He won’t be competing in Glasgow, but Daniel Kelly has more than done his bit for the Australian Commonwealth Games campaign.
Kelly is head coach at the Resilience Training Centre in Footscray, which is responsible for training more than half the athletes in the Australian judo team.
The group couldn’t be in better hands with Kelly and his wife Maria Pekli, who is also a judo trainer, having competed in nine Olympic Games between them.
Kelly says it was a thrill for everyone involved with the centre to have so many athletes qualify for Glasgow.
“We have had a pretty strong group for a while,” he said.
“We have a good training structure and I think my wife and I are pretty astute.
“It works well with all of us training together and everyone working towards the same goal. The younger ones are pushing the more experienced ones and I think it really helps.”
Out of the western suburbs base, the seven athletes in Australia’s 13-member judo team are Tom Pappas, 23 (60kg); Ivo Dos Santos, 28 (66kg); Mark Anthony, 24 (90kg); Jake Andrewartha, 24 (100+kg); Hannah Trotter, 22 (52kg); Katharina Haecker, 21 (63kg); and Sara Collins, 23 (70kg).
The judo competition is not a guaranteed Commonwealth Games sport and its inclusion was a decision of the host city.
The last time it was part of a Commonwealth Games was in 2002.
Kelly believes the sport’s inclusion provides a great lead-in to the Olympics.
“This is a bonus for the guys because all bar two of them will continue on and try and qualify for Rio [Olympics, 2016],” he said.
“Having to go to some of the official functions, going to the opening and closing ceremonies and familiarising yourself in a village environment is a great experience.
“A lot of people can get quite star-struck when they go into these sorts of things so it’s good for them to get a bit of experience beforehand.”
The Australian judo team put the finishing touches on its campaign at a training camp in Spain last week before arriving in Glasgow today.
The judo events will begin on July 24.
Kelly highlighted Scotland, Canada and England as the main nations to watch out for in his competition.
“Last time judo was in the Commonwealth Games, Australia won five medals,” he said.
“I’m hoping for at least half of my guys to get medals.”
Liam Twomey
