Judo administrator gets continental nod
Local judo administrator, Estony Hattingh- Pridgeon has been re- elected as the Secretary General of Africa Judo Union ( AJU), following the congress which was held last week in Dakar, Senegal. Having held the position of Secretary General from 2016, Hattingh- Pridgeon had a tough challenge this time around since the elections were greatly contested across all the positions which were on offer.
Having been up against Princess Thobile Magagula of Eswatini for the position, HattinghPridgeon won convincingly by 41 votes to nine votes of her opponent. Following the landslide victory, Hattingh- Pridgeon will be on the AJU committee for four years until after the 2024 Paris Olympics games. Following her success, one may wonder how Hattingh- Pridgeon has managed to survive for so long in a male dominated field.
“I would say that my approach from the beginning when I was appointed Communication Director of Africa in 2009 was to take it slowly and to work hard. I find that in judo you need to earn respect of your peers and give them respect. Our team will endeavour to work together and leave a legacy that Africa will be proud of. Our greatest victory is for the values of the game which we firmly make a commitment to safeguard.” She said, emphasizing unity and solidarity in the development of the game.
“Our team is aware of the challenges ahead, but we will try to unite all the countries in Africa and break the entire regional blocks that impede development of the sport,” said HattinghPridgeon in an interview. For the first time in the history of AJU, the elections were popularly contested with 51 member states out of the 53 taking part.
Hattingh- Pridgeon is the only woman in the committee. Having started judo in 1978 in South Africa, Hattingh- Pridgeon moved to Botswana in 2000 and started involving herself in local judo in 2006. In 2009, the 49- yearold was elected Botswana Judo Federation president and served for a record two terms. She is an executive board member of the African Association of Sports Confederations, Commonwealth Judo Association and sits on the International Judo Federation Development and Gender Equity Commission. She has served as the president of Southern Africa Judo Confederation from 2010 until 2018.
There has been stagnant growth on local judo circles with athletes having little success in major tournaments. “I’m hoping that during my second term I will be able to bring the African Judo Secretariat to Botswana, this will to create employment opportunities,” she said.