Author: kataguruma

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!

As the 2018-2019 Season draws to a close, please note the following important upcoming dates:

No judo April 22 (Easter Monday). Seniors meet April 22nd at 7PM but next (last) regular class for the kids is Thursday April 25, 6:30.

Apr 24 Parents’ Association AGM 7PM. This is the group that raises funds for athlete and club initiatives.

Apr 29 Promotions Potluck. Kin Beach 6:30-8 weather permitting (same time at the hall if not). Last meeting for kids’ class.

May 5 Okanagan Open (Kelowna, Parkinson Rec Centre 9-1). Sign up online at http://www.trackiereg.com/2019-OkanaganOpen

May 15 Kiyoshi, Nadine and Kiara off to nationals in Edmonton.

Sep 5 Registration night usually held the first Thursday after Labour Day, with the first night of classes the Monday after that. Planning also underway to host the 2019 Inter-Provincial Team Training Camp at the end of September.

Oct 5 Club 75th Anniversary Celebration at the Vernon Lodge.

A huge thanks goes out to all the volunteers, athletes, coaches, parents and referees who came together, allowing us to host the 2019 BC Open.

We had over 30 Petit Samurai entrants and about 125 individual competitors. This is the first year that we offered newaza divisions—where four groups of three participated.

Day two results are posted here.

Congratulations to our competitors—Nate, Tyler, Abby, Ava, Teigan, Kiyoshi and Alisha plus the  Petit Samurai entrants Koen, Lane, Blaize, Sam, Nate, Carson and Hunter.  

Thaddeus Bondt earned his Provincial C referee credentials.

In consideration to the volunteers, we will not be having class Monday. Classes will resume Thursday.

Day one with its kata competition is complete. While most people were able to take advantage of the early weigh-in prior to the Saturday competition, there are still Saturday morning weigh-ins at the 3400-39th Avenue venue from 7:30-9AM.

Due to the large number of U10 and U12 entrants, we are estimating a petit samurai start time of 12:30.

Draws for tomorrow are being posted to http://vernonjudoclub.ca/bco.

The full technical package for the tournament is available at
http://vernonjudoclub.ca/vjc/BCopen2019.pdf

Please remember that during spring break (March 18-28), classes are combined into a single 7-8:30 session, where younger kids can leave at 8 if this is too much later than usual for them.

Registration is online for our April 5 & 6 tournament (held at the Vernon Curling Rink). The technical package is also posted at the link below.

http://trackiereg.com/2019BCOpen

-There is a free “Petit Samurai” session for ages 5-11.
-The competition is open to judoists yellow belt and up born 2011.
-The deadline for registration is March 24 (so do get weighed in/registered before Spring Break). Late registration ends midnight April 1st.

We are having a BC Open meeting on Thursday March 14 at 6:30. The meeting will include

-An overview of tournament format for those new to the sport.
-A review of tournament volunteer roles.
-Setting date(s) for scorekeeping/timekeeping in-house training

UPDATE Two more follow-up meetings are now set: March 28th (6:30 for recap of roles and outstanding items/7pm-8:30 to review Timekeeping/Scorekeeping procedures) & April 1 6:30-7:45 for another in-house shiai for competitors and scorekeepers/timekeepers alike.

There is a volunteer signup sheet at the hall and you can also sign up to volunteer online at
https://www.trackie.com/online-registration/volunteer/2019-bc-open/30462/

The deadline for Pacific International is March 1st.
1. The last regional team workout this season is in Kelowna on Sunday March 3, 10-12.
2. Our BC Open tournament is April 6th. Please keep this date open as we hope all yellow belts and up can compete and we need many volunteers for a successful tourney. The invitation will be posted this week. We are planning to do petit samurai again and add a senior groundwork-only division.
3. There is also an Okanagan Open event in Kelowna [Revised Date May 5th–see trackiereg.com for details]. This event is informal and inexpensive and allows kids who don’t have their yellow belt to compete groundwork only. They will be changing the venue so more info to follow.
4. We still have lots of apple juice on hand. The fundraising goal we’ve set this year is for each family to sell five boxes.

Great work to Kiara, Kiyoshi, Teigan and Nadine who competed at Youth Provincials. Teigan got gold in U14-63 and Nadine Bronze in U16-44 and gold U18-44. Congratulations also to Sydney who refereed and received her Provincial A accreditation. Donna also put in a long day refereeing and Aubrey and Brian had a full weekend–doing all the draws and electronics. With over 300 competitors, it was the largest event we’d done.

Finally, happy Family Day to all you members of the VJC family. Thanks for everything you do to. Without the dedication and support of our members, we certainly would not be celebrating this our 75th year.

• As announced by email, we are only having a single combined class Thursday December 13 from 7-8:30.
• The last regional team workout in December is in Kelowna Sunday the 16^th, from 10-noon.
• We are having our  Christmas Potluck and Promotions dinner Thursday December 20^th 6:30-8PM.
• After the Christmas break, classes will resume on January 7^th.

The Vernon Judo Club sent two competitors, three referees and three coaches to Steveston for the first event in the 2018 season. Nadine Bond got a bronze in her U16-44 division and a silver in U18-44. Kiyoshi Comley got bronze in U16-46—his first event as an under 16 competitor—where shimewa gets added for intermediate and advanced competitors. Sydney Grevatt both received her Provincial B refereeing accreditation and successfully demonstrated Nage no Kata in front of the provincial grading board to complete requirements for/receive her shodan first-degree black belt. We are all very proud of Sydney as these are significant achievements for a high school senior.  We are likewise proud of Donna who accepted the nomination to become the president of Judo BC at the November AGM.

The club still has space in our kids’ and adults’ classes.

Our Parents’ Association recenlty finished BC Societies Act updates and has received a new batch of fresh-pressed apple juice from Ringo En for our annual fundraiser.

We will be hosting our annual BC Open tournament at the curling rink April 5-6, 2019.

The location and date for our 75th anniversary celebration have been confirmed: the Vernon Lodge on October 5, 2019. It’s not too early to start collecting anecdotes, photos, and memorabilia. Mail vernonjudo@gmail.com if you would like to take part.

As announced Thursday, we are having a “Bring a Friend Night” Monday November 5th.

Congratulations to Nadine and Sydney for their participation in the Saskatchewan Open. This is the first national event of the season and they both did well against tough competition. Nadine placed second in U16-44 and third in the U18 division.

Our first regional team workout was not well attended, but we did have attendees from Kelowna, Aberdeen, Lake Country, Kamloops and Vernon–more than meeting the 3-club minimum participation requirements. Athletes who attended both sessions received two session credits toward the eight required before nationals as part of their BC Team qualifications.

Note the following important dates in November:

Nov 5 Bring a friend night November 5th.
Nov 7 Meeting for 75th Anniversary Prep (7PM)
Nov 13 Monday classes moved to Tuesday (combined 7-8:30 class) for Remembrance Day stat
Nov 14 Registration deadline for Steveston Tournament (Shiai)
Nov 15 Registration for Judo BC AGM
Nov 17 Steveston Shiai/JBC AGM
Nov 18 Provincial Training/Black Belt Grading
Nov 25 Regional Team Workout (Aberdeen)

The full calendar (available under Events at vernonjudo.ca) has been updated.

Have a happy and safe Halloween.