Contributed by the Revelstoke Judo Club
The Revelstoke Judo Club brought home plenty of hardware this weekend from the BC Junior Provincial Judo championships in Langley.
Ruby Serrouya and Jordan Snider both won gold medals in the U10 and U14 novice category, while Caine McCabe won bronze in the Junior U14 category. Two coaches from the club also competed, with Corbett McCabe winning silver and Ted Allain holding on for a bronze. Allain, a brown belt, was using this tournament as an opportunity to accumulate points for his ultimate goal, to become the next black belt for the burgeoning Revelstoke Club.
With the rapid growth of the club now peaking at 57 members, a second black belt would be very beneficial from the perspective of developing young judo athletes.
Caine McCabe had an exciting first match, losing by a point for much of the bout, but he used his fitness to outlast his opponent for a come-from-behind win with a pin in the dying seconds of the match.
Likewise, Snider’s championship match was close, having been tied going into the last 10 seconds, but he threw his opponent and held him down to win with a yuko (a minor takedown point).
Head Sensei Cornelius Suchy was very pleased with the effort put in by the athletes. “Our athletes overcame some challenges this weekend. Most of us had already been to a big-city tournament, but it was Ruby Serrouya’s first big tournament, and she won a gold,” he said. “For Ted Allain, he fought against two guys that were on the provincial team, so just standing up to them proved to be an accomplishment. Ted has a wrestling background but never fought a lot in Judo, so just standing his ground was a big achievement.”
Upcoming tournaments that the judo club plans on attending include the Edmonton International in mid-March, which is geared towards experienced fighters. Four or five club athletes will compete in Edmonton. The season will end in April with the BC Open in Vernon, where our club hopes to bring at least 20 athletes, including beginners that form the core of our club.