Three Judo Yukon athletes competed at the 2022 Youth Provincial Championships in West Shore, B.C. recently.

The three judokas that attended the provincial championships from March 19-20 were Jaymi Hinchey, Leah McLean, and Lia Hinchey..

Jaymi Hinchey earned gold in the U16 -57 kg division.

Judo Yukon head coach Aaron Jensen said it was a great overall performance by the Yukon athletes.

“They performed great,” said Jensen. “This was also a great opportunity for them to prepare for the next Canada Winter Games.

“It was a stepping-stone for the athletes and a good assessment tool for the coaches so we can come back and work on getting better.

“We didn’t really expect that kind of result. It was more of a training – more of a feeler tournament to see where the girls were at and to assess what we need to work on, so mostly for the experience is why we went out,” related Jensen.

“(Jaymi) overachieved by bringing back a gold medal ... that wasn’t really expected, but very very nice. “The other two girls had lots of good fights. They didn’t medal, which is somewhat disappointing, but yet, from a training point of view, from a coaching (point of view) – there was lots to work on,” he added.

Leah McLean and Lia Hinchey had a tougher time than Jaymi Hinchey.

“Neither one of them won a fight ... they didn’t make it into the finals,” recalled Jensen.

Leah McLean had four fights, while Lia Hinchey had two.

McLean fought in the -70 kg class, although she’s actually a -63 judoka. The organizers, however, combined the -63 and the -70 kg classes.

“As you can imagine, that makes quite the big weight spread,” stated Jensen.

“Being at the bottom of that ... she probably gave up an advantage by being lighter than some.”

Lia Hinchey competed in the -52 kg class. Lia was the youngest judoka on the Yukon squad at the B.C. Provincials.

All three girls were competing in the U16 category.

Jensen said Jaymi Hinchey didn’t lose a fight on her way to a gold medal.

“Being a competitive one-on-one sport, a lot of it just comes down to the day. If you’re on fire – and a lot of it’s mental attitude – possibly she wasn’t nervous. She just went out and fought her best.

“She does have more experience than the other two, from external competition. Not just in judo, but also in wrestling ... she competed at the Western Canada Summer Games in 2019 in wrestling ... she ended up fighting for a gold medal for the Yukon. She didn’t take the gold, but still, she came back with a silver medal. “So those events, over time, the experience that you get helps your mental outlook. Nerves play a huge role in the younger athletes when we go Outside.

“Leah McLean, who’s the same age, but this is only, I think, her second event outside to a tournament ... the first event, she was fighting in a novice category, and she dominated, last November. This time, she was no longer in the novice.

“It just comes down to that day ... did you get enough sleep, or did you eat right, or your nerves, or whatever – it can play a huge part,” added Jensen.

Leah McLean fought all of the opponents in her class, whereas Lia Hinchey was in a double-knockout.

“Her first fight was very close,” recalled Jensen.

“She went the full time ... it was a really good learning experience because she made some mistakes that are very easy to correct ... how to play the clock a little differently and how to strategize a little differently when you’re down by a point. But that’s part of the experience. That’s why we’re gettin’ them out.”

Jensen said the girls all came out with different outcomes from the event.

“The travel part is kind of exciting. These three girls, they’ve been out twice previously this season, so they’re staring to make friends. they’re at that age where it’s a bit of a social thing. They get to meet people from Outside with like interests of course. Judo is kind of specific – we call it the judo family. They’re starting to see the same people with the training – we do a training camp afterwards.”

The tournament was held on a Saturday. On Sunday there was a two-hour training session at the event’s site.

“One of the reasons we picked the event was because of the training, even though it’s only a two-hour session, it’s still almost as valuable, if not even more valuable, sometimes than the actual tournament itself,” said Jensen.

“I think that all came out fairly positive. Obviously, the girls that didn’t win have something to think about. They haven’t really expressed too much. The biggest thing was the different fighters that they’re fighting, from different grips. So that was something we’ve been working on since we’ve been back ... strategy, technical, attack-type stuff.”

The club goes out again on April 15 for back to back weekend competitions. The first one is the Pacific International in Richmond, B.C. April 15-17. Then there’s a training camp in Abbotsford, B.C. during the week. That’s followed by the Edmonton International Judo Championships April 22-24.

“So that will be quite the whirlwind,” said Jensen.

Five athletes are competing in Richmond. Two others will join them for the camp in Abbotsford, and then six of them will be competing in Edmonton. They will be joined by two more athletes there.

The two events are part of a western judo tour that is part of a circuit created by Judo Canada. In the fall, there’s an eastern tour in Quebec and Ontario.

“I’m trying to prepare a team for the Winter Games 2023. So that’s the plan, is to take the same group that I’m taking to the Western Open next fall to the Eastern Open in preparation for those Games.

Meanwhile, classes continue at the Shiroumakai Judo club.

“I’m running a judo program here ... Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays,” said Jensen.

“My daughter’s running a kid’s program on Saturdays, we’ve got wrestling started now – we’re preparing a team for the Canada Summer Games this August. There’s also Brazilian jiu jitsu Mondays and Wednesdays and we’ve got Muay-Thai kickboxing as well here in the centre.”

Shiroumakai Judo is located at 123 Copper Road in Whitehorse.