The Harris Tournament
Thursday 04 December 2008
The Harris Tournament should not be underestimated- it was a long day and the standard of Judo was incre
dibly high. The Budokwai judokas were a little nervous to begin with but all fought incredibly well, with maturity, courage and showed great skill. All those who participated and who witnessed the contests agree that the level of Judo at the tournament was higher than expected.
The girls fought first and faced some very tough competition indeed. Poppy Hayes started the day off, fought her hardest, but unfortunately was defeated. Beni Mathieu lacked confidence and lost her first fight, but came back to win her second. Mathieu gave a good account of herself in her final fight, but unfortunately lost that fight. Hayes and Mathieu fought courageously and learnt a lot from participating in the challenging event.
The Budokwai boys fought very well and did themselves and the Club proud. The 34kg categories was buzzing, and competition was tough. The Budokwai was represented by Stanley Forbes, Antoine Blind, Christian Mitchell and David Saran. Forbes fought well, wining two and losing two. Saran won three and lost two, meaning he came 5th overall in the tournament. Mitchell who was in a class of his own won four and lost one, which earned him a Bronze.
Marco Coronelli, Cameron Biggs and George Cathcart fought next. Biggs fought brilliantly considering he has just started a new school and is trying to cope with the workload and do Judo at the same time. I spoke with him and his dad the week before and said, Cameron going to have to rely on his Judo experience to get through the tournament since he had not been able to practise much. The standard of the Judo really was very high and Biggs won four fights and lost two but unfortunately did not receive a medal. Coronelli fought very well in his first contest outside of the Budokwai dojo. Cathcart fought very well and received a bronze medal - so many congratulations to him. This tournament was a steep learning curve and the Budokwai Judoka’s have a lot to take away from this experience.
As Head Coach of Junior Mini and Midi Judo, I want to say that I am immensely proud of the way each Budokwai member fought. Each child has shown tremendous potential and skill. They really do have what it takes to progress and excel in their judo. Well done to ALL of you- you must be very proud of yourselves- I, and all at the Budokwai are!! You all fought like proper Judoka.
Larry Stevenson
