Kiyoshi and Aubrey managed to be at both the last major 2020 event (Edmonton International) and the first 2021 one (The High Performance Summer Training camp). Congratulations to Judo BC, The Island Judo Association hosts, and all the participants (from across Canada) on this excellent event. There were about 170 BC, Saskatchewan, Quebec, New Brunswick and Yukon participants.
The Brentwood College facilities are great. It was truly a breath of fresh air to be back doing judo—figuratively and literally, as we had to travel from and through a lot of country that’s been hard hit by this year’s fire season.
More to be posted here but we had a number of promotions rounding off the 2020-21 season, including Trudy, Nadine, Thaddeus, and Kiyoshi to their ikkyu brown belts! More than a couple more, including Rob and Ronan, just need to complete their grading requirements once we’re back on the mats to receive their next belts.
Thanks to the work by the Province of BC, viaSport, Judo BC, and VJC instructors—the Vernon Judo Club is approved by Judo BC to Return to Play during the pandemic.
We will have registration September 10th (where online options will be sent out by email ahead of then), with classes starting September 14.
Under the new phase 3 protocols, there will be enhanced cleaning, distinct arrival and departure times, masks to and from the dojo, waivers/questionnaires, and temperature tests before going on the mats and into cohort groups.
We are back and planning those cohort groups now. We are also looking forward to instructor Rick Pollon joining us (formerly head instructor at the Kamloops Judo Club) at the end of October.
Members from last year should be getting a call over the weekend for details—if you haven’t already.
Thanks to Judo BC, Judo Canada, the Province of BC, and the August 24th viaSport announcement, we have a plan for Back to Judo 2020. See the judobc.ca site for the latest details.
VJC registration is planned for September 10 (with online registration options available soon, or sooner)—and our first night of Judo September 14th.
We will be contacting returning members to help form the cohort groups. Contact vernonjudo@gmail.com to get on the list.
Masks and personal water bottles are among the many changes coming due to covid-19.
Hopefully everyone is keeping healthy, busy, and adjusting as well as can be expected in these difficult times. While spring break may have helped slow the virus spread, judo classes—including kata—continue to be suspended due to the ongoing crisis. Members will get an email as soon as we know we can restart.
There are some announcements:
The last of the apple juice was purchased on the weekend. Thanks to Dan from Steveston for picking up the remaining stock. Thanks goes out to all the sellers. Our top three for the contest that ended February first: The Bondts (Mnason, Nadine, Thaddeus, Isaiah, and Isabelle), Athrun Arav, and Jonah McMillan are due prizes; if not received already, we’ll see what way’s best to get them out at the next safe opportunity.
Judo BC does have an activities spreadsheet—email the club if you’d like more information.
Our April 24-26 DA/DI Course has been postponed.
Nationals have been moved from May to July.
The Parents’ Association AGM will be a virtual/call-in meeting April 29th; club members should have already received the meeting specifics by email.
As per discussions at classes last night, we have decided to cancel our April 3-4 tournament and—instead of doing the usual reduced class times during spring break—we have also cancelled classes for the two-week period from March 16-27. Those who have already registered for the tournament should be receiving refunds from the Trackie system shortly.
These are unprecedented times. We do hope that everyone stays safe and does their best to help reduce the transmission of this outbreak by keeping up to date and following health authority recommendations. The timing for spring break does seem to be good for our region and we are hopeful for some good news in the coming weeks.
The VJC kids at the BC Winter Games in Fort St. John did very well with a bronze medal showing in the team competition and Kiyoshi Comley added gold there to his first place showings earlier in the month in Kamloops Youth provincials (in both U16-50kg and U18-50). Judo BC streamed the entire BCWG event—with two days of competition still up—on Youtube. When Aubrey competed in judo in ’84 FSJ BCWG, he never expected he’d be back as an off-mat official with his son 36 years later.
Brian Yakura, Kiyoshi Comley, Abby Phillips, Ava Gruber, and Aubrey Comley
We are sending six kids to the inter-club Okanagan Open in Kelowna: Athrun Arav, Chase and Koen Robinson, Finlay Ritson, Blaize Rommel, and Lane Magee.
There are just a couple months left in our regular season but we do have athletes, coaches/referees attending Pacific International, Edmonton International, Canmore Inter-Provincial camp, and Nationals mid May (in Edmonton again this year).
We are gearing up now for the BC Open tournament we host annually at the curling rink—with Kata this year 7PM April 3rd and the Shiai (individual competitions) starting 10AM April 4th. For a change, we expect to have at least couple teams in the Kata event. We will open with odori, courtesy of the chidorikai dancers, and a short composition on our new taiko drum.
We’re down to 20 boxes but the Vernon Judo Club Parents’ Association annual fundraiser is still underway: $15/box for 5 litres of locally-pressed juice (a blend of Bella-Visa-Grown Gala, Spartan, Aurora and Ambrosia—courtesy of Ringo En Orchards). This money supports our athletes by refunding registration fees for competitions, camps and clinics. A special thanks also goes to Tom Ouchi at Ringo En for donating the use of his trailer to get mats to events. There’s no competition without tatami!
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:
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.
Kiyoshi brings home gold for both U16-50 and U18-50.
The Vernon Judo Club '24-25 season starts September 16th (Later than first posted due to change in the cultural centre renovations schedule).
We're hosting this year's Fall Camp here in Vernon with special guest Olympian Naohisa Takato! Spaces are open for all age groups but note new Monday and Thursday class times.
CONTACT US for registration questions, pricing, or to get on a list for updates. See the top of the Events page for more info or links for club and camp registration.
