Thank You To Our Visiting Senseis For All Their Help And Guidance!

The SJSU Judo team would like to thank Katsushide Ando of Keio University and Isao Okano of Ryutsu Keizai University for all the time they spent with our team this year. Sensei Ando, accompanied by his wife, Keiko, an international-A referee, returned to San Jose for his yearly visit in December and stayed until early March. Every one in the dojo benefited from his colorful ne-waze explanations and his expertise in stand-up posture and foot techniques. Every year his visits bring our team closer to gaining a true understanding of these techniques and help our athletes prepare for the upcomming tournaments.

Sensei Okano, 1964 Olympic Champion and 2-time All-Japan Champion, came here with his wife, Robin, for a 2 month vacation in Februry to visit their three sons (Tetsu, Ken, and Ryu), relatives in the bay area, and play a little golf. His instruction and expertise as one of the greatest technical judoka who has ever played our sport was a great benefit to our team.

We would like to extend our most sincere gratitude to both of these great men. The benefits our team gains from these visits are too numerous to count. We look forward to seeing them again on their return visits in the near future.

Scholar Athletes and Graduates

This has been a great academic year for our team with Eitan Gelber winning two prestigious scholarships and several of our young men and women graduating. We would like to take this time to recognize these accomplishments.

Graduates:

Cindy Kono, Administration of Justice*
Shana Sugiura, Psycology
Shozo Fukuda, Japanese**
Johan Hult, International Business*
Michael Barnes, San Jose Police Academy
Rosi Bartkowski, Physics & Computer Science*
Tyson Mayeda, Physics
David Williams, Masters in Interncultural Communications
Liliko Ogasawara, Masters in Counseling, Montclair State University

We would like to recognize Rosi Bartkowski & Eitan Gelber for their outstanding performance. Both have maintained grade averages among the highest in their departments and have been named to the "Who's Who of Colleges and Universities" for their outstanding achievement inside and outside the classroom. Rosi also worked as an intern for NASA during her senior year and Eitan was awarded the SJSU Alumni and Mary Bowman Scholarships totaling almost $2000. Eitan will be graduating in December and going on to receive his master's degree. Congratulations to you both!

*Denotes scholar athletes with a 3.0 average of higher. **Denotes in-major 3.0 average or higher.

Alum Steven Lee-- a Winter Olympian?

Yes, it is true. SJSU Team Alum Steven Lee, Chicago, participated in the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics as a member of Taiwan's national bobsled team. Although the team was not a favorite for medal contention, the ammount of hard work and dedication that went into participating exemplifies how success can be measured in standards that go beyond gold, silver, and bronze.

We wish Steven the best and hope that his competitive drive continues to serve him well in the years to come.

Financial Report

The 2001 Operations Fundraiser resulted in contributions of $16,405 while other fundraisers resulted in revenue totaling $20,000. Our total revenue for 2001 was $36,405.

Contributions to the Yoshihiro Uchida Judo Endowment were $79,248 during 2001. The Endowment now totals $95,653. Income from the Endowment was $3,572. This money was transfered to the operating account in June, 2002.

A second endowment was created with monies previously intended for dojo rennovation, not put on hold by the university indefinately. A tital of $315,943 was placed in the SJSU Foundation. Interest on this endowment totaled $13,457.61 and was transferred to the operating account in June, 2002 as well.

As a result of endowment interest revenues, the team again became solvent in June, 2002. It was a very nervous six weeks from early-May and mid-June when we were out of money.

Steve Bonior organized the shark-Byte project, which resulted in $2,263 of the total contribution.

Operations
The 2001/2002 operations net fundraising results were as follows:

Alumni Contributions - $16,405
Golf Tournament - $13,000
Jr. Training Camp - $6,100
Boniour-Keyes Club - $5,000
Collegiate Tournament - $2,500
Total: $43,005

In May of 2002, the Team was out of money and in debt to alumni, friends, and debtors $8,000. Why??

There are now four major U.S. tournaments during the competition year (from September to May). The superior work of our coaching staff and the encouraging response of the athletes to the coaches are resulting in more athletes deservedly qualifying to compete in these events. Of course, this increases travel costs. If the alumni want to continue seeing national team champions, national and international medalists, and U.S. National Team representatives, competition at all four of these events is mandatory, not options.

Team Travel to a major event costs over $10,000.

In addition, there are these expenses:

Coaching - $12,000
Equipment - $12,750
Entry fees - $10,600
Postage - $3,000
Insurance - $2,500
Newsletters - $2,000
Misc. expenses - $1,000

Total: $43,850

Do the math. The team was under funded in 2001/2002. Were it not for the contributions from Uchida Enterprises, Uchida Travel, and the Executive Committee, travel would have been curtailed. The alumni must come to grips with the financial reality of under funding. If you want to win, you must pay the price.

The coaching staff and the athletes have delievered. Alumni, it is our turn. It's up to us. We need $100,000/year of operating money to run the team properly.

2001/2002 Annual Fundraiser

We thank each and every one of you for your generous contribution. It is your generosity that will ensure the future of SJSU Judo.

-Dick Norona
Executive Director
SJSU Judo Executive Committee