Special Needs Module Overview

The JudoManager Special Needs Module is designed to support the organization of judo competitions for athletes with special needs. It is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme and aims to promote inclusivity and fairness in judo events across Europe and beyond.



Special Needs competitions use the same grouping system as regular competitions, where athletes are grouped based on their weight and age category. However, the Special Needs module extends this functionality with additional fields that are crucial for this type of event:

1. Remarks – additional notes that can help organizers during the divisioning process. These remarks are not used as sorting criteria but provide useful context.

2. Special Needs Content Type – allows classification of the type of special needs (e.g., intellectual, physical, sensory).

3. Special Needs Level – indicates the athlete’s functional level, which can help ensure fairer group assignments.

These fields allow organizers to make more informed decisions during divisioning and promote a safer and more balanced competitive environment.

Accreditation Process

During the accreditation phase, organizers can add, confirm, or remove athletes. Within this interface, they can also enter all relevant athlete details, including the fields mentioned above. This step ensures that all necessary information is gathered before the competition begins.

Weigh-in and Grouping

Athletes should be weighed in using the Weigh-In tab or the dedicated Weigh-In Module to ensure proper grouping based on both weight and Special Needs Level. Once all data is entered and verified, organizers can use the grouping system to create fair and balanced groups. Groups can be created automatically based on weight and other parameters or manually adjusted as needed.

Draw and Competition Management

After groups are created, the competition proceeds to the Draw phase, where athletes within each group are drawn into matches. The draw process works just like in standard competitions but uses the custom groups created through the Special Needs system.

For managing live matches, the competition can use the Scoreboard Module and Scoreboard Display to display and control match progress.

💡 Group creation works the same way as in standard competitions, making it easy for users already familiar with the grouping system.

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