Failing sight motivates judo champBy ALAN APTED - Manukau Courier Tuesday, 6 November 2007
Tara Smith has no time to waste. The promising judo champion could wake up blind tomorrow with her dreams of going to a world championship next year dashed.
But until that day dawns the 15-year-old is throwing herself into preparing for next year's Oceania championships where a gold, silver or bronze medal is a ticket to the worlds.
The Manurewa High School student has keratoconus, a degenerative disease of the cornea.
She has little trouble seeing at the moment but can't read with her right eye. She has known since she was 11 that she could lose her sight at any time and has accepted her fate.
"I could wake up tomorrow completely blind or it could take a few years to happen. We don't know how quick or how slow it's going to be," she says.
"I haven't got time to sit around. I want to go to the worlds and to get there I have to win a medal at Oceania next year."
Smith booked herself a ticket to Oceania at the national judo championships in Christchurch over Labour weekend.
She was one of the tournament's outstanding performers, winning gold in the intermediate 70kg class and in the young women's 70kg class, a silver in the young women?s open and a bronze in the intermediate open.
She also took gold and two silvers at the North Island championships and two silver medals at the Auckland international championships.
"Some say I have an advantage because I can sense what I can't see. I'm not sure if that's the case but if an opponent feels I'm an easy target - and they usually do - that's their downfall," Tara says.
"It's an advantage for me sometimes."
That?s the word from a girl who loves judo because it allows her to legally get physical with an opponent.
The rough and tumble doesn't bother her. Truth be told, she quite enjoys it. It's something she has had to deal with growing up in a family of older brothers who treated her as an equal in backyard games.
She admits to having a dark streak but says it only comes out when she feels an opponent is out to hurt her.
Tara was introduced to judo by a friend when she was 11. The friend has left the sport but she's still going strong.
She has also played rugby as a prop and netball but gave those games away to concentrate judo.
She also skates but isn't in the class of her brother Dougie Moore, who holds a national title.
Tara reckons she gets her athleticism and love of sport from her mum Trish, a track athlete in her time, and her dad Bub - Ngati Porou/Ngati Kohuku - who played rugby.
Tara says she's prepared for the worse case scenario and accepts her condition. She's banking on an operation fixing her eyesight but says there are no guarantees it will work.
For now she's happy to set her sight on gold. FONTE: Auckland stuff.co.nz - Auckland,New Zealand
But until that day dawns the 15-year-old is throwing herself into preparing for next year's Oceania championships where a gold, silver or bronze medal is a ticket to the worlds.
The Manurewa High School student has keratoconus, a degenerative disease of the cornea.
She has little trouble seeing at the moment but can't read with her right eye. She has known since she was 11 that she could lose her sight at any time and has accepted her fate.
"I could wake up tomorrow completely blind or it could take a few years to happen. We don't know how quick or how slow it's going to be," she says.
"I haven't got time to sit around. I want to go to the worlds and to get there I have to win a medal at Oceania next year."
Smith booked herself a ticket to Oceania at the national judo championships in Christchurch over Labour weekend.
She was one of the tournament's outstanding performers, winning gold in the intermediate 70kg class and in the young women's 70kg class, a silver in the young women?s open and a bronze in the intermediate open.
She also took gold and two silvers at the North Island championships and two silver medals at the Auckland international championships.
"Some say I have an advantage because I can sense what I can't see. I'm not sure if that's the case but if an opponent feels I'm an easy target - and they usually do - that's their downfall," Tara says.
"It's an advantage for me sometimes."
That?s the word from a girl who loves judo because it allows her to legally get physical with an opponent.
The rough and tumble doesn't bother her. Truth be told, she quite enjoys it. It's something she has had to deal with growing up in a family of older brothers who treated her as an equal in backyard games.
She admits to having a dark streak but says it only comes out when she feels an opponent is out to hurt her.
Tara was introduced to judo by a friend when she was 11. The friend has left the sport but she's still going strong.
She has also played rugby as a prop and netball but gave those games away to concentrate judo.
She also skates but isn't in the class of her brother Dougie Moore, who holds a national title.
Tara reckons she gets her athleticism and love of sport from her mum Trish, a track athlete in her time, and her dad Bub - Ngati Porou/Ngati Kohuku - who played rugby.
Tara says she's prepared for the worse case scenario and accepts her condition. She's banking on an operation fixing her eyesight but says there are no guarantees it will work.
For now she's happy to set her sight on gold. FONTE: Auckland stuff.co.nz - Auckland,New Zealand
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