Normandy judo is in shock at the latest revelation concerning the Perrey-Guerrier club. After 4 years in a dojo in Le Havre, the owner, Club Nautique Havrais, decided to set up a boxing club. The club without a dojo finds itself in a difficult position.
A hard blow for the Perrey-Guerrier club
After training one of France’s young talents, Luka Mkheidze, recent bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympic Games. The club’s 140 members are forced to train in the Jeanne d’Arc school canteen, more than 2km from the usual dojo. Yes, you read that right, it’s the only temporary solution the Perrey-Guerrier club has been able to find. The 44m² canteen room temporarily accommodates the club’s various judo classes, which are held in small groups.
Complicated alternatives
The Dojo-less club tried to find new premises with Le Havre town hall. One of the solutions proposed to the Perrey-Guerrier club was to reserve time slots for them in another dojo in the town. Very good initiative, but the problem is that it’s more than 4 km from the usual dojo. The club believes that by accepting this solution, “we would lose 70% of our membership”. The problem is that there is no vacant infrastructure in the city center to accommodate the club.
An end that seems inevitable
Club leader Thomas Destin, 3rd dan in judo, is at a loss for words. “It’s sickening. How can we fight against a town council that doesn’t want to see us continue?”. It will be closing its doors at the end of the season in June and moving on to new adventures in a new region, Angoulême.
The Perrey-Guerrier club is one of our original partners who have always supported us. We equip them with our various judo kimonos. We hope that the young people from Le Havre will be able to find a club that will welcome them back with open arms.
