Judo Yukon collects nine medals at Edmonton international championships

Judo Yukon kicked off April with a handful of hardware.

Judo Yukon kicked off April with a handful of hardware.

The territory – represented by Hiroshikai Judo, Shiroumakai Judo, Northern Lights Judo and Golden Horn Judo – collected nine medals at the 2011 Edmonton International Judo Championships held at the West Edmonton Mall from April 1-3.

More than 600 competitors from across Canada, including the three territories, and from as far away as the U.S., England, Germany and Cuba, played out four matches simultaneously at the ice rink.

Judo Yukon president Dan Poelman said this is one of the bigger tournaments the team will attend.

“It was kind of nice to see the other territories as well; they had clubs from Yellowknife and Fort Simpson, N.W.T., and then Nunavut had something like 17 athletes.”

Richard Zebruck won gold in the veteran men’s black belt over 30, +90kg category.

Mark McKinnon won silver in the under-13 boys -55kg event.

Black belt Dan Poelman and brown belt Sandy Neumann each won silver in the katame no kata and a bronze in the nage no kata.

The kata competition is a form of pre-arranged techniques.

Jadon Leenders won bronze in the U-11 boys +45kg, Amy Roberts won bronze in the U-15 girls
-48kg and Dane Vasseur won bronze in the veteran men’s over 40, -73kg.

Poelman, who was head coach in Edmonton, said Team Yukon won one medal at the same competition last year.

“It’s a great booster,” Poelman said.

“It was great exposure, good experience, especially for our first-timers. For most of them it was their first time going Outside.”

Poelman, Zebruck and Vasseur have each competed Outside previously. For the rest of the team, this was their first competition Outside. With one exception.

Neumann last stepped up to the mat at an Outside tournament in 1972, Poelman noted.

“His grandson is in judo, so I think that inspired him to come out as well.”

Poelman was helped out by assistant coaches Zebruck and Neumann and team manager Vasseur, but added that the parents played a key role, what with bringing the kids to Galaxyland and the Water Park in the West Edmonton Mall between matches.

“For the black belts, it’s a competitive tournament. For the beginners, it’s a good intro, because they allow for that, especially the younger ages, to have athletes compete with the different belt levels,” Poelman said, adding that athletes stuck to their strategy while competing against opponents they’ve never faced before.

“We just focus on strategy and the techniques we’ve been working on all year. If you focus on that, you come with that strategy, it wouldn’t really matter what the opponent is doing, as long as you’re sticking to your plan. Sometimes that pays off and sometimes it doesn’t.”

Judo Yukon will next compete in the Yukon Open Judo Championships April 30 at the Canada Games Centre, where Poelman’s hoping competitors from Alaska will come down.

“Probably we’ll claim some of their medals,” Poelman laughed, noting that Anchorage clubs usually have bigger numbers.

“But we fair actually quite well with the Alaskans. They’re a fun bunch.”