Sport
12 February, 2025
Leading judoka makes a flying visit to Mount Isa
Judo Australia national participation manager Shane Alvisio has given the Mount Isa club a big tick.
MIJA Judo Academy has kicked off its 50th birthday celebrations by hosting a training session with one of the most experienced sensei instructors in Australia.
Judo Australia national participation manager Shane Alvisio trained on the Mount Isa mats on Saturday as the club held its first sessions for the 2025 season.
With an impressive 50-year resume that includes being the youngest black belt in the country when aged 18, to being a member of the Australian Judo Squad between 1983 and 1994, and a 10-time medalist at the Australian and Oceania Championships, Alvisio said he was appointed to the newly established liaison role in 2023 to serve as a conduit between grassroots clubs and capital city administrators.
Alvisio said he had never travelled to Mount Isa before but was impressed with the standalone training facility in the city.
“I think this clubhouse would be the envy of many clubs across Australia,” Alvisio said.
“Mount Isa has one of the older (judo) clubs in Australia and while we haven’t had someone from Judo Australia travel out here in a while, we wanted to come out and let the members know that we are listening to them and we want to help them to bring in more juniors and grow the sport.
“My role is a real privilege – it is to travel around Australia and visit all the grassroots clubs and speak to members and help promote the sport in the community.
“We just have to make sure the sport has a real community feel and not be like the old days when there were these serious teachers at the front and everyone had to be silent – we want it to be fun for everyone.”
Alvisio said the rising popularity of combat sports, especially the UFC, had brought some new people to judo who wanted to learn to grapple and throw and fall correctly while training.
“There’s always something a new coach can bring to the club and so I have been looking forward to working with the Mount Isa members,” he said.
MIJA president John Ivers said hosting Alvisio at the Soldiers Hill clubhouse was a great way to begin their 50th birthday celebrations.
“Shane understands the difficulties that regional clubs face and having someone from Judo Australia come to Mount Isa is very encouraging because it shows that despite the remoteness of our club, we are not being forgotten,” he told North West Weekly.
“We feel we are quite a thriving club – we have solid numbers in both our seniors and junior classes and people are coming through the doors enquiring about the sport.”
