State honours for judo club
NATALIE HOLMES
Living up to their name, members of the Wellington Southern Cross Judo Club have produced stellar performances at the State championships in Tweed Heads, to earn themselves a spot at the nationals.
Held in Adelaide in October, the Australian Championships will feature the best judo players from each State. And the local team makes up 25 per cent of the NSW selection.
Club representative Stephanie Beehag said it was unusual for a reasonably big club to earn such a rare achievement.
"Almost our entire club has been selected for the NSW team," she said.
"Nearly every one of us placed (at State) and we have representatives in nearly every division."
There is now no room for mistakes and the team is undertaking some intense training under the watchful eye of Sensai Les Hayes.
"We are training three nights a week and not only is it about fitness, but we need to put our heads down and concentrate on our mental and physical strength."
Remaining in their weight division and staying injury free are further goals of the club members.
"Bruises don't count, because we've got lots of those," Stephanie said with a laugh.
On a more serious note, she believes some of the competitors could go a lot further than Adelaide.
"A couple of us have a really good chance to get into the Australian team to go to the Oceanic Pan-Pacific Games in Osaka," she said.
It's a far cry from her baton twirling days, the only other time Stephanie has represented her State.
And for many of her fellow judo team-mates, this will be their first time at such an elite competition level.
Not bad for a club which has only been in existence for 12 months. As part of their preparation, the club will next head to Wollongong to face metropolitan opponents in a training tournament.
"It's for our State coach to see how we're performing," Stephanie said. FONTE: Wellington Times - Wellington, New South Wales, Australia
Living up to their name, members of the Wellington Southern Cross Judo Club have produced stellar performances at the State championships in Tweed Heads, to earn themselves a spot at the nationals.
Held in Adelaide in October, the Australian Championships will feature the best judo players from each State. And the local team makes up 25 per cent of the NSW selection.
Club representative Stephanie Beehag said it was unusual for a reasonably big club to earn such a rare achievement.
"Almost our entire club has been selected for the NSW team," she said.
"Nearly every one of us placed (at State) and we have representatives in nearly every division."
There is now no room for mistakes and the team is undertaking some intense training under the watchful eye of Sensai Les Hayes.
"We are training three nights a week and not only is it about fitness, but we need to put our heads down and concentrate on our mental and physical strength."
Remaining in their weight division and staying injury free are further goals of the club members.
"Bruises don't count, because we've got lots of those," Stephanie said with a laugh.
On a more serious note, she believes some of the competitors could go a lot further than Adelaide.
"A couple of us have a really good chance to get into the Australian team to go to the Oceanic Pan-Pacific Games in Osaka," she said.
It's a far cry from her baton twirling days, the only other time Stephanie has represented her State.
And for many of her fellow judo team-mates, this will be their first time at such an elite competition level.
Not bad for a club which has only been in existence for 12 months. As part of their preparation, the club will next head to Wollongong to face metropolitan opponents in a training tournament.
"It's for our State coach to see how we're performing," Stephanie said. FONTE: Wellington Times - Wellington, New South Wales, Australia
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