Dale Swett, President, Tohoku Judo Club
“I personally have been coming to the Liberty Bell since about the 20th year, I think. My daughter was competing. She started judo, liked it, so we started bringing her to the bigger tournaments, and the LB was the first big tournament she came to.
“The Moyermans were such amazing hosts of an event this size. And this was when it was at the old ghetto high school and it was just an incredible event that ran for two days. We decided we would go every single year. I missed one year due to a death in the family.
“I would come now even if I didn’t have competitors coming. It’s a top quality event not just for the elite level athletes, but it’s top quality with the consistency and quality of the refereeing, the table workers, the other coaches.
“It’s a meet and greet for the entire eastern region I think. And you don’t have to bring just your elite athletes. I had a kid today that has probably been playing for three months, but it was a great exposure to what the judo community is. And I think this embodies the judo community for the entire United States.
“But the Moyermans make this place just absolutely amazing for this many athletes. The organization for the tournament, the weigh-ins, the registration and pre-registration, and now satellite weigh-ins, they have progressively increased and kept up with technology to improve their tournament. There was a slight decrease in attendance when they moved from the old place to the new place and it’s rising right back up again. It’s just a quality event.”
How do you see this as fitting in with your own teaching and coaching at Tohoku?
“We were very fortunate, because when Adam attended college he went to Boston University. So he spent four years at our judo club. We used to call him “the slasher” because if he competed locally he competed for Tohoku. If he competed at bigger events he would put down ‘Liberty Bell/Tohoku for four years.
“We always laughed about it, we appreciated it, but I was so pleased that when he came to the Boston area, he didn’t go to an elite club in the area, he came to what we consider a really good quality family-oriented judo club.
“I think we have great judo, we have great people, and he fit right in. And to this day I get random texts from Adam. He always touches base with me as the Liberty Bell is approaching so it’s on our calendar.
“We do an annual tournament in November, and it’s much smaller, it’s regional, with maybe 250 competitors. We do a little printed program, and I always put the Liberty Bell in there and I try to get the date for the upcoming event in there.
“For us, having Adam join our club for that four years just, I think, brought us a little bit closer to the Liberty Bell family.
“As far as the judo, I think the judo is taught similarly. We train as if everybody’s a top-notch competitor, but not everybody competes. We train that way. And I think that Lou does the same thing with his people. They have a strong family relationship with their juniors and seniors, they train like crazy, but you don’t see them flying off to Azerbaijan or any place else all the time.
“And you get some top-quality ones like Adam or Alaa (El Idrissi) that do. The rest are good quality local players and he’s just developing the next generation of judo, which is what we do, I hope.
