On Monday 10 August, 2020, our referee Achilleas Georgiou was presented with the Station Commander’s Commendation from RAF Akrotiri for helping establish the Akrotiri Judo Club within the Cyprus Judo Federation and forging ties between it and other clubs in Cyprus.
Congratulations to Achilleas for helping make the Cyprus Judo family even bigger.
Photo shows the Station Commander Group Captain Nikki Thomas OBE MA BEng RAF presenting Achilleas with his commendation
The full text of the citation:
Mr Achilleas Georgiou is recommended for a Station Commander’s Commendation due to his unstinting support and commitment to the development of RAF Akrotiri Judo Club. He is a 4th Dan Black Belt Judo Coach and National Referee for the Cyprus Judo Federation, who has supported and assisted with the rapid development of RAF Akrotiri Judo Club.
He first got in touch with the Club shortly after it officially launched in February 2018. At the time the Club was very much in its infancy and he was instrumental in assisting with the establishment of the Club within the Republic of Cyprus. Without his support and assistance, the Club would have struggled to obtain provisional club status with the Cyprus Judo Federation which has allowed the junior members to attend friendly competitions and training events in the Republic of Cyprus, which has helped with their development. These training events have also sometimes taken the form of ad-hoc events where he has, unprompted, facilitated discussion and helped with the organisation. These have been hugely beneficial.
He has also conducted seminars and training events to explain the rules of the sport in order to ensure members and parents understood them. This was key as it gave them a good appreciation of what to expect in the upcoming competitions, without which they would have struggled to understand what was happening and would have likely not performed to the best of their abilities.
Also, prior to the competition the Club was rapidly developing but did not yet have an identity. He was keen to assist and offered his services to develop logo options at no cost. His involvement led to the Club having an identity which could be used to promote the Club on the international stage.
Earlier this year, he was key to facilitating the Club and visiting British Judo Association Coach, Mr David Cooper, participating and running a training event with the Cypriot National Squad for the first time ever. This was a highly successful event and was testament to his strong coordination and engagement skills.
He has also provided free mentoring and coaching development to the coaches at the Club throughout the last 18 months in order to produce comprehensive training programmes and player development strategies. This has been invaluable particularly given that coach development within the British Judo Association is difficult given the displaced location of the Club.
In addition, as we are within the Cyprus Judo Federation construct, we receive regular emails in Greek informing us of upcoming activities. Unfortunately, this can be tricky to translate at times however, he is always keen to assist and ensures that we do not miss out any key events or opportunities.
Mr Georgiou is a hardworking, selfless individual who continues to give up his free time to enable the development of the Station Judo Club and its coaches. Without his commitment and dedication, I am certain that the Club would not be as successful as it is today.
To acknowledge his selfless dedication and commitment to supporting RAF Akrotiri Judo Club he is nominated for a Station Commander’s Commendation.
