Build it, and they will come.
The playing field is a padded floor at the Civic Centre, and if anybody named Joe shows up to compete in today's Prince George Judo Open, it's a guarantee that Joe will be shoeless.
Bare feet are just part of the uniform in judo.
Knowing it is not one of the qualifying tournaments for the provincial team, Prince George Judo Open tournament organizer Aline Strasdin had thought the numbers of athletes would fall below that of last year, when the one-day tournament had serious provincial team implications.
But with 270 judoka registered, if they all show up for today at the Civic Centre , that's 10 more athletes than last year's PG Open.
"The smaller clubs are growing and they seem to have more participants, so that's great," said Strasdin, head coach of the Prince George Judo Club.
"The final selection event is next weekend in Abbotsford, and we have about 15 Prince George athletes going down for that training camp (May 1-2). About 10 of them have a sure spot already and the others may have to compete for it."
The all-day tournament starts at 9 a.m. The youngest judoka are first on the schedule to compete in their matches and that leads up to the black belts later in the afternoon.
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