Sharjah and Kalba Women’s Sports Clubs have concluded a joint judo training camp with a high-level French judo team, held from 26 December 2025 to 4 January 2026 at the Sharjah Women’s Sports Olympic Centre.
The camp formed part of an intensive technical programme aimed at developing the athletes’ physical and technical levels, enhancing international exposure, and supporting preparations for upcoming competitions, most notably the 8th Arab Women Sports Tournament, scheduled to take place in early February.
The French delegation included 22 athletes aged between 12 and 16, accompanied by a highly experienced technical team, including Olympic champion and high-performance coach Larbi Benboudaoud. More than 55 athletes from Sharjah and Kalba Women’s Sports Clubs also took part in the joint programme, creating a rich and competitive training environment with diverse age groups, weight categories, and technical levels.
The camp carried particular significance as it marked the first international exposure experience for a number of athletes whose judo experience does not exceed three years, making it a key milestone in their development pathway. The total training load exceeded 24 hours, combining specialized judo sessions with physical preparation programmes, allowing the athletes to train according to the demands of modern competition.
The technical programme focused on strengthening the core fundamentals of judo, improving performance quality, and building a solid foundation for the athletes’ long-term development. Training sessions combined technical work on the tatami with practical application during sparring rounds, while also providing valuable opportunities for direct interaction and knowledge exchange. This allowed the athletes to gain important field experience and adapt to different fighting styles.
On the physical preparation side, the sessions focused on developing general endurance, motor coordination, and the athletes’ ability to adapt to the volume and intensity of training loads. This contributed to improving their physical readiness and ability to maintain performance throughout bouts.
The camp also included mental and educational components, with emphasis placed on mental resilience, sporting discipline, healthy lifestyle habits, and the importance of recovery and rest as essential elements in building athletes capable of long-term growth and future competitiveness. These aspects were reflected in the athletes’ ability to maintain their performance levels despite fatigue.
Soria Haddad, Technical Director of Judo at Sharjah Women’s Sports clubs, said the camp represented an important technical milestone in the athletes’ preparation journey, particularly during the early stages of development. She noted that direct exposure to a different judo school contributed to raising the athletes’ technical and physical standards, improving their decision-making speed during bouts, and strengthening their mental readiness.
She added that free sparring sessions and the diversity of training partners played a key role in refining the athletes’ skills and building their confidence, in line with the clubs’ preparation plans for upcoming local and international competitions.
The camp also serves as a practical extension of the specialized training course organized by Sharjah Women’s Sports last October under the supervision of Olympic champion and high-performance coach Larbi Benboudaoud, which focused on developing the skills of judo coaches across the organization’s clubs. This connection between technical capacity-building for coaches and field application with athletes reflects an integrated vision aimed at transforming coaching knowledge into practical outcomes that are directly reflected in competition performance.
The training camp comes as part of the approach adopted by Sharjah Women’s Sports clubs to build a sustainable development system for women’s judo, based on formation, diverse expertise, and international exposure. It also supports the preparation of a new generation of athletes capable of competing with confidence and representing the UAE with distinction at regional and international levels.
