Judo BC coach returns to Yukon to offer fresh ideas

Sport in the Yukon faces many challenges.

Sport in the Yukon faces many challenges.

One such challenge is numerous sports vying for top-level athletes. In other words: too many sports, too few athletes.

Bruce Kamstra, Judo Canada regional technical support officer and Judo BC head coach, pointed this out during his visit to Whitehorse for clinics over the weekend.

“Whitehorse is a unique community: there are so many things offered for a smaller community. They basically have everything here that you’d find in a big city, but with a small population.

“I think (Judo Yukon) is kind of strapped, because there’s so much competition with other sports,” Kamstra said.

Kamstra, who was Canadian champion in 1998, currently runs the Heart Judo Academy in Prince George, B.C.

His work in Whitehorse started Friday and ran through to Sunday, and included all age groups.

Aaron Jensen, sensei for the Shiroumakai Judo Club and vice-president for Judo Yukon, agreed that attracting athletes is one of the sport’s top priorities.

“That’s a common thing for sports in the Yukon – there are only limited athletes that are at that level – and a lot of sports,” Jensen said, noting that this year the Yukon will not have a judo contingent competing at the Canada Winter Games in Halifax, N.S., in February, for lack of numbers.

Last year, Judo Yukon sent a small team to the nationals. Just one out of that group was eligible for the Winter Games.

“We’re in a developmental stage right now, especially with our junior programs,” Jensen said. “We’ve got a lot of under-12 kids, we’re shy of teenagers, under-17, under-15 ages, which is unfortunate, because this year is a Canada Winter Games year. We don’t have a team, just because of the numbers.”

One of the perks of bringing someone like Kamstra in is to help revitalize the sport, Jensen added.

“He’s really good with the kids,” he said.

“It’s definitely good for our coaches to get some fresh ideas on how to run the practices, keep things new, keep things fresh, keep it fun for the little kids.

“There are certain things that kids, developmentally, can or cannot do, so the trickle down is really good: he learns from Judo Canada, from the source, and then he teaches the kids in his province, and we bring people up to keep us fresh.”

Kamstra estimates that he has visited Whitehorse five or six times to hold these clinics.

Part of his job with Judo Canada is to bring clubs back to the basics, as well as help coaches implement these fresh ideas.

“A lot of the stuff, they know already, it’s just how to implement it, and then there’s a few new ideas as well … fundamental movement skills, fundamental ground-work skills and fundamental standing technique,” Kamstra explained.

Judo Yukon was particularly keen to bring Kamstra up to Whitehorse in the lead up to the 2007 Canada Winter Games.

Jensen noted that it is more economical to bring one person in rather than send a group down to B.C.

Either way, it’s more opportunity than he had as a member of the only judo club in the Yukon in the 1970s and 1980s, he said.

“Our resources went to trying to get our competitors out to tournaments … and if we could get out three times in a year, that was a pretty big cost,” Jensen said.

“Since I’ve been running my club, it just helps me stay enthused and fresh, instead of getting into a rut, getting bored, the kids get bored. The kids are having fun, the instructor has fun, vice versa.”

Judo Yukon will hold a tournament on Jan. 15 at Holy Family School starting with the weigh-in at 9 a.m.