Lance Wicks was quick to post that the IJF seem poised to ban coaches from matside. As with the upcoming rule changes (removal of koka and so on), this is to come into effect from the beginning of 2009. Unlike those rules changes, this one has been sprung very suddenly! The BJA have confirmed it, and there is a copy of the announcement available for download.
An athlete is alone against his opponent in a fight. In the educational concept of judo, the role of coaches is to prepare his players for this autonomy. We must reserve for a Judoka the decisionmaking and ability to manage this confrontation.
Mainly for this reason we made a decision to remove coaches along the tatami from 1 January 2009. A specific location will be reserved for them in the competition hall.
Some outbursts on coaches’ side have also hurt the image of our sport at the Beijing Olympics. Unjustified and continuing criticism against referees had undermined our refereeing in public and media’s opinion.
It will be interesting to see at which levels in the UK this is applied at (if at all). Plenty of other sports allow coaching from the side, although the BJC do not allow it…
I feel this is a positive step. Shouting at the players aside, it also prevents abuse and attempted coercion towards the referees (it is annoying for a coach to scream for the same penalty you intend to give anyway!). By the time the players step out onto the tatami, they should be able to handle the contest by themselves…
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