Judo in High School Curriculums, High School Judo Options

[Judoforlife]

Does the USJA have a High School Judo committee? Anyone who knows of any High Schools in the US that have integrated Judo into the curriculum please list here. Anyone that has any past experiance at going through the process of integrating Judo into a High School curriculum i.e. PE credit I would appreciate some info on your experiances in this. Background info on existing programs in High Schools such as qualifications for instructors/teachers, syllabus, etc.

Our local High School has PE classes such as weight lifting and Yoga, I would think that something like Judo would be an exciting additional choice for students and ofcourse a good way to generate new prospective Judoka. Thinking on this, a Judo curriculum for High School could easily go beyond just techniques, it could include history and origins, philosophy of Judo, terminology, etc., could make for a very rich syllabus in a structured and daily schedule environment in a High Shool program. Maybe a semester, testing on techniques, history, etc. and earn a Yellow Belt at the end .... something like that.

If there is a USJA High School Committee, hopefully maybe they have a resource packet with references to facts and data for presentation to School Boards such as:

Safety of Judo compared to other physical activities/sports
Benefits of Judo in creating self confidence and a cooperative mindset
Physical Educational benefits of Judo
Currculum Templates
Testimonials from other schools systems which have successfully integrated Judo into their curriculums
Testimonials from other educational peers on the benefits of Judo
etc.

I know its somewhat common as a PE credit in Universities, a friend of mine teaches the class at New Mexico State University as a PE credit along with having a University Judo Club. Provided there are adequate resources, instructors, mats, etc. I cant see why it couldnt be integrated into a High School curriculum?


This post has been edited by Judoforlife: Jun 23 2008, 10:59 PM