South West Judo Club held their year-end Grading and Photo Night at Mary Montgomery School in the evening of Apr. 11. Parents along with 28 students attended the event.
Mike Bergman, Chief Instructor Sensie, beamed with pride as he presented students their new belts. He told his students, “I am very proud of all our athletes; we never stop learning, Judo is a journey.” Bergman has been involved with SW Judo since its beginnings in Virden in 2005. He is a very dedicated instructor who has benefited from Judo himself and says now he is “paying what he learned forward.”
Judo is a sport for all ages, from five-and-a-half years old to the oldest Judo participant in the province, who is 82 years old. Bergman says that Judo emphasizes rules and expectations. He adds, “Judo teaches students respect for themselves, and others in society.”
All students moved up in rank: Melody Kroeker went from blue to brown belt, Adrianno and Ethan Giannico moved up from orange to orange/green belt. James Kreutzer, Riley Jorgensen, and Dominick Paupanekis traded in their yellow/orange belts to orange belts, Jonathan Kroeker, Tanner Dron, Isaac Tinant (absent), and Seth Eady advanced from yellow to yellow/orange belt, Jesse Kreutzer and Connor Kancharyk moved from yellow/white to yellow belts, Abigail Babiak, Elise Armitage, and Suzanna Vrubleusky went from white to yellow belt, Peter Haverchuk (absent) advanced from white with black stripe to yellow belt, Owain Riou went from white with black stripe to yellow/white belt, Brenden Houston went from white to yellow belt, Soleille Brunette and Corbin Hancharyk traded in their white belts for yellow/white belts, and William Kroeker and Bijou Brunette moved forward from white to white with black stripe belts.
The evening concluded with individual and group professional photos taken, as well as cake and refreshments.
