Head Coach – Jason Koster
Jason’s judo career started at the age of 9. After being too shy to get on the mat and join his brother, father Rob dragged him on and the rest is history.
Upon returning to Christchurch in 2005, Jason was left with the task of rebuilding the Canterbury Judo scene. Fast forward to now and he has coached multiple athletes to New Zealand representative level on top of taking a number of athletes through to their black belts.
Jason’s competitive was equally impressive. Alongside wife Moira, they both achieved an unprecedented 3x medals in 3 consecutive World Cup events in South America. This on top of a bronze medal at the 2014 commonwealth games led to Jason once being ranked inside the top 30 Judoka in the world. Jason recently retired after his final swan song in the 2022 Commonwealth games.
Jason is also known for his terrible dad jokes, puns and questionable taste in music so if you can look past all of that he’ll take you where you need to go with your judo.
Assistant Coach – Moira Koster
Moira Koster (nee De Villiers) is arguable the most successful New Zealand Judoka of the modern era. A Double Olympian, Moira’s career has been full of highlights including a Silver Medal at the 2014 Commonwealth games. In 2022 she had an unprecedented run winning 7 international medals in 7 outings on the world stage including a Commonwealth Games Bronze.
You will see Moira around helping with the kids program, talking to parents or training herself as she continues her competitive career.
Off the mat, Moira enjoys time with her family and also plays competitive football. If you really want to get in her good books bring a bubble tea and chocolate to training and she’ll be your friend for life!
Team Captain – Elliott Connolly
One of the hardest workers you will meet, team captain Elliott Connolly has burst onto the international scene over the past few years. Currently the number one ranked -90kgs fighter in the country. Elliott has trained and competed overseas extensively and has won medals at Oceania and World Cup Level.
While Elliott’s focus is firmly on his competitive career, you will always find him giving back before and after his own sessions helping the club members working on there techniques or giving them the motivation push when needed!
Elliott was a member of the 2022 Commonwealth Games team and is an active fighter on the international scene.
