Brandon Slooyer's goal is national gold, silver or bronze. At the Prince George Open judo tournament, he showed he's ready for the challenge that lies ahead.
Slooyer, a 15-year-old from the North Capital Judo Club, was a powerful presence at the meet, held Saturday at the Civic Centre. In the U-17 under-73-kilogram class, he used his strength, speed and flawless groundwork to win all four of his matches. When he moved up to the senior men's blue to black belt division, his only loss came against 17-year-old Quinn Clemas of the Prince George Judo Club.
In July, in Toronto, Slooyer will be a member of Team B.C. for the Canadian championships. The P.G. Open gave him a perfect opportunity to sharpen his attack and defence strategies.
"I'm practicing hold-down techniques for nationals because I feel strong on the ground," Slooyer said. "A lot of people from Quebec like standing up and I feel groundwork would be a pretty good option against them."
Slooyer is in his eighth season of judo and will be at nationals for the third time. Two years ago, he won a single match and lost three. Last year, he improved his record to 2-3. This time, he'll be at the top of his age group and will have his sights set high.
"I really would like to try my hardest and try out some new techniques and learn a lot of new things," he said. "But, overall, I'll try to get a medal. That would be great."
In the U-17 under-73kg class, Slooyer is undefeated this season. Given Slooyer's level of success to date, North Capital coach Sylvia Hausot said he's capable of meeting his objectives when he battles the best in the country.
"I'd say his chances are really good," she said. "He's had a great year so far and I hope it continues.
"He's strong in technique and he's got a good competitive spirit. He's just really focused -- he has his eye on the prize and works really hard."
Clemas a monster on the mat
Nobody found a way to top Quinn Clemas.
At the Prince George Open, Clemas won all four of his matches -- two in the U-20 junior men's class and two in the senior men's blue to black belt division. In the U-20 under-81kg category, he's among the best in B.C. and is training hard for the July nationals.
Often, the top contenders at nationals hail from Quebec. Clemas, of course, is aware of this fact.
"You have to train like they do -- go full-out at every practice and have goals when you're at practice and stick to them," he said. "You can't make excuses for yourself and have to train as hard and as much as you can."
Clemas, coached by Aline Strasdin at the Prince George Judo Club, has already experienced three national championship tournaments. To date, his best finish was fifth in a field of 30.
For Clemas, the P.G. Open was a good confidence-builder because, a few weeks ago in Edmonton, he lost all three of his bouts. His setbacks came against medalists from last year's Canadian finals.
"After that, I wasn't doing so great and [Strasdin] told me to get at it," Clemas said.
"I had good training the last couple weeks, good training partners and a good coach who knows what I need and helped me through my discouragements."
See Tuesday's Citizen for more judo coverage.
