Well, what can I say? My voice is still hoarse but I can finally say that I’ve fully recovered from the Autumn Cup on Sunday, so I’m able to take a moment and reflect on our first major comp as Ultimate Jiu Jitsu.
It was a very proud moment for all of us watching everyone’s preparations and training culminate into exciting and inspiring matches that displayed a lot of courage. The anticipation of waiting for a match, and the adversity of taking those first steps onto the mats under all that pressure and excitement is something to be truly commended. It’s what we pride ourselves on achieving. It’s not so much about the actual end result, but it’s about overcoming your own personal adversity. When you step out and try your best against an opponent that does the same, and then shake hands afterwards in the spirit of sportsmanship, you’re both winners.
Our kids and teens team did remarkably well, placing 3rd as the overall Kids/Juvenile academy on the day. Congratulations to all our competitors, and the medal winners who achieved these fantastic results:
Gold
Luke Manu
Dimitri Apokis
Annamieke Robertson
Allan Manu
Silver
Reuben Le
Natalia Markovska
Vera Naumoska
Molly Rowland
Stoyan Kosteski
Nicholas Coppes
Adrian Tan
Tiago Pereira
Bronze
Bram Robertson
Sione Dimis
Jelena Tabakovic
Special mention must go to young Dimitri, who gave a phenomenal performance in all his matches. Dimitri displayed a calm determination that I haven’t seen in him before and showed composure through each of his tough matches, which he dominated.
Watching young children grow and develop and seeing the difference this type of training has in their lives is one of the most rewarding parts of being an instructor. The icing on the cake is when I get to present them with their next belt. Congratulations Dimitri again on your gold medal performance, and welcome to your new grade of yellow belt.
For all of us watching and coaching, we were on the edge of our seats, losing our voices and cheering you all on. This is just the beginning for us, and this comp was a great warm-up for the NSW State Titles on July 1st and 2nd. Now it’s time to look back and reflect on what techniques worked and what we need to address. See you all on the mats.
– Team UDA
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