Head Coach Michael McCleery, seventh degree black belt of the Odessa Boys & Girls Club Judo Team, tested and promoted Coach Kelvin Frank Idehen to Sandan, third degree black belt on Dec. 20, 2018.
Idehen started judo training on July 14, 1987 in a city called Benin City, Edo State in Nigeria. He grew so fast in the game that he started representing his local district by the end of November that same year.
Idehen lost his first tournament in the 60kg weight category. He was sad and disappointed because he wanted to make his coach proud. The coach encouraged him to stay focused and continue to train and that he would eventually get there sooner than he expected.
Edo State, where Idehen is originally from, was the heartbeat of judo in Nigeria which gave him a good structured judo foundation.
In 1989, he competed and won his first gold medal in National Sports Festival held in Lagos, Nigeria.
In 1990, Idehen won the National Judo Championship in the 60kg weight category. He proceeded on to winning his first international gold medal in Ghana Open Judo tournament in 1990.
Judo was his passion and the game impacted Idehen’s life greatly. He could not think of any other better thing to do but judo.
As a member of the Nigerian National Judo team from 1990 through 1995, he was fortunate to experience the vigorous judo training under the Nigeria National Judo Federation Adviser from Japan, Matagoro Turomi, subsequently many other advisers after him during this time frame.
Kelvin won a total of; nine gold medals in Nigeria National Judo Championships; three international gold medals; (1) the 1990 Ghana Open Judo Championships, (2) the 1992 African Judo Championships in Mauritius, Africa and (3) the 1994 Commonwealth Judo Championships in Gozo, Malta.
Idehen was the Nigeria National Judo team captain from 1994 through 1995.
In 1991, Idehen competed in the All African Games in Cairo, Egypt in the 65kg weight category and won a silver medal. He also won a gold medal in the 65-weight division at the Nigeria National Judo Championship 1991.
In 2018, Idehen and his 6 -year-old son joined the Odessa Boys & Girls Club Judo Team.
