During the European Judo Championships for U23s in Hungary, a meeting was held at the highest level of the Croatian Judo Federation and the European Judo Union. The result of the months-long agreement is confirmation that the European Judo Championship for U23s will be held in the City of Poreč in 2020!
Quality work and insistence on excellence is always worthwhile, which is also the case for the many years of great events in Croatia, and especially Istria. In the world of judo, a sport which is trained by more than 40 million people a day, Poreč is already a well-known destination, reports HRTurizam on November 8, 2018.
After organizing the European Veterans Championship in 2010, the European U20 Championships in 2012, and the great Judo Festival for the last three years, Poreč will resume its judo fame in 2020 at Žatika hall for the European Judo Championships for U23s.
“I am very excited that the best Europeans in judo up to 23 years of age will come to Poreč in 2020. It is the fruit of the great work of the Croatian judo association, the local community and partners, who on every occasion proved to be top hosts and impeccable organizers,” said Sergej Solovejčik, president of European Judo Union, after meeting with Sanda Čorak, president of the Croatian Judo Federation and Hrvoje Lindij, the Secretary General of the Croatian Judo Federation.
This year’s European Championship for U23s, held from November 2 to 4 in Gyóró, Hungary, gathered 300 judoists from 37 European countries, which is extremely important as it shows the better quality of the juniors’ transition into the senior competition and the popularization of Judo as a sport.
“We are proud to host another major European event and, as I pointed out at the meeting, we hope that this European Championship and the entire preparatory period will continue with activities that attract more children in Istria and the rest of Croatia to judo, work on gender equality in sport and encourage more engagement in physical activity. Together with the City of Poreč, the Poreč Tourist Board and the Istria County Tourist Board, Plava Laguna d.d. and our other partners, I believe that this championship will be remembered as one of the best organized,” said Sanda Čorak.
It is important to point out that apart from the 300 judoists, there will also be a lot of accompanying staff; from coaches, journalists, federation representatives, and fans who will be following this competition. Also, continuing to organize sporting events of this manner gives seriousness and professionalism to the entire destination, as well as confirmation that it can organize great sporting events by all standards, which will only bring even more serious sporting events in the future and create a competitive advantage over other destinations.
An excellent example of sports tourism this year was in Umag where from June 29 to July 8, the World Junior Karate Championships were held, where more than 3,000 participants, primarily athletes, delegates, judges and their followers from more than 100 countries, brought in some 18 to 20,000 overnight stays.
Sports tourism stretches far beyond football, and hosting these “smaller” sporting events is a step in the right direction.
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