On Saturday, August 29, we were in Prilep in North Macedonia. There we met Deyan. He is the president of Judo Club Seishin. Since then we worked very hard behind the scenes to support this judo club. Like we want to, we do not donate money, but we buy the things they need.
The club has about 100 members: boys and girls of all age categories. The membership fee is only € 3 per month to make judo accessible to all children. Young professionals let the judo club grow and flourish. For this they need a good gym, the right materials and training. Government subsidies are low so they look for local solutions.
What is needed?
At the moment there is a particular need for new judoka clothing. Although a member can repair the suits, the clothes wear out after a number of years. Besides the members are growing in number and age.
Because of all their effort to make judo accessible to all children, their social character to share experience and skills and because they are working very hard to improve their skills and be successful, we want to support this club by donating judoka clothing.
Buying judo suits for the first time
We already know quite a bit about bicycles, but don't know anything about judo. We started reading about judo and contacted various suppliers of judo suits. However, North Macedonia is not a member of the European Union. We therefore chose a company in Bulgaria to avoid high shipping and import costs.
The supplier Budobalkani also supports judo clubs in Bulgaria. In the same way as we do in North Macedonia. They are in the judo market for 15 years. Their team is active in judo, karate and baseball. They also offer themselves at the local clubs as volunteer judo trainers. That’s the reason why we chose them as a supplier.
A helping hand
We also met Harry, a good friend of Deyan's, in Prilep. He was able to help us with the transport. He happened to have to go to Bulgaria for business. In this way we have been able to save on the costs.
Gratitude
Deyan had this great idea of having the name XPLORid sewn on the judo suits. What a nice gesture. We hadn't even thought about that. Harry handed over the judo suits to the club on our behalf. There was an entire ceremony. The club now has 25 judo suits with the emblem of XPLORid.
We combined the video of our visit to Judo Club Seishin in August and the photos of the ceremony in a video. It is out now on our Youtube channel. Thanks to the club's accountant, Goce, who acted as a translator.
More info on Judo Club Seishin
Judo Club Seishin trains 3 times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. There is a group for beginners and for olympics. The training takes place in the park in the summer and in the winter they can go to the sports hall of 2 primary schools and in a community building.
F.l.t.r.: Deyan (president), Deyan (trainer) and Goce (accountant)
The club's motto is:
Judo exercise strengthens the body and spirit.
The club is working hard to improve the skills of the staff and olympics by participating in national and international seminars and training of the judo association. As a result, the club annually wins many prizes at national and international level. On November 3 2018, they won the city award for sports because of the number of members, guests and tournaments and because they organize seminars for coaches and olympics. In 2019 one of their coaches was named the best coach of all sports and this year they were 1st in North Macedonia.
Seishin Judo Club seeks cooperation with other judo clubs in other countries to share experience and skills. From 2009 onwards they organize the International Traditional Judo Tournament “Prilep Hero Town” every October for juniors and pioneers.