June 29, 2016

It has been a tough first week of training at the Camberley Judo Club, Camberley is a unique club as it has accomadation on site with a team of full time elite athltes who train daily. 

A normal day at Camberley involves morning Judo technique, a strength or conditioning sessiona and then afternoon randori. 

These sessions have really pushed me physically and mentally and have been a great preperation for the Junior European cups next week. 

June 10, 2016

It was a tough weekend at the Australian National titles on the 11th - 13th of June. 

My first division was the Junior Women U52kg category where I won all my matches by Ippon (Full score) and won my 4th Junior Natioanl title. 

Next up was the Senior division where I won my earlier fight to book myself a place in the final. I was up against last years National Champion, and unfortunetly lost my a shido (penalty) to lose the match, coming out with a silver medal. 

​

Finnaly I competed in the teams event with my fellow NSW team mates. I won both my matches however we unfortunetly lost the final by 1 fight, resulting in a Silver postiion finish. 
Now i have a week to recuperate before heading overseas to train at Camberley Judo club in England for two weeks followed by Junior European Cups in Hungary and Poland with the Australain team. 

May 31, 2016

I've had a busy few weeks preparing for the Australian National Championships in June. On the last weekend in April I had the NSW State training camp which consiststed of 4 two hour judo sessions. Now during the lead up to Nationals I am traveling to Sydney on Monday nights and Saturday Afternonos for Squad training with the rest of Judo NSW. 

April 08, 2016

On the 8th and 9th of April I competed in the Oceanaia Judo Championships. Friday was the Senior competition where I had two tough fights however unfortunaely lost by minor points. lots to work on but over all I feel like I played well.
The next day was the Junior Competition which I won, receiving my second Junior Oceania Championship. 
 

March 06, 2016

I am very excited to announce I have been offically selected for both the Junior and Senior Australian teams for the Oceania Championships in April. 

March 04, 2016

On teh 5th of March I competed at the Queensland International Open,  my last competition before the Oceania Championships in April. My Juniors division was similar to that of the ACT open, I won all my fight by Ippon (full score) to win the gold medal. 

The seniors division proved to be tougher with two visiting fighters from Japan. As Japan is the home of Judo I was prepared for some very tough fights. Both fights where very tough but I managed to come out on top, winning the senior division. 

February 19, 2016

The 20th – 21st of February saw the start of the 2016 Australian Judo season at the ACT International open, for many of us this was a very important competition because it was our last chance to secure Australian ranking points to go towards the Oceania Championship Selection in April.

In Juniors I managed to continue my winning streak from last year. Outplaying my younger opposition and coming in 1st place, cementing my place in the Junior Oceania team.

Next up was seniors and with the  number one ranked player absent, I was the top seed and managed to pull of my second gold medal of the day.

 Time to prepare for Queensland International Open in two weeks before knuckling down to prepare for the Oceania championships.

January 29, 2016

My last competition for my European training block was the Belgian Ladies Open in Arlon. This is a massive competition wich is attended by people from all over Europe, as well as teams from America and Canada. Arlon differs from many other international competitions because they use pools in the first round, before proceeding to an elimination draw. By using pools everyone is guaranteed at least two fights. My division was highly contested with 22 competitors. I was placed in a pool with two other athletes; Petit from France and Chaziastros from Germany. I won both fights by Ippon (full score) making me the winner of the pool and securing my place in the elimination round. Sadly the elimination round didn’t go my way; I lost my first fight against Helena Beyssac-Poulin and as she did not make the final I was eliminated from the competition. I also participated in seniors the next day however was unable to secure a win in the highly contested division. Lots to work on over the coming year but a good end to my European trip.

January 15, 2016

My first competition for the 2016 season was the Scotland International open. I competed here last year and placed third in Juniors. This year my aim was to take out the gold medal in Juniors and secure a podium position in Seniors.

In Juniors I had three wins and one loss, putting me in second place. Not quite my goal but still a big improvement on last years result.

After a short break to refuel and re- energise; it was time for seniors. After some hard fights I came out with another three wins and one loss, putting me in second place again, a massive improvement from last year when I didn’t even place. 

January 06, 2016

During my five week training block with Pole France Strasbourg, I was lucky enough to go to the European Judo Union OTC camp in Mittersil, Austria. The camp was attended by over 1000 athletes from all over the world; with some of the Olympic and World medallists in attendance.

This was an amazing opportunity for me to do randori (sparing practice) with athletes from all over the world. Mittersil is so unique because you can do randori with eight different people from eight different countries in the same session.

The four days I spent in Mittersil were truly: exhausting, hard, at times discouraging, but most of all extremely beneficial. Every single fighter has their own style, the way they grip, the throws they use and how they move. By training with so many different people my ability to adapt to different fighting styles has improved immensely, meaning in competition I can use these skills to still throw my opponents even when they don’t move the way I want them to.

A big thank you to Eric, Bernard and everyone from Pole France Strasbourg for letting me tag along, it was a truly fantastic experience.