled his way to credible finishes on the sport’s greatest stages, his old dojo was closed as the school sold half of their premises.

Such was the pull of the sport at the college that judo would be a focal point of a new sports block, which from 2007 housed a purpose built dojo.

The likes of Gordon and Bonti’s endeavours for the club and country helped to build a legacy at the club and pave the way for such an enviable facility to be installed.

Bonti said: “We’re very fortunate to have such good facilities.

“When I finished my judo career I came back here to coach. I was very lucky to get a teaching qualification to teach PE and also coach judo.

“Since then we’ve had Greenhouse Youth, a charitable organisation who set up lots of sporting initiatives in London schools.

“They have got involved with judo and set up a judo programme here which is the first pilot programme.

“With their input and the support we have had from senior management, we have resurrected the judo programme here and it’s going pretty well.”

The club won their latest accolade last month when they received their Clubmark Bronze Award at their presentation evening.

Distinguished guests included British judo stalwart Tony Sweeney, a celebrated 9th Dan who competed for GB at the 1964 Olympics. He gave a speech on the tremendous work of everyone involved at the club.

Club founder and former coach, Margaret Hicks, now the British Judo Association’s performance director, was also there.

Japan’s all-time great Kosei Inoue, who lives in Edinburgh, led a training session for junior and senior players during the evening.

The retired 32-year-old, a former three-time world champion and Olympic gold medallist at the 2000 Sydney Games, formed a close bond with Winston Gordon while the pair competed on the world stage.

“We had Tony Sweeney from the Budokwai come down which was great and my friend Mr Inoue, which was a huge honour,” said Gordon.

“We were delighted both could share such a memorable evening with us.

Bonti added: “The award is down to everyone who has been involved in judo here.

“It also recognises the rich history of Ernest Bevin where judo goes right back to the 1970s.

“Without the school’s assistance in particularly the headmaster Mike Chivers we would have been unable to integrate the club development along with the school’s judo programme.”

Bonti envisages a prosperous future for the club and hopes some of the club’s young players can follow in his and Winston’s footsteps.

“Winston and I are both ex-pupils so they can relate to us because we’ve been through what they’re going through now and so we’re very lucky to be able to put back into the school we got so much from,” he added.

“We achieved three medals at the British Schools with Adam Hoshal taking the gold.

“He is one for the future. He is very dedicated and at this stage it is about keeping the players motivated to train and realise their enormous potential.

“I think we have a dual goal here.

“What we all want is to get some successful competitors, for them to achieve their potential within a competitive field.

“Not everyone can be a competitor so we have to make them aware of how judo can be a fulfilling life even if you’re not competing.”

Gordon was quick to echo his peer’s impassioned words.

“The main thing for me is to make sure I do everything I can here to help these boys come through the system and be in the position I am now,” he said.

“They don’t have to be a successful athlete, they can become a club coach and make sure everything is running right and elevate the players in whatever direction they want to go.

“It’s not just about hitting the high points as a player, my role is to give them a pathway to encourage them into whatever direction they way to go in.”

The 2009 British Open winner Gordon provided a timely reminder of his talent last month as he marked his return to the British fold after a nine month absence by surging to gold at the Slovenia European Cup.

Gordon, who won four of his five fights by ippon, is itching to be in the British squad for 2012 in London.

“Everything is working towards then,” he said.

“Obviously I am an older athlete so I won’t be doing a big volume of 10 tournaments.

“I will be trying to target two big events and all the rest will be training events to make sure I’m hitting all my goals.”

Gordon knows the feeling of a teeming domestic crowd driving British athletes on to glory as he was spurred on to gold at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002.

“I have that feeling from Commonwealth Games, which was phenomenal and one of the highlights of my career.

“With me working at school now the pupils can see what I’m doing and this will push them on even more.”

Despite the mammoth task of pushing himself onto the Olympic stage once more time Gordon is keen to share the experience with his protégés.

“We have got a good crop of children coming through and its really starting to show.

“Hopefully we have more great days to come for these guys and we’ll see what the future holds for not just me but them as well.”

Gordon will be 35 by the time the Olympics rolls around but the wily veteran is quick to underline his determination to compete for Britain on sport’s greatest stage.

“I’ll be there by any means necessary,” he boldly stated.

And if he is so would be his pupils, colleagues and a lifetime of knowledge and experience from Ernest Bevin.

The club train at Ernest Bevin College, SW17 7DF. Boys and girls train on Monday and Thursday from 6-7.30pm with men and women training on the same days at 19:30 – 21:00.