Ella, a Year 7 student at Forest Lake State High School, has returned from the 2026 Australian Judo National Championships with two medals, claiming gold in Junior Kata and bronze in the Under 13 Over 56kg division at the Gold Coast Sports and Leisure Centre, Carrara.
The national championships ran from 5 to 8 June, bringing together the country’s best young judo athletes across shiai combat and kata disciplines. Kata competition was held on 5 June, with Under 13 competition on 7 June, meaning Ella competed across multiple days and across two fundamentally different aspects of the sport.
Winning both is no straightforward achievement. Shiai is judo’s competitive fighting format, contested by weight category against opponents from across the country. Kata is an entirely separate discipline: a precisely choreographed sequence of techniques performed with a partner, judged on accuracy, control and the quality of the movement.
Excelling in both on a national stage, as a Year 7 student, speaks to a level of commitment well beyond casual club participation.
The club that brought her to this point
Ella trains under Sensei Srdjan Andjelkovic at Shin Gi Tai Judo Club, with additional mentorship from his son Nick Andjelkovic. Nick’s connection to the Forest Lake community runs deep: a former Forest Lake State High School student, he now returns to the school regularly to share his experience with current students, passing on the knowledge and discipline he built through his own judo journey.
The name Shin Gi Tai is itself a statement of philosophy. It refers to three of judo’s foundational principles: body, spirit and technique. A club built around that framework tends to produce athletes who understand that physical skill alone is not the point.
What comes next
Ella’s next competitions include the Australian National School Championships in Queensland in September, which will be held in tandem with the Queensland International Open. Both events will put her back on the mat against national-level competition within months of her gold and bronze medal results.
For Forest Lake State High School, Ella’s achievements reflect what the school’s own framework of academic and personal excellence looks like in practice. Judo demands exactly what the classroom does: focused attention, the capacity to learn from failure, and the willingness to show up and go again.
Forest Lake locals can follow Shin Gi Tai Judo Club and upcoming competition news through Judo Queensland at judoqueensland.org.au.
Published 16-June-2026
