Judo returns to the University of Wolverhampton in 2023!

Event Guide

Weigh-in will take place on Friday 17 February between 5:30pm - 8:00pm. 

The individual competitions will take place on Saturday 18 February and team competitions on Sunday 19 February. 

A full schedule will be published the week of the event.

Registration

Competitors must register and weigh-in on Friday 17 February 2023. Registration and weigh-in will be open from 17:30 until 20:30. Registration and weigh-in are located in the competition venue, Wolverhampton University, Walsall Campus (WS1 3TA) Competitors who do not register, and do not weigh-in, will be withdrawn.

Competitors who do not make weight on Friday night will not be allowed to re-weigh on Saturday morning.

Competitors must provide their BJA license and student identification at registration and weigh-in. Students without a license cannot compete.

Accepted Licences are as follows:

British Judo Association 

Welsh Judo Association 

Judo Scotland

Northern Ireland Judo Federation 

British Judo Council 

Amateur Judo Association 

In order to be insured to compete at BUCS, competitors must have one of the above licenses if they are training at either a university judo club or any other UK judo club. A recreational license does not cover competitions or gradings.

Registration is likely to be busy, so please ensure you arrive on time.

Weigh-In

The weigh in for the competition will be an Open Weigh In.

ALL Competitors (Women and Men) must weigh in in competition legal Judogi Trousers, and a Plain white crew neck t shirt.

For Womens weight categories of -48kg, -52kg, -57kg and -63kg and Men's weight categories of -60kg, -66kg an allowance of 0.6kg will be given.

For Women's weight categories of -70kg, -78kg and +78kg and Mens weight categories of -73kg, -81kg, -90kg, -100kg and +100kg an allowance of 0.8kg will be given.

Wearing of t-shirts in competition

Women should wear a plain white crew neck t-shirt when during weigh-in and fighting.

The finalised policy with respect to the wearing of t-shirts for any participants will be before the Judo Commission on 29 January. In the meantime, please can all officials and referees please ensure all under 18 participants use the relevant changing areas and not be asked to remove their Judo Gi at the side of the judo mat. This supports the principles behind the safeguarding requirements of having open weigh-ins for -18 participants. Any questions, or any safeguarding concerns at any time, can be sent to [email protected].

Rules & Regulations

BUCS judo competitions are governed in accordance with the National Governing Body rules and regulations, unless superseded by a BUCS rule or regulation. The full BUCS regulations can be found here.

The BUCS Judo Championships shall be conducted in accordance with the following BUCS sport specific regulations, the BUCS general regulations, and the British Judo (BJA) Contest Rules (2019), Contest Rule Amendments (2020) and Contest Rule Changes (2022). Further event specific requirements, rules, and regulations will be contained within the entry and pre-event information for each Championship.

The British Judo (BJA) Policy on Trans Competitors shall be followed.

A competitor briefing will take place on the competition mats before the first pool stages on Saturday morning. The briefing is not mandatory, but it is strongly encouraged all competitors attend so they are aware of recent rule adaptions.

The BUCS Tournament Referees and/tournament director in charge have the final decision in all sporting competition matters. This includes any rulings or disputes not covered by regulations.

Combined Categories

If there is the need to combine two weight categories then medals would only be awarded once for the combined category. BUCS medals will be distributed as detailed in regulation 6: BUCS points, medals and trophies.

Judogi

Competitors may wear a blue jodogi when appropriate; however, they must also have a white judogi to wear when required. Competitors wearing white and blue judogi for their contest must wear their grade belts

Coaches

Coaches should inform the BUCS staff at registration on Friday or before the first pool stages on Saturday, of their intention to coach their competitors. Only one coach will be allowed in the coaching chair for each match.

Level 3 there is coaching throughout the contest. Level 4 there would be no coaching between Hajimi and Mate.

Changing Facilities

Changing facilities will be available but once you have changed, please keep your possessions with you and do not leave them in the changing rooms, as you will not have exclusive use of the facilities.

Spectators

Spectators are allowed, however there is limited space and seating and competitors/coaches will be given priority at the event.

Food & Drink

On Saturday the coffee bar will be open from 8:30am-3:30pm, serving sandwiches, toasties and paninis.

There will be no café open on Sunday so athletes and spectators are advised to bring their own food and drink.

There will be vending machines available at the venue.

Withdrawals

Changes, including withdrawals, after the entry closing date must be made in writing by an athletic union or students’ union and e-mailed to the BUCS Event Lead Luke Gallen.

Withdrawals after the entry closing date will still be charged the entry fee.

Withdrawals after 5:00pm on Wednesday 15 February 2023 will be classified as a ‘no-show’. They will be charged the entry fee and an additional £10 fine payable by the athletic union or students’ union.

Competitors who do not withdraw, and do not register and weigh-in at the venue, will be also classified as a ‘no-show’ and will be charged the entry fee and an additional £10 fine payable by the competitor’s athletic union or students’ union.

University of Wolverhampton Questionnaire

Across the weekend, the University of Wolverhampton are undertaking a study to investigate the nutritional knowledge and weight making behaviours of those taking part in the event.

Students are invited to complete an online questionnaire on which the answers will help better understand the nutritional knowledge and pre-competition weight making practices of those competing in the combat sports such as Judo. Your answers will be valuable in helping the University to know how to make weight safely in the future. Please consider giving back your valuable knowledge.

It will take just 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire.

Across the event weekend, please look out for the laminated QR codes that will be palced in the venue and warm-up areas, once scanned, these will direct you to the questionnaire. We will be available should you have any questions about the research.

Participants will be invited to an online seminar post event, where colleagues will share the outcomes of the study and have the option to talk with experts in the field of weight making for elite sport.

European University Championships

This event will be used as qualification for the Combat Sports European University Championships 2023 that will be held in Zagreb, Croatia from the 20th to 23rd of July 2023. More information on the EUSA games can be found here.

More information on Judo specifically can be found here.

The top 2 finishers in each weight category will automatically qualify with further qualification subject to National Governing Body approval. The top two finishes per weight category, per gender, will have to confirm their attendance within 7 days of event completion and provide their information. Approval from your institution will be required.

You will only be able to complete the registration form after the BUCS qualifying event is complete.

Team Manager Chris Doherty will be present at the event and will provide information about financial cost of this event and be available to answer questions.

Please see more information and the registration form on the BUCS International EUSA Page.

Queries

If you have any queries about the event, please contact your university administrator in the first instance.