Judo Yukon is having a busy and successful fall season.

They recently spent a weekend in Burnaby, B.C. at the Peak International Judo Tournament Oct. 21-23, garnering multiple medals there, including two gold.

The weekend prior, they were in Winnipeg to compete in the Manitoba Open Oct. 14-16 and earned multiple medals there as well.

Director and high-performance coach for Judo Yukon, Aaron Jensen, said the weekend in Burnaby went very well.

“The same four athletes that went to Winnipeg the weekend before also went on this trip and they all pretty much improved on their results, for sure.

“We did add one member to the team for the weekend, a younger U16. So, Huxley Briggs, he did not go to Winnipeg, but he went to the Peak International, which was hosted at SFU (Simon Fraser University) in Burnaby.”

According to Jensen, the presence of Penny Prysnuk as the female coach made a “huge difference.” Prysnuk is a former head coach of Judo Yukon.

“She coached our team back in ‘07 for the Canada Games that we hosted here in Whitehorse,” related Jensen. “So we brought her out of retirement, so to speak. Because I have females on the team, Canada Games likes to see a female coach as well as a male coach, so it’s all good from that point of view.

“Her and I have worked together – we work together quite well from the past. We know each other a bit. From my point of view, it was great having a second coach there just to be able to lighten the load. You have three mats going and sometimes – more than once we had two fighters that were up in two or three matches. You want to try and talk to that athlete and keep them focused and not let the nerves get carried away.

“Sometimes we have a game plan where we’re working specific strategy with a specific athlete, so it’s nice to have that coach be able to focus on the one, and not be jumping back between two or three (judokas).”

“Results-wise, we did very well,” continued Jensen. “So we had four kids compete in the U18 event on the Saturday, three of which are actual U18s: Jaymi Hinchey, Leah McLean and Liam Gishler … Liam won a bronze medal, Jaymi won a silver medal and Leah McLean just missed out on the bronze medal match, so placed fifth.

“Lia Hinchey, who is a U16 by age born, also fought U18 on Saturday. Unfortunately, she didn’t get a win that day but on Sunday, she fought again in her U16 true category and she placed silver.

“Also on Saturday, Huxley Briggs fought in the U16 division. Unfortunately, he had to fight up one weight category. He’s too small – technically, in U16 males, they do have a -38 and a -42. They had no other -38 entries, so they put him up into -42 and he got four good fights but he didn’t get a win. Strategically, we took a couple wins, because he was making some goals of certain techniques that he was able to make work but in the end game it didn’t result in a win, unfortunately.

“The other three U18s all fought in intermediate senior divisions, so this was a – let’s call it a developmental tournament where they had beginners – let’s call it novice, where they had yellow and orange belts and then intermediate, which are green and blue belts and then the senior divisions, which are strictly brown and black belts. So these kids are all green belts at the moment, so they fought in intermediate seniors and Liam went four for four and took a gold medal and Jaymi Hinchey also went four for four with a gold medal.

“Leah McLean, unfortunately did not. She had two good fights and unfortunately lost them both but a good experience for everybody … expectation-wise, medals are not what we’re looking for. It’s just our advancement in skill development, trying to get these kids all ready for Canada Winter Games this February.

Needless to say, Jensen was happy with the results.

“Very happy, especially with Liam and Jaymi, obviously, it’s an improvement from Saturday to Sunday … to go Outside and have eight fights is quite a bit and that’s invaluable experience that we just can’t get here in the Yukon.”

The kids were also pleased with their results.

“As we all know, it’s way funner to win than it is to go and lose,” said Jensen. “As a coach, I try to keep it positive and they all did make positive growth but you can’t deny that winning that gold is a big deal … it just helps them with their positive motivation for the next time.”

There was a diverse field at the Peak tourney.

“Mostly it was B.C.,” said Jensen. “There was two clubs up from Washington. And there was a team from Tahiti, French Polynesia. Jeremy Le Bris, the head coach of B.C., is from France and I believe he has some ties to French Polynesia, so last spring, he took a team from B.C. to a training camp/tournament in Tahiti and so now this team from French Polynesia … I think they’ve been in North America for two weeks.

“There was over 300 competitors so it worked out to be a good tournament,” he added.

For Team Yukon, the Manitoba Open was a slightly different animal.

“Manitoba was a little bit stiffer competition,” said Jensen. “They did not do the intermediate senior divisions like we had hoped they were going to, so our U18s only fought on the Saturday. Lia Hinchey, again, she fought Saturday as U18, then again Sunday as U16.” Hinchey took one match in U18 and earned a silver medal in U16.

The other three athletes only competed in U18.

Jaymi Hinchey, 52 kg, and Leah McLean 63 kg, both earned bronze medals in their respective divisions. Liam Gishler, 60 kg, finished fifth after dropping a competitive final match.

“All in all, I think it was good,” recalled Jensen. “It was all positive. I know Lia (Hinchey) is struggling as a young athlete fighting up a division. She’s finding it challenging. Mostly it’s mental. She has the physical abilities to be competitive but I think it’s a mental thing that she knows that ‘Oh, they’re older and they’re a brown belt’ and that’s kind of intimidating, so one thing we’re working on with her is just her mental prep to be positive.

“When she fights U16, you see her driven … she’s fightin’ for it, where in the U18 divisions, she’s a little bit more defensive and a little less aggressive, which, in judo, it’s a combative sport, you have to have that positive mental attitude that you’re gonna win. As soon as you start doubting your abilities or doubting why you’re there or you’re not good enough … you’re already losing the battle before the fight even started.”

“That’s one thing they get out of it that translates into life: that not everything’s easy. And not everybody can win. And you’re not always gonna win everyday. But if you keep fighting, you will eventually win.”

Coming up next for Team Yukon is the 2022 Steveston Invitational tournament Nov. 19 in Richmond, B.C. “It is another – typically, a developmental tournament, so the whole team won’t be going to that but we do have some other younger athletes, up and comers,” related Jensen.