All nominees were requested to submit their platform statements. You can access platform statements and resumes from the nominees who submitted one by clicking on the links below:

Hannah Martin

• Platform Statement 

Nicole Stout

• Platform Statement 

Anne Suzuki

• Platform Statement 
• Resume

*A USA Judo Athlete Director from the Board (USOPC AAC Rep) will serve as the second able-bodied USA Judo AAC representative. 

Paralympic Shiai Representative (Elect 1)*

Ben Goodrich

• Platform Statement 

*A second Paralympic AAC rep will be the Paralympic Athlete Director elected to the Board of Directors at the end of this year.

Matthew Parker

• Platform Statement 

Lisa Capriotti

• Platform Statement 
• Resume

Ray Cox 

Kristin El Idrissi

• Platform Statement 

Max Antoniou

Dominic Rodriguez

• Platform Statement

As a result of recent amendments to the Ted Stevens Amateur Sports Act (‘the Act’) and in the spirit of creating a stronger athlete voice and liaison with the leadership and administration of USA Judo, the organization is establishing its first-ever USA Judo Athletes’ Advisory Council.

The USA Judo Athletes’ Advisory Council (‘AAC’) shall be a forum to provide a comprehensive means of communication between athletes and USA Judo. The USA Judo Athletes’ Advisory Council will lead, serve, and encourage athletes to communicate the interests and protect the rights of athletes, and be a conduit to USA Judo.

The USA Judo Athletes’ Advisory Council shall:

1. Serve as a vehicle for athlete engagement;
2. Endeavor to protect the rights of athletes;
3. Provide athlete feedback;
4. Build and establish relationships among the athletes of USA Judo;
5. Assist in identifying potential future athlete board representative candidates and introduce athletes to USA Judo’s governance structure;
6. Serve as SafeSport and USADA ambassadors and advocates; and
7. Develop pathways for athletes within the structure of USA Judo.

The USA Judo AAC will be composed of seven individuals from the following judo disciplines:

• Two (2) Able-bodied, shiai representatives
  • 1 will be a USA Judo Athlete Director from the Board (USOPC AAC Rep is mandatory if from this discipline)
  • 1 will be a currently active training and competing senior athlete on the International Judo Federation (IJF) Tour
• Two (2) Paralympic. shiai representatives
  • 1 will be a USA Judo Athlete Director from the Board (USOPC AAC Rep is mandatory if from this discipline)
  • 1 will be a currently active training & competing senior athlete on the International Blind Sports Association (IBSA)/IJF Tour
• One (1) Kata representative
• One (1) Veterans representative
• One (1) Jr. Junior level athlete representative who is 18 years of age or older and is competing on the Jr. IJF Tour

Please note that no more than two representatives from one club may serve simultaneously on the inaugural USA Judo Athlete Advisory Council.

To be eligible to serve on the NGB Athletes’ Advisory Council, athlete representatives must be a 10-Year Elite Athlete defined as follows:

• USA Judo shiai participants in a “Delegation Event” meaning individually or collectively as applicable, the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, the Pan American Games and the Parapan Am Games.


• USA Judo shiai or kata participants in a “Protected Competition” meaning:
  • any international competition between athlete(s) officially designated by USA Judo as representing the United States, either individually or as part of a team, and any athlete(s) representing any foreign country where:
    • the terms of such competition require that the entrants be individuals or teams representing their respective nations;
    • the athlete(s) representing the United States are organized and supported by USA Judo in accordance with a defined selection or tryout procedure that is open to all and publicly announced in advance except for domestic amateur athletic competition, which, by its terms, requires that entrants be expressly restricted to members of a specific class of athletes such as those referred to in Section 220526(a) of the Act (i.e., high school students, college students, members of the Armed Forces, or similar groups or categories)

Examples of these “Protected Competitions” may include World Championships and International Judo Federation Grand Prix, Grand Slam or Continental events.

• Any able-bodied or Paralympic shiai athletes listed on the USA Judo National Roster

Athlete representatives on USA Judo’s Athletes’ Advisory Council shall be directly elected by athletes who are eligible to run (10 year athletes). All eligible athletes wanting to vote must register to receive their ballot and participate in the election. For the inaugural election of USA Judo’s AAC Election, no more than two representatives from one club may serve simultaneously among the seven-person committee. Understanding that judokas are sometimes affiliated with more than one club, for the purposes of this election, the club referenced will be the one at which an athlete most often trains. This will be conducted on the honor system with the understanding that, due to USA Judo’s small community, the club where athletes most often train is common knowledge. In the event more than two individuals from the same club are nominated and placed on the ballot, the two same-club representatives with the largest margin of victory over the next nominee (regardless of the number running within a given category, including uncontested) will be the two representatives elected to serve on the inaugural USA Judo AAC.

The term for members of the Athletes’ Advisory Council shall be for two (2) years.

No Athletes’ Advisory Council member shall serve for more than two (2) consecutive terms.

The Athletes’ Advisory Council shall elect from among its members, by majority vote, a chair. The term of office of the chair shall be two (2) years. The newly elected chair shall take office immediately. The chair shall hold office until the chair’s successor is elected and qualified, or until the chair’s earlier resignation, removal, incapacity, disability or death.

The Athletes’ Advisory Council shall establish procedures for conducting its business and affairs. Such procedures shall be published and available on USA Judo’s website.

Ordinarily, all Athletes’ Advisory Council meetings shall be open to athlete members, and, where appropriate, to USA Judo members. In the event the Athletes’ Advisory Council chair, with the consent of a majority of the Athletes’ Advisory Council members in attendance, deems it appropriate: (i) to exclude athlete members or USA Judo members at an open meeting for any reason, then the chair may declare that the meeting is closed, or (ii) to convene an executive session to consider and discuss matters relating to individuals, nominations, discipline, budget/funding, litigation or other sensitive matters, then the chair may specifically designate and call an executive session. Further, the chair may open a meeting of the Athletes’ Advisory Council to non-members, with the consent of a majority of the members of the Council in attendance.

Athletes’ Advisory Council members shall not receive compensation for their services as Athletes’ Advisory Council members. However, USA Judo shall pay for the reasonable expenses of all members of the Athletes’ Advisory Council to attend in-person Athletes’ Advisory Council meetings. In addition, USA Judo shall pay for the reasonable expenses of the athlete Board Directors to attend USA Judo Board meetings. While members of USA Judo’s Athletes’ Advisory Council shall not receive compensation for their services as Athletes’ Advisory Council members, they shall be entitled to obtain compensation from USA Judo in connection with their capacity as athletes, including, but not limited to, compensation in the form of Direct Athlete Support or in connection with Operation Gold. Each member of the Athletes’ Advisory Council shall be bound by USA Judo’s Conflicts of Interest Policy.

• April 22-25: Confirm dates/process (application of interest/resume) with USA Judo Athlete Directors, Nominating Committee and Association Elections (independent third party conducting ballot tabulation)
• April 26: Announce request for nominations via e-blast to 10-year athletes & begin receiving nominees via on-line form
• May 25: Deadline to receive nominations and athlete voter registration via on-line forms – confirm nominees are willing to run as nominations are received and confirm e-mail addresses for nominees and eligible voters
• June 9: Post all nominees and background information on the USA Judo Website’s Election Page
• June 10: Confirm athlete e-mails and send to Association Elections
• June 16: Ballots sent by Association Elections to registered voters
• June 23: Deadline for voting
• June 25: Votes tabulated and winners announced

Please note that the deadlines will be strictly enforced and it is critical that the information provided is accurate to prevent delays and potentially losing the ability to vote due to providing inaccurate information.

elections@usajudo.us