Peter Holme

Peter started judo in September 1964 at an Allen Technical College Evening Class run by Alan Campbell.
He attained his 1st Dan in 1973 (You could only attend a Dan Grading once every three months in those days and there were very few point scoring competitions). He got his 2nd Dan in January 1978.
He started refereeing in 1970 and became, what is now called, a National 'A' referee in 1974. He has refereed at every level of event from Mon Gradings to the first ever Commonwealth Games Judo Championships in Edinburgh in 1986. He also refereed at the Commonwealth Championships in Cardiff in 1993 and at every British Open Championships until he retired in 1994 as he felt with all his competition organising he wasn't getting enough practice to keep up his standard.
He first started as a National Tournament Official at the 1973 British Open for Men, although he had been running North West Area events for years before that. The following year he officiated at the European Championships for Men which included the European Team Championships.
Since then he organised or was part of the organisation of every possible form and standard of competition in this country including the 1985 European Championships for Women, the 1995 Senior European Championships for Men & Women, The European Youth Olympic Days in Bath in the same year, and the 1999 World Championships.
In 2000 he was asked to represent the BJA at organisational meetings for the 2002 Commonwealth Games and subsequently was appointed Sports Manager (Judo) for the Games
He was also involved with the preparation and introduction of the Tournament Licencing Scheme and several updates of the scheme. Along with Dennis Aris and his late wife Stella they introduced to Britain the Compound Repechage system of competition.
On the administration side he was Kendal Judo Club secretary from 1968 to 1977; North West Area PRO from 1971 to 1976; North West Area Secretary from 1978 to 1985; A member of the BJA Management Committee from 1988 to 1992; A member of the National Competitions Commission from 1982 to 2007 (with a short break after 2002). He is now the Club's Chairman.
He has written three books on the sport of Judo which were published all over the world (one of which 'Get To Grips with Judo' was the 13th best selling judo book in America at the time).
He was instrumental in introducing the BJA Ranking System which is now being re-introduced; was the BJA Drugs Liaison Officer from 1989 to 2003, and the BJA Complaints & Conduct Commission Chairman from 1994 to 2003.
Best judo memory being in the audience watching Neil Eckersley win a bronze medal at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984.
In what little spare time he has he enjoys photography, Chinese Horoscopes, listening to good music and, having read every Westmorland Gazette from 1900 to 2000, wrote and had published a Centenary Book - '20th Century Westmorland'
He is also the editor of this WEB Site.