Lowell puts chokehold on judo event

Lowell puts chokehold on judo event
By DAVID PERRY, Sun Staff

Jimmy Pedro went to the mat for Lowell, and in two years, hundreds of young judo players from across the country and Canada will flock to the city's Tsongas Arena for the United States Judo Association's Junior Nationals.
The three-day competition is slated for July 11-13, 2008, and is expected to draw between 700 and 1,000 competitors, ages 5-20, and their families to the Arena.
Pedro, a two-time Olympic judo bronze medalist and U.S. Judo World Champion from Methuen, was at the Juniors in Boca Raton, Fla., when he learned last weekend that his bid for bringing the Nationals to Lowell got the green light.
"We're psyched to host this event," said Pedro, 35, yesterday by phone from Florida. "I've competed in this sport forever and this is the first time since I've been involved that we've been able to bring judo on this scale to Massachusetts."
"This is great," said Deb Belanger, director of the Greater Merrimack Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, who helped Pedro craft the bid on short notice. "Another championship event coming to the city of Lowell."
Belanger expects the three-day event to generate more than 500 room night stays in area hotels, and have an economic impact "exceeding $1 million."
"We get 400 competitors for a local event we do in Wakefield, and this will be people from all across the country," said Pedro. "I have a very strong relationship with Canadian judo, and they're eligible as well. I expect a minimum of 700, more likely 800-1,000."
Pedro, who won Olympic judo bronze in 1996 and 2004, did not know which other cities bid for the event.
"The next step, after I get back home, is to (meet) with city officials in Lowell and see what we can do with Tsongas Arena to make a big to-do of it. But I'm very excited."

FONTE: Lowell Sun - Lowell,MA,USA - http://www.lowellsun.com/