Atlanta Gets Ready for USA Judo 2024 Youth National Championships

Atlanta loves to host any sporting event, but in recent years it has seen quite a bit of action from both youth sports and with the national governing body space. So when there’s an event up for bid that combines those two facets, it’s a perfect fit.

The USA Judo 2024 Youth National Championships will take place at the Georgia International Convention Center from March 23–24. It marks the return of a USA Judo national tournament to the Atlanta metropolitan area for the first time since the 2010 Junior Olympic Championships were held in Gwinnett County.

“It’s really important for us to showcase Atlanta overall as a city and it’s a great advantage to have the NGBs come here,” said Kristin Schneider, vice president of sales for the ATL Airport District Convention and Visitors Bureau. “I had met USA Judo at the TEAMS Conference and a lot of it was just word of mouth because we hosted USA Weightlifting and they had such a great time. And the ease and the convenience from airport to the convention center just made a great package that USA Judo was interested in.”

The Georgia International Convention Center has been home to many sporting events in recent years, including the 2022 USA Weightlifting North American Open Finals, 2023 USA Volleyball Southeast Qualifier and Invitational and Georgia Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Games. The USA Judo Youth Nationals will draw more than 500 athletes from ages 5–20 throughout the nation annually to vie for national championship gold and the opportunity to represent Team USA in international competition.

“We’re definitely focused on doing more youth sports events in Atlanta, especially in my area,” Schneider said. “We do a lot of youth cheer and we just had volleyball here a few weeks ago … we like events that can go into the convention center. During COVID, youth sports is what came back first. When we’re out looking for business, youth sports is definitely at the top of our list.”

The competition will take place in the exhibit halls with seating for up to 1,800 spectators, plenty of room and a blank space for USA Judo to work with, something Schneider says the organization was excited about.

“They know what works best for their attendees for the warmup area and things like that, and they can make those decisions,” Schneider said. “There’s actually an arena at the Gateway Center, but a lot of these events end up choosing to go into the big exhibit hall.”

Location can be a huge part of what event organizers look for when choosing a host and this is where Atlanta’s Airport District has an advantage. The Georgia International Convention Center is a quarter mile from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and accessible from the airport in minutes via the ATL Skytrain.

With more than 200 direct flights on 20-plus airlines and within a two-hour flight of 80 percent of the United States population, Hartsfield-Jackson is “a huge selling point,” Schneider said. “The convention center sits on the Gateway Center Campus, so it’s actually attached to the airport by the Skytrain. So you don’t have to get a rental car or uber or shuttle van. You just hop on that Skytrain and you’re at the convention center in two minutes. We have over 7,000 hotel rooms within a three-mile radius, so we’re able to pitch different price points to the attendees coming in.”

Schneider and her team expect between 300 and 500 hotel rooms for the USA Judo event who can also travel downtown for experiences in between competition.

“The airport district is only 10 miles from downtown Atlanta, where you have the World of Coke, Six Flags Amusement Park, the College Football Hall of Fame, the National Civil Rights Museum and more,” Schneider said. “There’s just a lot to do in Atlanta overall and it’s very convenient to get to, no matter where you’re flying in from.”