Aroundtown Magazine July/August 2022

SPORT
Penistone judoka
selected for
Commonwealth
Games
Penistone’s Lachlan
Moorhead has been
chosen to represent his
country at this year’s
Commonwealth Games
in Birmingham as one
of 14 athletes that will
make up the home
nation’s Judo team.
And he is looking to add a gold
to his already expanding medal
collection which includes bronze
medals at the Abu Dhabi Grand
Slam, European Junior Cup, and
Junior European Championships.
Lachlan, now 22, originally took
up the sport when he was six and
has been a fighter in the GB Judo
senior squad for the last four years.
He became British champion in
his half-middleweight category last
December.
“I started judo when I was a
six-year-old little tearaway with loads
of energy. My dad was into boxing
and judo and he’d take me training
with him where I’d be running rings
around the place. He decided to take
me to the junior sessions before to
tire me out.”
Lachlan soon fell in love with
the sport and his dad Matt opened
a judo club in their hometown of
Penistone in 2009 to be closer to
home, with the nearest clubs in
Rotherham, Barnsley and Sheffield.
“
At 16 he began
competing
internationally and
made the move to
Birmingham at 18
to train full-time as
part of the British
Judo squad.
”
44 aroundtownmagazine.co.uk
“My dad started Penistone Judo
Club to stop all the running about
but it kind of backfired on him as
soon he was taking me to places like
Edinburgh, Newcastle and London
for competitions.”
Lachlan says he started taking
competing seriously at age 14,
heading down for training at
the British Judo Olympic and
Paralympic National Training Centre
in Birmingham as much as he could
while still a schoolboy.
At 16 he began competing
internationally and made the move to
Birmingham at 18 to train full-time as
part of the British Judo squad.
Judo has taken Lachlan around
the world, including Lithuania,
Finland, Croatia and Mongolia.
Before the Commonwealth Games
come to Birmingham in July, Lachlan
will be heading out to Budapest to
compete in the Grand Slam Hungary.
And he’s hungry to impress at the
Games on home turf.
“I’m pretty pleased as it’ll be
my first time competing in the
Commonwealth Games and to have
it on British soil will be a bonus, as
my friends and family will be there
to cheer me on. While I was hopeful
about being chosen, it’s not an
automatic thing. It’s never 100 per
cent known and confirmed until the
announcement is officially made.
I’d just got back to the UK from
a competition in Mongolia when I
heard I’d been selected,” he said.
As well as his daily athletic
training, Lachlan juggles a busy
schedule as a full-time student at
the University of Birmingham, where
he is in his second year of studying
for a BSc degree in Business
Management.
He is also an ambassador for
the charity If U Care Share which
raises awareness of male suicide
and mental health issues. He was
inspired to join the charity after
watching boxer Tyson Fury battle his
own mental health demons. He said:
I’m very privileged never to have
gone through mental health issues,
but admire the charity and how it
supports everyday life pressures.
“I find exercise helps me stay
on track and while I get nervous
before events it’s a level of fear and
nervousness that is working on your
side and not against you.”
In addition to his own judo
career, Lachlan gives back to his
local community in South Yorkshire
using his expertise to support and
encourage young judo players in
the area, ranging from Junior British
Champions to those with visual
impairments and special needs.
Photography: Sam Mellish