THOMAS Henry, 16, represented the North West Area at a tournament and training camp recently held in Sweden.

Thomas is currently making the transition from junior level to the youth/senior competitive level and this was his first international competition at this level.

He competed in the Budo Nord Cup on Thursday in the men's under 55-kilogram category and won a bronze medal.

The event attracted in excess of 500 international competitors from countries such as Germany, France, Japan, Holland, Hungary and Finland.

In his category Thomas won two of his three contests to secure the bronze.

Following the tournament, the team from the North West stayed in Lund, Sweden, and took part in the Lugi training camp which is popular amongst international judo competitors as it is one of the toughest of its type.

The camp runs for three days and about 400 judo players attend.

Training begins in the early morning each day and runs through to late evening.

This type of camp and the considerable experience that Thomas is gaining from the international tournaments he is attending is valuable to his development as a player.

Thomas is competing regularly at international events including a recent tournament with the Great Britain cadet team in Brussels, Belgium.