Yoshisada Yonezuka Memorial Fund
Shortly before my father passed, we had a discussion about how different judo was when I competed in international tournaments. Everything (airfare, housing, food, etc.) was paid for by the governing body for US Judo. Now, competitors must pay their own way. In order to make an Olympic team, one must accumulate enough international points to qualify. However, to get these points, the competitor must be able to afford to pay their own way to fight in these various international tournaments. If the athlete does not have wealthy parents to pay, it is very difficult for an 18-26 year old athlete to come up with the money for traveling expenses. In my opinion, this does not seem fair and is not good for the future of US Judo.
Therefore, after my father passed away, I thought if I created a 501(c)(3) fund in his name, I could generate money for local athletes who are at this level of competition, who qualify for these international tournaments, trying to make an Olympic Team. My father gave his entire life to Judo and if his fund can help Judokas from his club with their Olympic dream, I know it would make him proud and keep his legacy alive.
We have contributed to multiple Olympic hopefuls. The Cranford JKC currently has many young prospects coming up and in the next few years may also be competing at this level. On my father’s behalf, I would love to be able to help fund these athletes’ Olympic dreams in the future, and therefore must continue to replenish this fund in order to do so.
If anyone would like to contribute, please make checks payable to or click on the PayPal link below:
Yoshisada Yonezuka Memorial Fund
107 South Avenue West
Cranford, NJ 07016
Your contributions are greatly appreciated and tax deductible.
Thank you!
~Nick Yonezuka~
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