Judo club gaining steam, top competitors
It’s the middle of the summer, prime season for taking a break, but Kayen Ivey is instead ramping up his regimen.
The 15-year-old judoka wasn’t happy with how things went for him in competition the past year, so he’s determined to get better.
“This year was a wake-up call, definitely,” said Ivey, who’s at the Medicine Hat Judo Club, located in the Gas City Kiwanis Centre on 11 Street. “It did show me what I need to work on.”
Ivey is part of a growing group at the club with loftier goals than just getting the next belt. They want to see what they can do at the next level, travel to square off against tougher opposition and challenge themselves.
“We’re planning to get the junior athletes way more involved in tournaments,” said black belt sensei Donovan Hoggan. “I want to get the funding to send them to the Quebec and Ontario opens, nationals again, the Edmonton international.
“You get some competition from folks you’d never otherwise get.”
Hoggan’s seen the club’s membership more than double over the past decade to 36, and with that has come more interest from kids like Ivey to pursue the sport beyond Medicine Hat. His son Ethan Cobbe-Hoggan and Ivey both competed at the Alberta Winter Games last year and 28-year-old Stephen Young is getting back into competitive mode as well.
Unlike the younger kids who could one day aspire to represent Canada at the highest levels, Young’s competitive goals are a bit more immediate. He basically wants to be knowledgeable enough to train them to be better, and practical experience against Canada’s best is going to help.
“Long-term all this is giving me material to teach my students,” said Young, who was at the national training centre in Montreal last month and aims to be at nationals next spring in Calgary. “I have students who went to nationals last year — we need someone who has the experience, the background, the competitive knowledge to teach them advance.”
While senseis Hoggan and Young are ready to help the top athletes beneath him, so too are they ready to take on a teaching role as well. Hoggan wants to ensure a good teacher-to-student ratio so come this fall, the elite kids will have a bigger role helping those new to the sport and at the beginner levels.
“I’ve been where they are before, so I know what it feels like. And I can also see what they’re doing wrong or right,” said Ivey. “It’s going to be improved, because when I learn, that’s stuff I can teach to the kids.”
That also means he’ll have a different perspective on what he’s doing too. It’s a win-win for everybody.
“What we’re doing is making sure nobody gets lost in the shuffle,” said Hoggan. “Everybody gets all the support they need.”
For more information on the club visit medhatjudo.com.