20 May 2019: As an 18-year-old, Joshua Katz was the youngest judo competitor at the 2016 Rio Olympics, not just within the Australian team, but also across every competing nation. To make it even more significant, Josh became Australia’s youngest ever Judoka at an Olympic Games.
For Josh it was an experience he didn’t fully comprehend at the time. It wasn’t until some time later that he gave himself space to reflect on what was a surreal moment in his life.
He is now using that experience in a bid to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This task is now easier, at least in terms of funding, as Josh is one of 10 UC students securing a $10,000 Eldon and Anne Foote Scholarship for elite athletes studying at the University of Canberra.
For Josh, he believes the scholarship will enable him to reach his potential. This is not just in his chosen sport of Judo as, according to Josh, “It benefits my studies and allows me to compete at this level. In Judo it is hard to train alone. You need to be training against others at your level, most of whom are overseas, and this requires travel.”
He combines training and competition with studying for his Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science/ Bachelor of Sports Management degree. Josh is based in Sydney and is completing the theory section of his degree online. For the practical section he will travel to Canberra. It hasn’t been easy. For Josh it has become a juggling act to ensure he stays on top.
Finishing school in 2015, Josh accepted an offer to study at UC in 2016, only to find himself in the middle of attempting to qualify for Rio. He then opted to defer his start at university until 2017. He says UC has really helped this happen, “The University has been very helpful with assessments when I have been overseas training and competing for several months”.
There have been times of stress though with often a reliance on family financial support to reach his goals in sport.
For the next 12 months the anxiety associated with securing funds to head overseas has been allayed thanks to the Eldon and Anne Foote Scholarship.
