Watson has big world hopes
Whanganui judoka Keightley Watson will definitely head to the Cadet Worlds in Chile, but is still mulling it over with family about a year or more at the Olympic Training Camp in Budapest.
Whanganui heavyweight judoka Keightley Watson has both size 17 feet firmly on the ground despite a stellar season that includes selection to the highest levels.
The 16-year-old Whanganui High School student is one of three New Zealand cadets (15 to 17) to be selected for the IJF ( International Judo Federation) Cadets World Championships in Chile in August as well as a full 12-month scholarship to attend the OTC (Olympic Training Centre) in Budapest, Hungry. Also offered by the IJF, the scholarship includes schooling.
The other two judokas invited to the Cadet World Championships are from Auckland and Dunedin.
Watson's size belies his age and standing at 1.88m (6ft 2in) and weighing in at 145kg with a size 17 shoe, he poses a formidable figure.
Watson's selection has come on the back of a successful Oceania Judo competition in March where he took the title for Junior men plus 100kg and silver in the Cadets plus 90kg.
His results in the Australian Open International tournaments, New Zealand Championships, along with the Oceania's results over the 15 months were also taken into account.
Over that period he competed in 15 events with a 12 gold and three silver record in addition to the New Zealand area championships he competed in during this time.
The Cadets world cup selection, which he only found out about on Friday, comes on top of the scholarship for up to 12 months at the OTC. This has been in the pipeline for the last 12 months.
"To be honest, when we started getting mails from the IJF re Keightley attending the OTC, we actually thought that they were scams, but it was not until we were in Tonga with Oceania's that we were approached by the New Judo Federation who confirmed that the correspondence was genuine," father Ross Watson said.
"We have since been speaking with the IJF. It is an opportunity of a lifetime and potentially life changing for a 16-year-old. Being around some of the worlds top athletes from a variety of sports who train there at different times throughout the year is huge, but it is also something that as a family, and also for Keightley, needs to be looked at from a variety of angles. It's not something we would consent to lightly, Watson senior said.
"Training there would be twice daily before and after school requiring a huge commitment and would include him also competing on the cadets judo circuit throughout Europe and Asia. My understanding is that the IJF is keen to increase the profile of the sport in the Oceania's and that their intention is to hothouse a heavyweight judoka from the region and get him into serious medal contention for the 2024 Olympics. That's why they are looking for a younger athlete as opposed to 18-19-year-olds which would not give them such time.
"So potentially if he was to accept and we were to send him, there is a strong possibility that he may in fact not return home. For him to progress to the level required he would need to be competing at that level regularly, which is the part that we only recently found out about, so a lot of discussion has been taking place with a variety of people, including Keightley."
Keightley himself is keen to go, but is in no doubt about the hurdles he faces.
"I'm excited about the prospects of going to Budapest, but it's scary at the same time. I could be away from the family for quite a while. I feel I have grown as a person from time spent travelling to competitions in Australia and Tonga and that no longer worries me, but a trip to the other side of the world is another thing," Keightley said.
Watson senior said the problem with judo in this region is the distance we are from top level competitions, so cost factors and time away plays a major role in why medals at the Olympics are hard to achieve.
While judo is a minor sport in New Zealand, overseas it is competed in at just on 200 countries. It has a large viewer following and a large competitor base, so major tournaments are not hard to find.
In the meantime, while training in Whanganui he is also now training in Christchurch with Jason Koster every 4-5 weeks for four days. Koster is one of the New Zealand cadet coaches and is a former Commonwealth medallist himself. He also coached Moira De Villiers at the Rio Olympics.
"The training down there includes cross training with a local BJJ club (Brazilian jiu-jitsu) in addition to technical and Randori, which is fighting to improve your skills so no winners or losers.
"Judo is a sport for all ages and sizes and compliments a lot of other sports with agility and fitness and has been used previously by the Highlanders and Canterbury rugby as part of their training," Watson senior said.
By Iain Hyndman
Wanganui Chronicle 1/6/17