judo Archives - Performance Communications

Sports, Automotive and Technology communications consultancy, Performance Communications, has announced the winner of its BOOST competition to promote women’s sport in the UK.

Two athletes were chosen, 25 year old Jemima Yeats-Brown and 21 year old Kelly Petersen-Pollard. Both compete in the under 70kg category in judo. They also train full time at the British Judo Centre of Excellence in Walsall.

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Nicola McKelvey, head of women’s sport at Performance Communications, said: “The judges were hugely impressed with all of the entries. However Jemima and Kelly both stood out. Their passion for their sport and for what women can achieve in what is typically seen as an aggressive male sport was really inspiring. I can’t wait to start working with them.”

Kelly Petersen-Pollard said: “I started doing judo when I was four and I’ve been training full time for the past two years. Growing up I was inspired by people like Denise Lewis and Kelly Holmes. I hope to be able to inspire young girls throughout my journey and in the future, to take up any sport and challenge themselves whilst enjoying what they’re doing. I’m really excited about being picked as one of the BOOST winners – it’s even better being a joint winner as I get to work with my fellow Judoka Jemima.”

Jemima Yeats-Brown said: “It’s been a tough few years for me in terms of my injuries but I have just competed in my first tournament for 600 days. I love fighting and I love winning and I want other girls to see that as a good thing. I’m looking forward to working with Performance Communications, alongside Kelly, to find out how we can promote ourselves and our sport to a wider audience.”

The winners will benefit from £20,000 worth of consultancy over six months, including media training, a social media workshop from digital agency Frisson Creative, sponsorship consultancy with WH Sports and a mentoring session with two-time Olympic gold medallist Victoria Pendleton.

Athlete Biographies

Jemima Yeats-Brown

Jemima was born in Kent in July 1995. She started doing judo when she was 13, after being told she wasn’t elegant enough to be an elite gymnast. She moved to Walsall when she was 18 and studied sports science at Wolverhampton University. In 2018, she finished fifth in the World Championships in Baku. She also took gold at the European Open in Rome in the same year.

Having gone through three ACL reconstructions and six surgeries, she is back competing after 600 days recovering from her latest injury. Her aim is to go to the Commonwealth Games 2022 and Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Kelly Petersen-Pollard

Kelly was born in Birmingham in April 1999. She has been doing judo since she was 4 years old. In 2019, she became Junior European Champion -70kg and finished the year as the junior female athlete with the most European junior medals. She joined the senior team in 2020 and took gold at Senior European Open Portugal. Then in 2021 she made her Grand Slam debut in Tel Aviv Israel, where she came in 7th place. She studies part-time at the University of Wolverhampton in her 3rd year studying exercise and health. Kelly’s future aspirations are to compete and medal at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in her home town of Birmingham as well as go to and medal at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.