Open letter from Tim Bealde,
Dear SO friends,
I congratulate the Dutch SO team with their results at the European SO judo games in Belgium. 20 competitors and 10 times gold great.
Well my friends let me come to the point, I wasn’t there not because I did a successful exam for my black belt. Yes I succeed and did it well according to the JBN exam committee; you can read my report on my own site here thank you.
The main reason was because I’m a physical disabled I use a wheelchair in normal live but I’m able to “walk” a short distance.
I always a little disappointed when my friends which I normally compete in the Dutch competition, go to an international event where I’m not welcome due my handicap.
I spoke about this with my friend Steven, who’s a member of our Dutch VI-squad and selected for the European Championships this year. Well he advised me to talk to Ben so I did and he told me for good old Tim no officially judo events. Live is tough, I’m able to go to Sweden, but not recognise by EJU or IPC that I’m a judoka who also got the right to compete in official competition.
My biggest grieve is that there are a lot of “judo-experts” who know what’s best for me but never ask my opinion, I sincerely hope that will change in the future by writing this open letter
Tim Bealde
1 DAN
