Photo by Marcel Vander Wier
HANGTIME 鈥� Benjamin Lojang, left, sends Kenai Bryden for a ride while referee Peter Melanson looks on in U10 action at the Yukon Judo Open Championships held Saturday at the Canada Games Centre.
Judo championships boast international flavour
Judokas from Alaska, Northwest Territories and Yukon squared off for territorial titles on鈥圫aturday.
Judokas from Alaska, Northwest Territories and Yukon squared off for territorial titles on鈥圫aturday.
Fifty-eight athletes converged on the Canada Games Centre for the annual Judo Yukon Open Championships, which featured members of four Yukon clubs, as well as rivals from Anchorage, Juneau and Yellowknife.
Yukon judokas picked up the lion鈥檚 share of the victories, including 16 of 20 available gold medals that included categories from novice to senior.
Division champions from Yukon included Ove Maxfield, Jacob Melanson, Jayden Iskra (2), Jaymi Hinchey (2), Cassie Jensen, Ella Hotte, Samuel Bradet, Alexander Penner, Kenai Bryden, Lia Hinchey, Dalton Penner, Gabriel Racine, Mason Parry and Jonathan Racine.
Other winners included Gavin Mellon and Dorian Mellon of Anchorage and Yellowknife鈥檚 Emanuel Lamvu and Maxence Jaillet.
Sportsmanship awards were won by Lamvu and Anneke Aasman while Jaymi Hinchey was also honoured for best technique.
While numbers were down slightly from last year鈥檚 Yukon championships as well as 2014 鈥� when nearly 100 took part 鈥� the sport is growing in the territory, said tournament director Aaron Jensen.
鈥淛udo Yukon itself is doing quite well,鈥� he told the Star. 鈥淲ithin the Yukon, the sport definitely continues to grow.鈥�
Jensen said Northern Lights 鈥� one of two clubs in Whitehorse 鈥� grew significantly in terms of new athletes.
The majority of Yukon鈥檚 judokas are currently under the age of 12, and the sport serves as a solid foundation for physical sports, Jensen said.
Judo is the combination of several basic skillsets that kids don鈥檛 necessarily learn naturally, he noted.
鈥淛udo builds physical literacy,鈥濃�圝ensen said, helping judokas to become well-rounded athletes.
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Comments (1)
Up 3 Down 0
Graeme Campbell on Apr 16, 2016 at 12:28 am
We need to do something to promote the sport. 4 seniors in a competition is not good enough for an International Championships. More parents need to get on the mat, which I know can be hard and there has to be a plan in place to make sure the young players of today stay long term. Maybe there is, I'm new to the Yukon Judo scene. If there is I'd love to hear it.