Okuri Judo Club members participate in the

USA Judo National Junior Olympics

July 21 & 22, 2007

San Antonio, TX

For the first time in club history, OJC had JUNIOR competitors compete at the National level. Taking advantage of a rare opportunity to compete in a national event in their home state, five junior members and their families ventured to San Antonio to compete and volunteer at the 2007 USA Judo National Junior Olympics.

All five athletes: Amber Crow, Brandon Crow, Derek Gray, Matthew Kearney, and Nathan Kearney, competed in the first day of competition. All were novices to national competition. Nerves were high, but they were excited to compete and be part of the action. Our first player was match 6 and our last fight of the day was in the 150’s. This makes for a very long day.

All of them did a good job competing and gave it what they could. Brandon fought in a round robin pool and was one win away from a medal. Amber went 2-2 for the day with two ippon wins, one with a pin and one with a leg pick and Ouchi combination. She was two wins away from a medal. Matthew fought with heart and went 1-2 for the day. Derek went 0-2 for the day.

I think Nathan had the toughest match of the entire tournament. Since “golden score” was introduced to judo, I have NEVER seen a match go to “golden score” and then to flags. Nathan was fighting an international level player from Arkansas. Nathan threw him early on in the match by a koka. With less than ONE second left, he was given a shido for stalling. The match went to “golden score.”

At the end of “golden score” there was no score. The match went to “flags” and the referees ruled 2-to-1 against Nathan. He lost the match, but it was a fantastic fight.

OJC supported the event by supplying volunteers on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Scott Muchow handled all of the medical requirements for the event by securing medical staff for the entire weekend. Greg and Lisa Gray volunteered to help run a scoreboard on Sunday. Stephanie (my sister) and my Dad volunteered for three days doing tasks from weighing athletes to assisting at score tables. Jorge and I acted as “tournament director deputies” and troubled-shot issues as they arose. Special thanks to Mom and all of parents for helping with Mateo and Lucas at the tournament. Thanks for taking care of our kids while Jorge and I took care of yours!