A specialist Military & Police teams event at the 2026 Oceania Championships in Melbourne next month will prove a first for the region, and mark a revived pathway for Oceania nations to compete in future World Military Games.
Taking place on April 19 as a separate event within the Continental Championship, the inaugural Military and Police Teams event will showcase one or two Australian teams contesting one or two teams made of representatives from other OJU nations. Participants will be grouped into broad weight categories following the IJF Teams Judo weight categories. (Download the Event Guide.)
Eligible participants include judoka of any gender graded about San kyu, who are serving or have served in military, military reserves, police, border force or equivalent, and who were born or are citizens of the OJU member nations (as listed).
Paul Nelson, Military and Police Commissioner for the Oceania Judo Union, hopes the Continental championship will provide a springboard to revitalising interest in competitive judo as a valid option for active duty and retired service men and women.
“In Australia, we’ve seen the Army offering unprecedented support of young judoka to help them combine a career in the Army with high performance judo. Not only is that good for judo, it’s a good recruiting tool for competitive judoka who should be considering the Forces for their future.”
Details of the wider Oceania Championships are here. Enquiries about the Military and Police Teams Event should be directed to Paul at militaire@oceaniajudo.com, with entries to be submitted via the Military and Police Event competition management system.
The joy and fellowship of teams judo will provide new competitive pathways for military personnel via the Teams event at the 2026 Oceania Championships.
