Judo boss Guillaume Elmont: “With good trainers, the first question is: what is my salary?”

For Guillaume Elmont (43), the Judo world championships, this week in Budapest, are a kind of reunion. Everywhere the former world champion acquaintances. The best thing was to see again with his former South Korean rival Yong-Woo Kwon. “He suddenly gave me a hug,” says Elmont on a bench in the morning in the still extinct mixed zone of the Papp László stadium. It was a new experience. “It used to be Not Done. Then we were really enemies. ”

Many people stick to the judo world: former judokas become coaches such as Kwon. Or drivers, such as Elmont. He has been director of the Dutch Judo Bond (JBN) since May, after working at Ajax for years as a psychologist and Performance Coach.

He has focused on the long -term. Elmonts’s assignment is to get the Dutch judo back on track. The union does not expect that this will be possible in the short term: the final goal is not the Games of Los Angeles (2028), but those of Brisbane (2032). No matter how far away that sounds: Elmont wants to take the first steps now.

That is why he is here in Budapest for networking. He normally finds that a tiring affair. “But I know everyone here. It’s just like I’m stepping out of a time machine. Getting off someone is very easy.”

With different countries he has already spoken about training camps and other collaborations. Then foreign judokas come to Papendal, or the Dutch go to countries such as Japan, Korea or Spain to spar with top judokas. That is absolutely necessary, says Elmont. “Judo is more than people think a team sport. You are always dependent on training partners.” You prefer to have them from all over the world, to stay sharp on all different judo styles.

Those training camps, that is going well, says Elmont. “Everyone wants to.” But his other network target of this World Cup proves more difficult: the search for new coaches. “I also notice that among other Western European countries. They too had difficulty.”

Emergency

That search has been going on for months. The previous group of Olympic coaches had to leave, after the Dutch team returned for the first time since 1984 without a medal from the Summer Games in Paris. The judokas who are on the mat here in Budapest have coaches who have temporarily moved to the highest level.

But the search appears to be more difficult than expected. Only a handful of people responded to vacancies. Those were not the desired experienced forces, he says, but ambitious young people with mainly experience among the juniors. And the junior circuit is “almost a different branch of sport,” says Elmont. “You get far with talent for the juniors. It is very opportunistic, while Judo is very businesslike and tactical among the seniors.”

The union also approached people. “But with good trainers the first question is: what is my salary and what is my performance bonus?” According to him, some coaches even asked between $ 10,000 or $ 20,000 a month. A thing kind of amounts would be paid in Eastern Europe, he heard. Judo is a serious matter in countries such as Russia or Azerbaijan, and also in France, for example, there is a lot of money in it. The Dutch Association has a more limited budget. No performance bonuses either? “Haha. No.”

Yet Elmont is not pessimistic. The Netherlands is known as a pleasant country to work for, he says. And it has traditionally has a good judo suits. “The image appeals. It is a bit less now, but we belonged to the world top. I spoke this week a Japanese who immediately started about Anton Geesink and Wim Ruska.” Fifty years later that still lives, he says.

He asks around as much as possible, here in Budapest. “You just say that you are looking for a senior coach. Do you know anyone? Do you have names?” Elmont says he has already received promising tips. For example, there appears to be a couple of Germans who is not under contract now. “They were already in conversation with other countries, but there is someone in between that we could do something.” Incidentally, it doesn’t have to be foreign coaches, but no Dutch people have reported yet.

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Lean years

Elmont grew up as an athlete in a flowering time of Dutch judo. He achieved his world title twenty years ago in Cairo. The same tournament also became Edith Bosch and Dennis van der Geest world champion. Five years earlier, during the Sydney Games (2000): the Olympic gold of Mark Huizinga. For years it rained medals. Only the period of Geesink and Ruska can match it.

Meanwhile, loser years have arrived. The Netherlands still has talented judokas, but no longer a stable, dominant position in the world top. Apart from exceptions: Sanne van Dijke proved her class again on Tuesday by winning her third World Cup bronze.

Was his time so exceptional? Or is this time that? “Both,” says Elmont. According to him, it cannot be seen separately. The Dutch judo was formed for decades by a handful of very successful top trainers, in particular the now deceased Chris de Korte, Willem Visser and Cor van der Geest (Elmont trained with the latter). They also worked for the union in periods, but initially they were affiliated with their own judo schools.

Elmont: “My explanation for this time is that a lot of knowledge has been lost because there has been little knowledge transfer from the old generation to the new one.” The establishment of the top sports program on Papendal, in 2016, contributed to that. “I understand that the new generation was not open to that knowledge transfer. Then you have to reinvent the wheel.” The new coaches will soon have to work together, he says. Together, with other coaches, with the judo schools that have to play a greater role again.

And further, what type of coach is he looking for? A kind of Francesco Farioli, the former Ajax coach: ambitious, young, modern? Well no, says Elmont. Farioli is not far enough for him. “He must have proven himself with different medals.” Someone with a lot of experience in the senior circuit, who can guide the athletes well when they are under high pressure, such as here at the world championships.

And someone who can take Dutch judokas to a higher level, technically and in particular tactical. Because there is still a lot to be gained, says Elmont. In recent years he saw many seniors who made “junior errors” on the mat. “They all have to get out of the system. At this level, mistakes are punished hard.”

In addition: Older, successful judokas also need a coach who is tactically strong. Because, and Elmont knows this from his own experience, who once fought to the world top, is also closely monitored throughout the world. As soon as you have success, everyone will analyze your fighting style behind the comma. “You can’t think: what is good enough today is good enough tomorrow. No, you have to continue to develop.”

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