Gary Davis

Gary is the Club's Chairman he is also a Trustee of the Club. A trustee is responsible for the overall running of the club, particularly the finance.

Gary started judo in his early teens on a Saturday morning. However he then got a Saturday job and had to give up the sport for a while. Into full time employment he came back to the club with two of his mates - Richard Whiteley & John Armer and was taught, initially, by Mike Collins.

He progressed quickly through the Grades getting his Dan Grade in two years. The highpoint of his competitive career was getting to No. two in the National Senior Squad. Sadly the management of the squads was in flux at the time with four changes of manager in 12 months and although he had three phone calls saying he was on stand-by for a team place he never actually got the chance to earn his Union Flag badge. He was North West Area Champion for a couple of years and won the Northern Area Championships as well and has about 100 medals and trophies at home including a bronze medal from the British Closed Championships.

He says he wasn't a sports person at school but found the different nature of judo addictive. He believes that whatever activity you take part in you should always try to put something back. He is also a fan of Scuba Diving having attained the standard of Advanced Diver (their equivalent of a Dan Grade) and Gary is also an Open Water Instructor and Examiner. With this philosophy in mind he became a member of the Club Committee quite early and has been at the forefront of the club's organisation ever since.

Gary was heavily involved with the New Inn Yard development in the 1980's and, of course, has taken a keen interest in the new dojo. He is delighted with the building which is much better than he expected. When the idea first came up for discussion he didn't think we could get land much less afford it. But thanks to the generosity of South Lakeland District Council we got the present site which was originally going to be a grandstand for the football pitches.

Gary points out that Kendal Judo Club has always produced top class players and he has ideas to use the new dojo as the hub for the Cumbrian network of High Class training and performance. There is talk of having a Masters Training Camp and the BJA North West Area who invested some money in the site want to use the venue for gradings etc. He would like parents to get more involved not just in bringing their children to the dojo but in things such as table officiating and running events.