Kyle Wilkinson has come so close to a medal at the national judo championships.
But the judoka from the Prince George Judo Club hopes the third time's the charm and he steps onto the podium at the 2014 Canadian Championships May 15-18 in Saguenay, Que.
The tournament will feature the top 600 judokas from across Canada, competing in a double knockout format.
"I've been to nationals twice and gotten fourth both times," said Wilkinson, who'll compete in the under-60-kilogram division for under-16 males. "This year I want to place [in the top three]."
Wilkinson is among 12 Prince George athletes from the Hart and Prince George Judo Clubs who are making the trek to Saguenay next week, 209 kilometres north of Qubec City.
Wilkinson, a 15-year-old Grade 9 student who attends College Heights secondary, has had a pretty good season on the mats, including silver in the Edmonton Open in March and bronze at the 2014 B.C. Winter Games. He also won silver at the 2014 youth provincial championships in front of his family and friends at the Northern Sport Centre at UNBC.
He'd love to turn things around in Saguenay.
"I want to win the first match I fight and that has usually helped at the other tournaments," he said. "I've learned to become pretty confident in myself but I hope not to make the same mistakes I did before.
"I'm pretty excited about going and it's nice to have our club coaches [Aline Strasdin of P.G. Judo and Bruce Kamstra of the Hart Judo Academy] there as well."
Grace Northrop from the Hart Judo Academy is competing in the U18 female, under-52kg division. She too is making her third trip to nationals.
"My goal is to improve and I definitely would like to medal," said the Grade 10 student who attends Duchess Park secondary. "There's going to be a lot of good competition, especially from Qubec. The competition is all pretty close [in ability], it all depends on the draw."
Northrop goes into nationals having won gold at the 2014 B.C. Winter Games (Lisa Russell of Prince George Judo Club won silver) and a bronze medal at the Pacific International in February. She won silver at the youth provincials in Prince George. (Russell won gold, and is also competing at nationals.)
Kamstra, the Hart Academy's head coach, has the same role with the B.C. team while Strasdin is the provincial coach. Both will be in Quebec to support the provincial team.
Nationals will serve as another selection event for the 2015 Canada Winter Games in Prince George.
Strasdin is especially confident in the Prince George group traveling to Qubec.
"Everybody from Prince George has improved this year," she said. "Some of them have competed at higher-level competitions at the Qubec and Ontario Opens. They're physically ready as long as they're mentally ready and they will have some good performances."
Competing in the under-16 event are: Lorna-Jane Simmons (female under-52 kilograms); Taylor Schaus, (male under-42kg); Ryan Russell, male under-48kg); Branden Edwards, male under-55kg); Levi Price, male under-60kg); Kyle Wilkinson, male under-60kg). All fight for the Prince George Judo Club except for Simmons, a Hart Judo Academy member.
In the U-18 category are: Lisa Russell, (female under-52kg, Prince George Judo Club); Grace Northrop, (female under-52kg, Hart Judo Academy) and Kristen Yawney (female under-70kg, Prince George Judo Club).
Competing in the U-21 age category are: Lavanna Laass (female under-63kg, Hart Judo Academy): Quinn Clemas (male under-81kg, Prince George Judo Club) and Brendan Bellevance, (male under-100kg, Hart Judo Academy).
The Prince George contingent has one more practice today prior to flying to Qubec City on Tuesday. They'll then endure a two-hour bus ride north to Saguenay.
When nationals concludes, Kamstra and Strasdin will select a B.C. team that will compete at the U.S. junior national championships in Hawaii in July.
"It's all in preparation for the 2015 Canada Winter Games," said Strasdin. "All provinces will be formulating their Canada Winter Games teams. [Going to Hawaii] is for team building and facing higher-level competition."
