"We learned first hand what it is like to be a woman practising judo in a West African country, from four judoka who participated in a judo session on the occasion of the practical part of the IJF Academy course in Sierra Leone. The session took place in truly modest conditions, in an open-air dojo where we had the opportunity to see a judo demonstration by a small women's team. Being a female judoka in Sierra Leone does not come without challenges and through conversation we learned that there is a certain level of discrimination, unfortunately present in all aspects of life.
However, everyone highlighted unanimously that doing judo is an excellent way to overcome these obstacles and build strength and confidence. For some, the motivation to take up judo is that it is a valuable tool for women in developing self-defence skills and building self-respect.
All the participants underlined that prejudices among some people who believe that judo is not a sport for women because it involves physical combat, disappear after the judoka demonstrate their knowledge. Everyone pointed out that their role model is Koroma Mariama, who represented Sierra Leone at the Olympic Games in Paris.
The main problems are training conditions and education. These link to the wishes of all these dedicated athletes who want to develop in judo, wishing to achieve sports results and educate themselves ready to pass on their knowledge to younger generations.
The national judo federation wants to invest in greater popularisation and to increase the quality of women's judo, giving us hope that Sierra Leone will certainly be heard in the future.
The President of the Sierra Leone Judo Federation, Mr Idrissa Massaquoi, pointed out that they have about 20 women practising the sport actively but their goal is to increase that number, which they can only achieve in co-operation with the National Olympic Committee and the IJF."
This will to invest in women is one of the keys to the future success of judo in Sierra Leone, a country that has been through very difficult times in the recent past. Talking about the future while building on the present will bring more success to judo and judoka in Sierra Leone and in the whole region.