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Helen’s already on her way to top judo honours
Helen Weatherburn is making a name for herself in the sport of Judo, where she is already the youngest Black Belt in Wales, has represented her country on a number of occasions and is working very hard to make her way in the British Junior squad.
Helen attends Sir Thomas Picton School and is a keen member of Neyland Judo Club, from where she has grown in stature to such a degree that she is regular medal winner on the junior circuit and is already making a name for herself at senior level as she successfully competes against older opponents.
Sporting involvement and musical skills
Helen moved to Pembrokeshire as a baby but her family, on her father's side, have lived here for over 300 years and her great grandfather was a Freeman of Haverfordwest. Helen went to Spittal school and then to Sir Thomas Picton School. She has always been involved in sport, playing netball and football for the school at Spittal and taking a silver medal at County level when she was with Haverfordwest Gymnastics Club. She also represented the club in Gymnastics’ events at the Welsh Institute of Sport in Cardiff.
Helen has represented STP at gymnastics, netball and at hockey and has had county trials at both the latter sports. She recently represented the school at cross-country (not her favourite sport!) and managed to scrape in for a place in the county team.
Helen has also enjoyed success in other fields, winning the Elf Prize for clarinet when in year 6 and has twice competed in the National Youth Festival in Birmingham as part of Sir Thomas Picton School Orchestra as well as being a member of the County Orchestra.
Early judo involvement
She began her judo involvement at the age of 7, after Helen was previously dropped off at her ballet class every Saturday morning by her Dad and her elder brother Ben on their way to train at Neyland Judo Club. But she then went to see them in competition and was immediately smitten with the sport so ballet went out the window and Helen launched into the Dragon Judo Syllabus for the under 8s!
She took to it like a duck to water and at the first opportunity Helen entered competitions, winning medals at mini-mons, competitions for the junior lower grades, and working her way upwards through the Judo grading system.
Black Belt success
By the age of 15 Helen had reached 18th Mon, the highest grade in Junior Judo, and transferred to a senior licence at an early age to fight for her Black Belt. She travelled to Suffolk and Walsall to gain her 1st Kyu, defeating all opponents along the way, which qualified her to fight for her Black Belt. After gaining 10 of the 100 points needed in a Grading at High Wycombe, Helen travelled to Dagenham for a Dan Grading at Kingsley Hall. She won 3 fights to earn herself a 'line-up' of players, all at least the same grade as herself, where she had to fight one after the other in succession. She defeated each of them by Ippon, the highest score in Judo, to become the youngest 1st Dan Black Belt in Wales, at that time, and one of the youngest in Britain.
Silverware success
Alongside her grading quest Helen continued her competitive Judo career and this really took off with her winning the 2007 North Wales Junior Closed Championship, where she also won Best Player of the Tournament. Not content with that success she also won a Bronze medal in the North Wales Open and the Junior Welsh Closed National title. In 2008 Helen again won both domestic titles, only losing in the final of the Senior Welsh Closed on the same day as winning the junior event.
Helen was called upon to represent Wales throughout the year, fighting in France, Holland, Ireland, England and Scotland. High-points of the year were taking a bronze in the British under 18 Championship, while still only 15 years old, and a silver medal in the Scottish under 20 event against strong international competition. Another high-spot in the year was being selected to represent Wales, and Sir Thomas Picton School, at the UK School Games in Bath, the premier schools sporting event of the year. Fighting again in the under 18 section Helen did well to come away with a Bronze Medal for Wales.
Superb 2009 …
In 2009 Helen did even better by getting to the final of the UK School games in Cardiff, winning a silver medal and helping Wales to a win in the overall tournament. Despite having to spend less time on Judo in order to pursue her GCSE studies, Helen still managed to win a bronze in the British Championship, losing only one fight and that to the eventual winner. In the Scottish and Welsh Open Championships she again took Bronze Medals and was rewarded for her efforts by gaining the position of 8th in the Senior British Ranking List, despite still being a junior. Her hard work on the academic side also paid off with excellent exam results!
… and fantastic start to 2010!
The English Junior Open, which should have been in January 2010, was cancelled through the bad weather so Helen entered the North West England Senior event, a three-star major British domestic tournament, to keep herself tournament-ready.
Despite coming second in her pool Helen fought her way to the final and in a terrific performance she threw her opponent and then held her down for an Ippon score to win the Championship! She followed this, her first top-flight senior victory, with a trip to the Midlands under 20s tournament in Walsall on the next weekend and repeated her performance to become Midlands champion as well.
Helen now has a three day Judo Camp with the national team at the Welsh Institute of Sport over half-term and the North West under 20s event before the English Junior Open, now being held in Kendal on March 6th. This is being used as a trial for the Junior British Team so, having missed out by one place last year, Helen is keen to reassert her claim for a place.
And finally …
In the meantime, Helen trains twice a week at Neyland Judo Club and also helps her Dad to coach there on Saturdays and in the running of Spittal after-school Judo Club, showing her willingness to get others started on the route to success that she has taken. In addition, she makes frequent trips to train in Cardiff and Swansea with the Welsh Squad and her dedication can now be seen to be paying off. PembrokeshireSport.co.uk is always delighted to highlight the talents of local sporting youngsters and it is very evident that we are going to hear a great deal more about Helen Weatherburn because she is totally committed to her sport of judo – and a modest and likeable young lady as a considerable bonus!
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