.NLJA
1996 - 1997
.
News Around The Province:
Felicity O'Brien of St. John's School of Judo and Patrick Linehan of Memorial University Judo Club have both been recently been promoted to Sandan. Congratulations from both your clubs and the Association
Joseph Seifert and Tamara Hebner, both of Memorial University Judo Club, represented us well at the Atlantic Junior Judo Championships held in P.E.I on the weekend of April 19th. As the only two representatives from the Province, both captured Gold Medals, beating out a respectable field of six to seven competitors in their respective divisions. Congratulations to both.
Tom Gallant, Chairman of the NLJA Grading Board and Atlantic Vice-President of Judo Canada travelled to Montreal on May 3rd for a meeting of the National Grading Board. One of the results of this meeting was a revamping of the National Grading Syllabus.
Joseph Seifert of Memorial University Judo Club will be competing at the AM-CAN International Judo Challenge held in Buffalo, New York on the weekend of May 24th - 25th. This is the 25th anniversary of this prestigious event and tournament organizers are expecting upwards from 800 to 900 competitors. Many competitors are of National and International calibre. Joseph fights in the -60lb division (-27kg) in the 6 to 8 year old class. This is the fifth competition that he will be competing in since January and he already owns more gold than Bre-X! We wish Joseph the very best from all his club-mates and from the NLJA.
Aden White, our President of the NLJA has been elected as Vice-President of Sport Newfoundland and Labrador at their Annual General Meeting held at the St. John's Delta on May 10th. In addition, Aden was selected as Volunteer of the Year. These are two honours that are certainly well deserved and we congratulate Aden and wish him all the best in his new position. We are sure that he will do as good a job for Sport Newfoundland and Labrador as he is doing for our association. No doubt whatever his endeavors are can only translate into more recognition for our sport .
Mr. Claude Estoppey of Stephenville was inducted into the Newfoundland and Labrador Judo Hall of Fame at the hall of fame banquet held in Stephenville on the weekend of May 31st. Claude was inducted under the "builders" category and is only the third inductee to this prestigious hall of fame. Mr. Estoppey, a native of Switzerland and a Stephenville businessman, has contributed greatly in both a financial and support category to Judo for the past 25 years. Throughout the years Claude has been always there in support of the young Judoka of the Bay St. Georges area. At the same banquet, Mr. Sam Mclean received his Shodan. Sam is 68 years of age and has been practicing Judo for over 30 years. He is a piller of the Indian Head Judo Club and is always there for organization and support. The awards were a total surprise to both of these individuals and made for an exciting and emotional evening. In attendence were 50 invited guests and VIP's including the Minister of Labour and Environment, the Honorable Kevin Aylward. The weekend was culminated by a clinic held by Sensei Tom Gallant, Yondan, on Saturday.
