Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie Proclaims July 19, 2013 as Coach Willy Cahill Day for CEO and Co-Founder of Blind Judo Foundation and Owner of Cahill’s Judo Academy
Redmond, WA (PRWEB) July 31, 2013 -- Over 350 people from around the USA came to a Night-of-Champions event sponsored by USA Judo honoring a San Francisco icon, Willy Cahill, with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Cahill is owner of Cahill’s Judo Academy and CEO and Co-Founder of the Blind Judo Foundation.
At the age of 12, Cahill moved with his family from Hawaii to California in 1947 where his father established Cahill’s Judo Academy in Daly City. After his father passed away at the early age of 50, his son Willy moved the Academy to San Bruno, CA where it has stood as a beacon of hope and inspiration for Judo around the world.
Willy never gave up his love of Hawaii and his heritage. The Hawaiian Flag is still proudly displayed inside the famous Dojo called Cahill's Judo Academy. Ron Peck, Co-Founder of the Blind Judo Foundation contacted Kevin Asano a longtime friend and former coached athlete of Cahill, who resides in Honolulu, Hawaii, to see if he could reach the Governor of Hawaii declaring July 19, 2013 as Coach Willy Cahill Day.
Kevin Asano was a natural contact and is not new to Judo. He is a 7th Degree Black Belt, who began his Judo career in 1970 in Okinawa, Japan. At 16 Kevin received his 1st Degree Black Belt and it didn't stop there. Moving back to Hawaii, Kevin won numerous awards and recognitions including the 1993 induction into the US Judo Federation Hall of Fame.
In 2000 Kevin was inducted into the Hawaiian Sports Hall of Fame and in 2012 became the President of the US Judo Federation (USJF). Who better to contact than Kevin, living in Hawaii, who approached Governor Abercrombie to determine if the State of Hawaii would proclaim July 19, 2013 as Coach Willy Cahill Day.
Kevin Asano was successful in having the Governor of Hawaii proclaim this momentous occasion (see document).
Cahill was born and raised in Hawaii, and survived the attack on Pearl Harbor with his family. At a young age Cahill also had polio and wasn’t expected to walk again. Within a year, Willy walked out of the hospital on his own. It was his father that introduced him to the sport of Judo as part of the rehabilitation process.
Native son Willy Cahill has an iconic coaching record which includes a roster of several Olympic and Paralympic Judo Teams, World team members and hundreds of national and international medalists. He is one of the only individuals to coach both the US Olympic Judo and US Paralympic Judo Teams.
Cahill’s 64 years of commitment to Judo includes introductions and training of the blind and visually impaired. In 1999 Cahill was asked to coach the US Paralympic Judo Team in preparation for the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia.
He not only committed to coach the 2000 US Paralympic Judo Team but for the first time in US Olympic and Paralympic history his Paralympic Judo Team won 2 Gold Medals for America along with 1 Silver and 1 Bronze Medal. It is interesting to note that Judo was introduced at the Olympics in 1964 and the Paralympics in 1988. It took 48 years for the US to win Gold in the sport of Judo at the 2012 London Olympic Games by Kayla Harrison.
The Blind Judo Foundation is a nonprofit 501 (c) (3) organization that introduces and trains blind and visually impaired individuals of all ages in the sport of Judo. Interested parties can make a tax exempt donation at http://www.blindjudofoundation.org/donate.php More information can be found at http://www.blindjudofoundation.org or by calling Ron C. Peck at 425-444-8256 or roncpeck(at)blindjudofoundation(dot)org.
Ron C. Peck, Blind Judo Foundation, http://www.blindjudofoundation.org, 425-444-8256, [email protected]
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