Judo - Historical African assignment for Ravi Valmont |18 December 2019

Seychellois referee Valmont (in suit) refereeing a fight

For the first time ever in the history of Seychelles judo, one of our local officials received a formal invitation to bring his expertise at a high level continental event, rubbing shoulders with top referees from the continent.

A referee for the past 20 years after retiring as an athlete in 1999, Ravi Valmont, who now possesses a grade A referee licence from the African Judo Union (AJU), was recently in Cameroon and Senegal where he officiated at two Senior African Judo Open Championships.

It is to note that Seychelles received two invitations, but unfortunately Terry Mothé could not make it due to work commitment.

Being one of the highest competitions to be held on the continent, the events brought together top judokas from all over the world as it awards points needed for the Olympic qualification.

Normally, a referee would accompany a judo team to African tournaments as per requirement of the AJU, while some are invited as participating referee as in the case of Mr Valmont.

In Yaoundé, Cameroon, the competition was held from November 9-10, gathering athletes from 24 countries from Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa.

The competition was open for senior judokas only and it should be noted that fighters were competing for points awarded for participation in the forthcoming Olympic Games, therefore the level of competition was very high.

As a participating referee, Mr Valmont was involved in different eliminatory bouts including semifinals proving he was worthy to be chosen to officiate in the medal-contest bouts, including the finals – two as judge and one as referee.

From Yaoundé, Mr Valmont moved to Dakar, Senegal for his second assignment from November 16-17.

Once again, after eliminatory bouts including semifinals, he was chosen to officiate in the medal-contest bouts, precisely the finals where he officiated twice as a judge and twice as referee.

Commenting on his overseas mission, Mr Valmont noted that refereeing at such a level is not an easy task and referees are tested during preliminary bouts.

He explained that some are chosen to continue officiating based on their performance and the level of the commission rating system, while others are removed from the list.

Mr Valmont further added that having been chosen for the finals was not a privilege as all referees gave their best in order to be selected.

He also added that it was a responsibility to ensure high degree performances as all the judokas in the tournaments were highly trained, made a lot of sacrifices and high expenses to be able to take part, with the sole aim of qualifying for the Olympics.

“With that in mind, I was conscious that I had to apply all my knowledge and give the best of myself and this was exactly what I did, as proven with more responsibilities from the Yaoundé open,” he explained.

“Having participated in the African championship (Cape Town, South Africa) earlier in the year where I refereed in finals, my successful participations in the African Judo Open proves that Seychelles can produce top quality referees given the chance to participate in international competitions,” added Mr Valmont who also noted that, despite the fact that the local athletes have not been able to reach finals at such level of competitions, Seychelles has managed to make it through its referees.

“I now implore the local sport authorities to give opportunities to the referees to continue to participate in international competitions yearly, in order to maintain and improve on their level, taking into account the fact that we have now rubbed shoulders with the top referees on the continent,” noted Mr Valmont, who added that we now have to stamp our name permanently and move to the next level.

The Seychellois referee will be attempting his International Judo Federation (IJF) Licence A next year and if successful, he will be entitled to officiate at world championships and Olympic Games.

He has thanked everyone who has made this possible for the Seychelles Judo Federation and himself.