JUDO NEWS

Medals Awarded In Judo

By Fran Tupper

The judo competition at the 2012 BC Winter Games is generating excitement. 

The individual competitions were held on Friday and the team competitions were on Saturday, both at Kalamalka Secondary in Coldstream.

Judo competitions and memberships are exploding throughout the province.  For example at the last Games there was one competitor from Smithers, and this year, there are four. 
13-year old Simb-Iyez  (which means star) and 15-year-old Sa-Yez (which means moon) Wilson from Smithers and two others, all First Nations young people, are in Vernon competing and enjoying the whole experience. The spirit of the games is exemplified by several young people.

Twelve year old Jeff Swadden from Abbotsford dislocated his ankle three weeks ago but still competed and won gold in his class.

Brandon Slooyer of Prince George won gold in his class. The 15-year-old said he would really like to go as far as possible in his sport. 

Megan Hanks of Kamloops won gold in her class.  The 14-year-old said she became interested through her father who was in Martial Arts. She said her brothers are also involved in the sport and they travel around to the different competitions as a family.

The one thing that was very clear was the respect and discipline being demonstrated by all competitors and officials of the game.