Judo contest in honour of young player

A STUDENT who was “deeply moved” by the story of a fellow judo player with an inoperable brain tumour is holding a charity tournament in Cardiff.

Simon Goodman, 43, a student at Edinburgh University, decided to do something for Jamie MacDonald after meeting on the university judo circuit.

Aged just 24, Jamie, from Maesteg, who represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014, was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour despite never having any signs anything was wrong.

Two years ago, Jamie was told he had three to five years left to live after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

After finding out about Jamie’s diagnosis, Simon got in touch and asked what he could do to help.

Simon said: “I’ve known Jamie through university judo because he was at Cardiff University and then Exeter and I met him at the Commonwealth Games. I found out through Facebook he’d been diagnosed with a brain tumour and it upsets everyone because he’s so young, so athletic, so agile.

“I’ve been following his blog for the past two years and what I decided to do was to look at doing what I could do to raise money for a brain tumour charity. I spoke to Jamie and said this is what I want to do and said what charity would you want to do it for, and he said the Brain Tumour Charity.

“I thought I’d do a judo tournament because it will get people involved and also it will raise awareness and everyone can have a good day, but also raise money for charity.”

The event, being held on June 17 at the Sport Wales National Centre in Cardiff, will see competitors from across the UK compete in three age categories to be crowned champion.

Jamie will be guest of honour and will give out the medals.

As well as the tournament, a raffle and auction is also being held to raise as much money as possible. Among the prizes are a top signed by the GB judo team who competed at the Olympic Games in Rio, a scrapbook signed by judo sporting icons and a signed T-shirt from rowing star Dame Katherine Grainger..

Simon says he’s been overwhelmed by the support from the competitors in the sport across the country to try to help one of their own.

He said: “It’s brought the judo community together.”

Jamie said: “I’m looking forward to the competition, even though it’s something I’d obviously rather compete in than just promote to others.

“I think that it can raise a lot of awareness for brain tumours nationally within the judo community while simultaneously raising much needed funds for research.

“I’m hoping to be there on the day to see how it all goes and my brother who hasn’t fought in a decade is even thinking of dusting off his competition kit and having a scrap to mark the occasion.”

To donate, visit www.gofundme. com/braintumour-charity-judotournament