The Katz family has a long lasting judo history

JudoInside is online since 2002, but active for a much longer time. As a journalist JudoInside’s founder Hans van Essen was Press Information Specialist and dealing with a young judo family in Australia during the Sydney Olympic Games. Rob Katz, husband to former judo athlete Kerrye Katz was competition manager of the 2000 Sydney Olympic judo tournament. Nowadays he is father to Olympians Nathan and Josh Katz - judo has been a way of life for most of his time on earth.

34 years after coaching Kerrye at the Seoul 1988 Olympics when judo was a demonstration sport, who has also become a judo coach, Robert is in the living room in his Sydney home with judo still fully on his mind.

Rob was one of Australia’s best judo athletes on the national team for most of his career, but if you were to ask him today what his greatest success has come in – it would be coaching. Robert has always had a role in helping Nathan and Josh learn, compete, coach and enjoy judo.

With two kids that have gone on to represent Australia in judo, it’s easy to assume their childhood had a heavy judo focus.

“People think the perception is with my mum being an Olympian and my dad being a coach that we got pushed really hard because we were quite successful when we were young,” Nathan said.

“It was funny that was the public perception because it was really the opposite. They weren’t pushy at all.

They learned judo at the Budokan Judo Club in Castle Hill in Sydney’s west, a club Rob and Kerrye have run for nearly 25 years.

The brothers recognise how fortunate they are to have a dad who invests so much into his kids, knowing that earning his respect wasn’t contingent on their results.

First it was Josh, who went from the joy of becoming an Olympian four years earlier than he anticipated and Australia’s youngest ever male judoka Olympian, to dealing with missing out on selection for Tokyo 2020.

From afar due to the pandemic, Robert and Kerrye were always adamant that they were still proud which is exactly what Josh needed.

“They weren’t able to travel with us at all in 2021. It was a very testing year for us,” Josh said.

Originally Nathan also missed out on being selected for Tokyo 2020, but gained a spot via a continental roll down quota.

Nathan also faced injury setbacks before the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and required knee surgery six weeks out from the competition.

With a totally disrupted preparation for the Games there was no assurance he would be able to compete, let alone be near peak physical condition.

Nathan and Josh both train in Victoria now at the Albert Park Combat Australia National Performance Centre, an official Olympic Training Centre, but that doesn’t mean the Sydney-based Robert and Kerrye are any less involved.

The brothers are very much looking forward and have Paris 2024 in their sights, which is less than two years away.

“We are both fully invested in trying to qualify for Paris. Especially that moment we shared after the Commonwealth Games really enforced that we’re not done yet,” Josh said.

“After that I could go four more years if I really want to. For the time being we are 100% focused on qualifying for Paris and having that moment together again.”

Nathan also has Olympic medal aspirations.

“Paris would be my third Olympics which would be really special. I think I’m equally chasing an Olympic medal which I don’t have yet. They are probably as significant to me as each other,” Nathan said.

Read the whole interview with the Katz family here.