Well, a lot can happen in 6 weeks at Atos UK! Since we last updated on here, we’ve won 7 major European medals, crowned 2 European Champions, and nearly finished kitting out our new Solihull academy ready for our grand opening at the end of this month! So where do we begin…
Euros Catch-Up
The last time we spoke on here, Professor Tom was off to compete at the No-Gi European Championships and had an incredible run whilst he was there, achieving a Bronze European Medal and some amazing submissions in his qualifier matches. Unfortunately, during his highly-anticipated semi-final match with BJJ legend Rafael Lovato Jr, a heavy landing on a takedown resulted in a severe shoulder injury that took Tom out of the rest of the championship. It was a frustrating moment given how excited Tom had been to fight Lovato, someone he has always respected as a legend in the sport, but it seems it wasn’t meant to be that day. But this of course will never be the last you see of Professor Tom on the competition stage. Whilst he lets his shoulder heal and works to finish the Solihull academy ready for the grand opening, he’s still training as hard as ever ready to enter the competition stage soon and coaching the teens and adults at the academy ready for their championship competitions.
And speaking of major championships, we had an incredible run at the Kids IBJJF Europeans in Lisbon in October, with every competitor winning a medal. Our Yellow and White belt teen, Billie, returned as current European Champion and went on to win her second European title in a row! On top of that, we had a brand-new European champion crowned with our Grey and White belt teen, Kian. We also had standout performances from two of our juniors Elliott and Alicia who fought through multiple matches in their brackets to reach the finals and secure their silver medals, only being inches away from achieving a gold. And finally we had Lillie, Sai and Liam competing in their first major competition, putting on incredible performances to achieve silver and bronze medals between them. The amazing work of our teens meant that Atos Jiu Jitsu finished second in the rankings for the Teens category and third overall in the entire championship! As an academy, we couldn’t be prouder of the work our incredibly talented and resilient teens put in and the amazing way they represented themselves and the team. Not only did they all come away with medals, but the experience gave all of them a new level of personal growth and achievement, teaching them that they can go far beyond the limits they place on themselves and that they can make their dreams possible with hard work and determination. At Atos UK, that is all we strive to build in every child, teen, and adult who walks through our doors and it makes all of us on the team so happy to see that come to fruition.
And to give you an insight into the experience of competing at the Kids Europeans, we spoke to our newly crowned champion, Kian, about his experience competing and travelling with his teammates!
We of course also have to give a special shoutout to Sami, Guv and Leo who competed at the Lisbon open on the same weekend and all medalled themselves. An unbelievably successful and amazing weekend with the team and an extra special moment seeing Guv and Leo as father and son competing together at a tournament. It’s these heartwarming personal moments that we live for at Atos UK and the feeling of bringing family together through the sport and what we do is the most special of all.
Solihull
Our grand opening for Atos Solihull on 21st December is fast-approaching with it being just 1 week away, and the team have been incredibly hard at work! It’s of course come with some chaotic fun as it always does with Team Atos and Professor Tom, but we wouldn’t have it any other way!
In the space of 2 months we’ve gone from an office building to a nearly complete Jiu-jitsu gym, with everything ripped out and done from scratch. We’re now at the point where the lights and speakers are in, the floor has been built, the ceiling has been ripped out and re-done, everything has been painted, the changing rooms have been built (with some incredible showers) and our reception area is ready to be installed. The last thing we’re waiting on now is the mats! It’ll be a last minute sprint to the finish but it’s all coming together and we can’t wait for you to see it! To see the process so far and how we got here, watch our latest documentary video and get an insight into all things Solihull before we open! We can’t wait to see you all soon!
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