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.
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 23rd. 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 50th 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.
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.
The Vernon Judo Club '26-27 season starts September 10th.
With Judo BC, we're hosting this year's Fall Camp and special guest Olympian Takanori Nagase.
CONTACT US for registration questions, pricing, or to get on a list for updates. See August Posting on Events Page for more info or links for club and camp registration.
