Press Release – 27th February 2023
The Irish Judo Association wish to announce that our Performance Director, Ciaran Ward, is stepping down from his role to take up a position with Sport Ireland as their Head of High-Performance Coaching.
We want to thank Ciaran for all his service to judo in Ireland over many years, especially, performance judo. Ciaran was a two-time Olympian as a competitor, the lead coach for Irish judoka at two Olympic Games, Irish National Squad coach at every level and most recently Performance Director. Irish Judo is indebted to the work and development Ciaran has done. We wish him every success in his new role but know that he will still be active in Irish Judo as coach with his club, Yamakwai.
In the interim the position of Performance Manager will be filled by Sharon Madigan BSc, MSc, PhD, until such time as the position is advertised and appointment made. Sharon works as Head of Nutrition for the Irish Institute of Sport since 2010, responsible for the co-ordination of nutrition support services to elite athletes and lead service delivery to a number of national governing bodies. Sharon will continue in her role with Sport Ireland and fulfil her duties as Performance Manager with the IJA on a part-time basis.
