Ian Johns, BA

Board member responsible for: 

• SEND - Resilience

Ian is a former international Judo fighter (5th Dan Black belt) who was born and raised in Scunthorpe, where he attended Thomas Sumpter (Melior school) and then John Leggott College. Following his retirement from international competition, Ian completed a Bachelor's Degree in Sports Coaching and Education, and then went on to complete a School Centred Initial Teacher Training Degree in Secondary School Physical Education. During this time he was coaching the England development squad for Judo and coaching football at the local Appleby Football club. 

All of this experience led to an invitation to coach at the British Judo National Training Centre where Ian secured the Job of Paralympic Head Coach and Olympic Development Coach for Men. During this time Ian has coached many athletes to great success including six different World medalist’s, a European champion, and Gold and Silver medals at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo. 

The Paralympic medals in Tokyo and the world medals meant that Ian was awarded a top UK Coaching Award (The Mussabini award) for being a serial medal winning coach. In 2023 he graduated from the International Judo Federation coaching academy. Going into the 2024 Paris Paralympic games will be Ian’s third games - a proud Scunthorpe representative.