Author: kataguruma

First: Congratulations to the Zone Two (Thompson/Okanagan) Team (and our members Abby, Ava and Kiyoshi) at the BC Winter Games on their bronze showing in the team competition and Kiyoshi for getting gold in his -50kg division!  More details to come.

Now for upcoming events…
1. Thursday night midnight is the extended deadline for the Okanagan Open novice inter-club shiai in Kelowna.  This is the one event of the year in our region where the even white belts have the option to compete (with groundwork-only options).  Everyone gets something—All our members orange belt and below should consider attending.
I’ll have the scale set up Thursday night.  Please ask now by email or Thursday at class if you have any questions.  We will have coaches / referees in attendance.
Once you have your competitor’s weight in kg, you can register him or her online at https://www.trackie.com/online-registration/event/okanagan-open-novice-tournament/37066/#.Xk47n2hKjIV

2. Our own event April 3 and 4 is online.  See the details athttp://www.trackiereg.com/2020BCOpen.  Keep the dates open! In addition to competitors, we’ll need volunteers for setup, takedown, and everything in between (registration is online).  We also ask that all club families bring potluck items for the referees/volunteer room.

Though we do have competitors out of town at the moment, there are a number of registration deadlines coming up for judo, of note to our novice and more advanced competitors:

See the links below for event details.

The Okanagan Open in Kelowna (everyone in the kids’ class should consider) registration deadline is February 27th
https://www.trackie.com/online-registration/event/okanagan-open-novice-tournament/37066/#.Xk47n2hKjIV

Edmonton International is due Saturday
https://www.trackie.com/online-registration/event/2020-edmonton-international-judo-championship/35117/#.Xk40vyOIbIU

Pacific International is due February 27th
https://www.trackie.com/online-registration/event/2020-pacific-international-judo-championships/38184/#.Xk42FSOIbIU

Canmore Inter-Provincial Training Camp (Judo BC Team Travel portion) is due March 3rd
https://www.trackie.com/online-registration/event/judo-bc-team-trip-to-the-2020-canmore-spring-inter-provincial-camp/37741/#.Xk47ISOIbIU

Good luck to Abby, Ava and Kiyoshi at the BC Winter Games!

Good luck to our competitors at Youth Provincials on the weekend.  Everything takes place at the Tournament Capital Centre:  910 McGill Road, Kamloops. U12 Nate and Sam—Check in Saturday morning between 7:30 and 8.  Warmup at 8 and competitions are to start at 8:30. U16,U18 Abby, Ava and Kiyoshi—Weighins are Friday from 5:30-8:30 at the venue.  U16 competitions start Saturday at 8:30.  U18 divisions are in the afternoon.

	Hosted with Judo BC, over 250 athletes and coaches attended the Inter-Provincial training camp at Seaton Secondary, September 27-29.  The special coach this year was Olympic medalist Antoine Valois-Fortier, fresh off a bronze medal showing at the world championships in Tokyo.

As our first event of our 75th Anniversary Season, we held an Open House at the hall September 23^rd.  After a regular kids’ class, Kathy Hubble (of the Lake Country Judo Club) and Aubrey Comley demonstrated the kata they’re working on for yondan grading (Goshin Jutsu) and everyone enjoyed refreshments and memorabilia, including some old video from 60s and the club’s 50^th Anniversary Shiai.

Don’t forget, as part of the club’s 75th anniversary, we’re having an informal Open House this Monday, September 23, 6:30-9. The kids’ class will be at the normal time but shorter with treats and a demo around 7:30. The event is open to the public where the theme is Generations of Judo—so past and present members bring anecdotes, memorabilia, or even your judogi (or borrow one at the hall) and have a individual or family picture taken.

There are also tickets still available for our 75th banquet on October 5th. Go to http://trackiereg.com/vjc75 to register or mail the club vernonjudo@gmail.com for details.

Finally, don’t forget we still have some locally-pressed apple juice in stock and Bring-A-Friend Night is October 3rd.

September Start 2019

Hopefully everyone took advantage/got out to enjoy this last long weekend of summer. Good work to those who attended camps or worked on kata over the break! It was a great learning opportunity for students and instructors alike.

Registration starts at the hall, 4895 Bella Vista Road, this Thursday September 5th from 7-8:30PM (and then will be ongoing with regular 6:30 and 7:45 Monday/Thursday classes which begin September 9th). Mail vernonjudo@gmail.com for more information.

Please note some important dates for this our 75th Anniversary Season:

Sep 5 Registration night. We also need to have your submissions for the 75th commemorative booklet
Sep 9 Regular season classes begin (Mondays and Thursdays 6:30 and 7:45)
Sep 14-15 Judo BC Provincial Training, Annual conference, Awards Gala (Richmond)
Sep 23 VJC Open House 6:30-9PM at dojo with the theme “Generations of Judo”
Sep 27-29 Inter-provincial training camp in Vernon; we will need volunteers (setup/take down/first aid/lunch distribution).
Oct 5 75th Anniversary Gala Dinner at the Prestige Vernon Lodge and Conference Centre. Registration is still available online (with further details) at http://trackiereg.com/vjc75

We should have our full calendar reviewed and online by September 5th.

Registration is now online for our Gala Banquet October 5th. Go to https://trackiereg.com/vjc75 for details or to sign up. Early bird registration ends July 31st.

We are also planning an Open House at the hall, with the theme Generations of Judo, on September 23rd, 6:30-9PM. As described in the Summer Judo Posting, we are looking for your photos, anecdotes and memorabilia. Get in touch with us by mailing venonjudo@gmail.com.

Judo BC has posted their links for the High Performance Summer Camp August 23-26 in Mill Bay and the Girls’ Camp August 27-30 in Oyama. Check out the registration links for both. The early bird deadline for each is June 28th.

Starting June 3rd, we’ll be doing kata Monday nights 7:30-9PM.

We are also planning to do a photo montage of judoka past and present as part of our 75th Anniversary Celebration. Send photos to vernonjudo@gmail.com or send a note to the same address to book a time to have your picture taken before one of the Monday sessions.

On May 30th, Nadine and Thaddeus Bondt both received their 2nd Kyu Blue Belts—our first two mudansha to receive promotions in the Reiwa era as noted on their certificates.

Thaddeus qualified as a Provincial C Referee this season and Nadine competed at nationals in Edmonton, “fighting-up” in the -48 kg division. She was also recognized locally by JDon Cafe with a “Samurai Pass” for her hard work this season!

Congratulations go to all three of our nationals competitors in Edmonton: The girls Nadine and Kiara were able to win some fights and advance but not medal; as a first-year U16 competitor, Kiyoshi had a new level of competition but good experience for next time. We hope we can send even more competitors to nationals in Edmonton in 2020!