THE former head coach of the Norwegian judo squad, Mike Newton, is starting a judo class in Bude next month.

Mike, who moved down to the South West last September, is coaching at Kingsley School Judo Club in Bideford, with ‘Bude Judo’ a satellite club.

Mike said: “I moved down from the Midlands where I ran a successful club, and was also the national coach for Norway for a year, which allowed me to travel all over Europe.

“When I moved down last September I joined the local performance club in Bideford to help their competitive squads.

“I’ve decided to set up a satellite club in the local area so that children have the chance to do something different, there’s not been any judo in Bude for many years.”

Mike has coached over 30 children into the national squads and believes judo is a great sport to get involved in.

He said: “It’s a really sociable sport, is very safe and is great for confidence boosting. It allows people to compete in an individual sport within a team environment.

“Over 50% of the students in my last club were girls and I’m expecting that to be the same here.

“We’ve already got 20 kids signed up for the taster sessions on August 20 and 21 at Morwenstow Community Centre which for now is capped at 30.

“We’re looking for seven to 13 year-olds to come along between 10am and midday, and it’s just £5 per head.”

Mike and his wife Louise, who also coaches and specialises in the under-sevens and eights, hope that the club will become a regular thing in the autumn.

He said: “The club starts in September and will be for the same age ranges to begin with, but we can extend it as the club starts to grow.

“We’re going to be a satellite club of Kingsley and if anyone wants to start judo competitively then they can go and train up there and train with additional coaches.

“We’re looking forward to getting started and getting Bude on the judo map!”