Friday, 5 April 2019

John F. Kennedy High School alumni Joshter Nathan Andrew has been named to the Ryutsu Keizai University Judo team. Andrew was under the program’s tutelage for two years since graduating from JFK in 2017. Through the program, he learned the Japanese language and passed the University’s entrance exam located in Ryugasaki city in Ibaraki prefecture, Japan where he is officially enrolled majoring in Business Law.

A student and member of the Marianas Judo Association, Andrew has been attending training camps of the International Judo Federation in Budapest, Hungry; Noumea, New Caledonia; Spain; and Houlgate, France. Under the Olympic Solidarity Scholarship, he also competed in the Prague European Open, Oceania Championships, Zagreb Grand Prix, Budapest Grand Prix, World Championships in Baku, Western Australia Open, Oceania Perth Open, Osaka Grand Slam and the Jeju Cup International where he is gaining international points towards his qualification for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Andrew is coached at the RKU by Sensei Takashi Iwasaki and 2012/2016 Fiji Judo Olympian Josateki Naulu, alongside his local mentors 2008/2012 Guam Judo Olympian Sensei Ricardo D. Blas Jr., and Sensei Michael Kohn. The latter two, who hold classes at both the International Sports Center in Anigua and Fudoshin Fitness in Yigo, have invested great effort to develop Andrew to the level he is today, along with the support that comes from his IOC Olympic Solidarity Scholarship, ONOC, and the OSSO/RKU. He is scheduled to compete in the 2019 Asia-Pacific Judo Championships in UAE later this month, the 2019 Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa in July and the 2019 Judo World Championships in Tokyo, Japan in August.