In 2014 it was the first time that a six-man judo team of the Deutsche Höhere Privatschule Windhoek (DHPS) travelled to the annual South African Judo Open Championships in Port Elizabeth, South Africa to catch a whiff of the competition setting. Since then, the team has travelled to this huge event every year, with both, the participants and the venue varying.

The fifth DHPS judo trip once again took the judoka to Port Elizabeth. The judo team has now grown to fifteen learners, who were supervised by their coaches Sylvia Konzmann and Claudia Schlettwein. The annual competition trip is definitely the highlight in the yearly schedule of the DHPS judo extra-mural.

In 2018, the DHPS judoka not only competed in the "fighting” discipline but also entered their first two pairs in the Nage-no-Kata. Before the competition, Konstantin Schindler, Ricardo von Flotow, Lorenz Denk and Frederik Wanke had to prepare meticulously for the competitions.
Ricardo and Konstantin just missed the bronze medal by one point. Both teams fought bravely and were able to compete with judoka who have years of experience in this type of judo demonstration.
At the first day of the competition, only coach Sylvia Konzmann won a gold medal in the master category.
Nearly all 9-12 year old fighters were newcomers. Nevertheless, everyone managed to win at least one fight. Leon van Heerden, Tobias Rannersmann and Samuel Höcht even fought four to five times and won against higher ranked opponents. Also Gero Friedrich, the youngest DHPS judoka, could gain valuable competition routine in one victory and two defeats. Edo Daun was a little unfortunate and had to retire after two encounters. A back injury had impeded him in the preparations.
Frederik Wanke could gain important competition experiences in the Kata discipline and win one fight.
Lorenz Denk, last year's bronze winner, was determined to defend his success. However the full group posed a challenge for him. He just missed bronze and ended the tournament on fourth place. Great fight!
Group 3 was a real challenge for Deik Daun and Frederik von der Wense. As the youngest competitors of the group, they had to retire after two fights, but were able to gain experiences and can compete as group-eldest next year.
Also in group 4 (14-17 years), our learners reached their physical limits. Konstantin Schindler, Ricardo von Flotow and Björn Metzger each were the youngest of their respective competition pool. They partially encountered 17-year old opponents. Konstantin made it to 5th place, while Ricardo had to retire after two encounters. Björn fought his way up in the losers’ pool after his defeat; lost twice and won twice. This group will also have the opportunity to improve their chances for a medal next year.
Now it was up to our U12 girls to get it right: twice silver, once bronze.
Tatiana Talmage, who only started judo last year, won silver in her encounter of the multiple-winner of the Gauteng region.
Sina Denk and Aziza Sain competed in the same weight and age group. Unfortunately, they had to fight against each other in the semi-finals. Aziza won bronze and Sina made it to the finals, where she came second.

It was an exciting, fun and informative trip with an extremely harmonising DHPS team and great team spirit. Result: 4 girls - 4 medals, target: medals and again girls for 2019.