100 Mile House's Kokoro Judo brought home a haul of medals from provincials in Prince George earlier this month.
Held at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre in Prince George this year, provincials saw clubs from across B.C. come to compete. This year Sensei Ian Briggs said the club brought home four bronze, eight silver and four gold medals.
"We continue to up our competitive side, which is good. Every time we go to a tournament, it seems a little better. There's just lots of good things happening at the club," Briggs remarked. "At the B.C.Provincial Tournament there were two events. The one on Friday night was for the U14 and under kids and our kids did really well on that. They do keep track of the results but everyone gets a medal. We had one girl, Nura Bathurst, who won all four of her matches which was outstanding for her."
Briggs said the rest of his students followed Nura's lead, winning more than their fair share of matches against the other competitors. Following Friday night's event, the provincial competition was on Saturday for U16 and up where Briggs said the club also enjoyed a good result.
Over the last few years, Briggs observed the club has always been able to win a few gold medals but usually has more bronze than silver. The fact they now have more silver than bronze, to him, indicates his club is growing more competitive.
"It feels like the same amount of medals but it shifted up a point, so that feels pretty good," Briggs remarked.
Broken down by medals Matthew Brock, Kurt Lundsbye, Saumil Patel and Diana Kosakova all won bronze medals, while Ibrahim Bathurst, Odin Borge, Aarav Patel, Ayla Racin, Olivia Vinje, Georgia Mackenzie, Maximillian Springmann and Myah Mason all brought home silver. The gold medalists included Musa Bathurst, Nura Bathurst, Springmann and Mackenzie.
With provincials now over Briggs said several club members will be attending additional competitions here and there over the next two months. Meanwhile, several club members who have qualified for nationals including Mason, Nabil Louraid, Mackenzie, Springmann and Kozakova will be travelling to Calgary on May 10 to compete with Briggs accompanying them as coach.
This success comes on the tail end of another season of exponential growth for the club. Briggs said for the first time ever this year club membership reached 100 men, women and children spread out throughout the various judo classes. The club has grown so much that he's been relying on his fellow coaches to help train all the students.
"We're gaining depth in our coaching staff as well. Jens Lundsbye did a lot of coaching this time and another fellow, Jason Page, did quite a bit this time too and helped the little ones. I had a few duties there because it was a provincial event with my role with Judo BC as well. It was a real team effort up there (in Prince George) in terms of coaching and we had moms scorekeeping and wrangling kids," Briggs said. "It was a big club effort."
