Irish Judo Great leaves the Mat, Soro Mate

[PADYMURPHY]

One of the founding fathers of Judo in Ireland died in hospital in Donegal on
Thursday morning after a long illness.
Jack Carabine was born in Belfast and became a founder member of the North's
first judo club, the Yamadakwai in St. Peter's Hill Belfast. He quickly won his
Black Belt in competitions throughout Ireland and Britain. After Judo gained
Olympic recognition at the 1964 Tokio Games, Jack began to use his considerable
talents as a coach.
The newly created N.I. Sports Council recognised this in 1975 when he became
the first Coach Development Officer for voluntary sport in Northern Ireland.
Judo developed in leaps and bounds, in schools and colleges around the North,
in each of the newly opened Council Leisure Centres, for men and women, boys
and girls.
Jack Carabine was at the heart of this development, taking classes everywhere,
at all hours, supported by a strong committee of volunteers within the N.I.
Judo Federation (NIJF). Within five years there were judo classes and strong
clubs based in every Leisure Centre in N. Ireland.
He embarked with the financial support of the Sports Council, on a far sighted
and ambitious programme of Coach and Referee Education, which became a model
for the development of other sports. He was a key figure at the annual Easter
Schools of Sport in Coleraine University, where his dedication to Judo, and
sports coaching in general, was balanced by a warm sense of humour and a wealth
of musical talent that made him the centre of social life after hard training
in the Bushmills School.
His lasting achievement for the NIJF was the organisation of the Commonwealth
Judo Championships at Coleraine in March 1988. But he had been the inspiration
for Irish Olympians such as Terry Watt from Derry (1972) and Belfast pair Sean
Sullivan (1996) and Ciaran Ward (1992 and 1996), World Schools champion Stephen
McCluskey (Belfast) and many GB team members such as Avril Malley (Dungannon),
as well as colleagues throughout Ireland such as Charlie Hegarty, Paddy Murphy,
and Olympic Council supremo Pat Hickey. His international respect was such that
judo teams from Denmark, Norway, Canada and New Zealand regularly visited
Ireland during the 80s "to play judo in the Dojos that Jack built" .
Throughout his career his devoted wife Mary was by his side, often helping with
refereeing and medical affairs. His son Brendan, and daughters Una and Deirdre
were regularly in attendance and, took on organisational responsibilities as
the years went on.
Jack's health deteriorated after he retired in 1992, and his family spent more
time in their holiday home in Donegal allowing him to exercise another passion
in his life - fishing.
He was a thoroughly dedicated and professional sportsman, an excellent example
of Olympian integrity, a father figure and great friend to many in Judo, and a
wise counsellor to those in other sports who had the great privilege to know
him and learn from him.
P. O'Murchu
Health Happiness and Pecae into the New Millennium, Paddy, Marie, Helen Lara
and Mark Murphy