September 10, 2016 Toronto, Ontario

September 10, 2016 Toronto, Ontario

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION COMMITTEE Brian Kalsen (Chair) Angelique Harris Sue Sokol " The Judo Ontario Awards & Recognition Committee is very pleased to congratulate the Judo Ontario 2015 Award Recipients. The Awards and Recognition Committee was put together to adequately and effectively recognize the contribution of our volunteers and athletes at all levels who are crucial to the development and advancement of judo in Ontario. All of the honourees have continued to build on our rich tradition with their exceptional accomplishments at the provincial, national and International levels. Congratulations to all of you! Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart ~Elizebeth Andrew~ "

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION CEREMONY L'ARCHE DAYBREAK 11399 Yonge Street, Richmond Hill ON DaySpring Building MASTER OF CEREMONIES Jim Peterkin WELCOME Aartje Sheffield VIDEO PRESENTATION Brian Kalsen AWARDS PRESENTATION Brian Kalsen PRESENTERS Aartje Sheffield Kevin Doherty Frank Vossen Steven Sheffield Fran McCrodden Pedro Guedes APPETIZERS 7:00 to 9:00 pm

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT Dear judo friends, It is my distinct pleasure, on behalf of the Judo Ontario Board of Directors, to congratulate all of the 2015 Judo Ontario Award Recipients. Your achievements are a testament to our athletes, coaches, officials, and volunteers on their exemplary performances and commitment that are making judo stronger in Ontario. The upcoming generation of athletes is inspired by this dedication, this hard work, and these exceptional accomplishments. These awards and recognition are a celebration of achievements that are the culmination of many years of hard work. I want to thank you all for representing the judo community and for making us all proud. The Judo Ontario Awards Committee was formed to better recognize the commitment and hard work of our athletes and the continuous dedication from our volunteers. As President of Judo Ontario, I want to acknowledge the numerous volunteers who continually contribute to judo in Ontario. Congratulations and best wishes in the future. Yours in Judo, Aartje Sheffield President of Judo Ontario

BOARD OF DIRECTORS President of Judo Ontario Aartje Sheffield 1st Vice President of Judo Ontario Brian Kalsen Vice President of Administration Sue Sokol Vice President of Finance Heather West Vice President of Competitions Jeff Butler Vice President of Operations Jim Peterkin Vice President of Technical Karl Doherty Vice President of Marketing Chris Brown Vice President of Regions Steve Campbell Director of Judo Canada for Ontario Kevin Doherty COMMITTEE CHAIRS Grading Board Chair Bill Doherty Referee Committee Chair Frank Vossen Sanctioning Committee Chair Dave Robb High Performance Committee Steve Sheffield Risk Management Chair Gary Vosburg Coaching Development Chair Tracey Angus Finance Committee Chair Rudy Fischer Traditional Media Chair Greg Butrey Awards & Recogniton Chair Brian Kalsen Membership Chair Tony Kelly Dispute and Resolution Chair Kevin West REGIONAL DIRECTORS East Region Regional Director Jim Carty North Region Regional Director Kim Boaro South West Regional Director Gavin Blake Central East Regional Director Steve Campbell North West Regional Director Lloyd Samec

JUDO ONTARIO HALL OF FAME Hall of Fame Inductee Charlie Formosa Charlie Formosa started judo in 1962 and has reached the prestigous rank of Rokudan (6th Degree Black Belt). Charlie founded the Formokan Judo Club in 1975 and has fostered junior, senior and veteran judo champions at the local, regional, provincial, national, international and olympic levels. Charlie was also the original club coach for 2 time Olympian Glenn Beauchamp and more recently 2 time olympian Kelita Zupancic who is competing in Rio. In 1997, Charlie was given the honour of being inducted into the Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame and became a board member of the Oshawa Sports Hall of Fame in 1998. Charlie served as President of Judo Ontario for 3 consecutive terms from 2004 to 2010, Vice President from 2002 to 2004, chair of the Judo Ontario Referee Committee for nearly 16 years and the Judo Ontario Secretary General for 10 years from 1988 to 1998. Charlie also served on the Provincial Grading board for 18 years from 1986 to 2004 and obtained his IJF Continental referee certification in 1987. Charlie Formosa dedicated most of his life to judo and served the longest on the Judo Ontario Board for a span of 26 years from 1984 to 2010.

JUDO ONTARIO HALL OF FAME Hall of Fame Inductee Jim Walker Jim Walker has been involved and contributing to judo for over 5 decades and currently holds the rank of 6th dan. Jim was the Head Instructor of the Maple Leaf Dojo for over 30 years. In that time Jim produced 10 National level competitors, 30 plus National Championship medals and has developed over 30 black belts. Mr. Walker was the President of Judo Ontario for 2 terms. Jim has held many positions on the Judo Ontario board including; Treasurer for Judo Ontario, Regional Representative, Judo Ontario Secretary, NCCP Chairman and Grading Board member. Jim was very passionate about developing our future senseis and coaches and became NCCP level 5 Master Course Conductor. Jim led many NCCP courses across Ontario. Mr. Walker was also a referee and reached the level of National A and was Judo Canada VP for Ontario. Jim was also the founder and former President of the World Masters Judo Association. Jim competed at World Masters Games in judo, shooting, and archery in Australia 2002.

Fran McCrodden Award Sandra Muirhead-shaw Joseph Lestrange Award Karl Doherty Karl is currently the VP Technical for Judo Ontario. Over the past two years Karl has led a number of initiatives, most notably he was the Sport Organizing Chairman for the Toronto 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games. Karl has also been the Tournament Director for the past two Ontario Open Judo Championships, the past two Ontario Youth Internationals and holds the position of President of the Ajax Budokan Judo Club. Karl lives and works in Durham Region, is a father of two and has been married to his wife JoAnne for 31 years. Karl is also the Director of Camp Budokan, a camp that was founded in 1964 by his father Bill. Sandra (Sandy) Muirhead-Shaw started judo in the mid 1970 s. After a lengthy career competing both nationally and internationally, she eventually became the Canadian National Champion in 1986. Sandy decided to take a short break from the sport. After taking some time off to raise her family, Sandy returned to judo at the club level to pass on her competitive experience. Since she was still interested with the competition side, she decided to join her sister on the other side of the mats, doing draw-sheets at numerous local tournaments. This side of the competition was new to her, but not unfamiliar as she had watched her mother on this side throughout her competitive career.

Coach of the year award Kevin Doherty Based on performance at the 2015 Canadian Championships the Budokan Judo Club accumulated the most points earning themselves the title of Club of the Year for 2015. Kevin Doherty is the H ead Sensei for the Budokan Competitive Team. The Budokan Competitive team was also the winner of this year s Ontario Team Championship. Kevin is also the coach of Canada s first Cadet World Champion, Jessica Klimkait. Referee Contribution Award Bill Doherty Bill Doherty started refereeing in 1961 progressing through various provincial and national levels and obtaining his Judo Canada National A Referee certification in 1974. In 1979 Bill Doherty received his IJF B (Continental) Referee certification at the US Open in Scottsdale, AZ. In addition to officiating at many Canadian National Championships, Mr. Doherty has refereed at many international championships in the USA, UK, Hungary and the Netherlands. Bill served several terms as Chair of the Judo Ontario Provincial Referee Committee. In November 2015, the International Judo Federation (IJF), judo s world governing body, awarded Mr. Doherty with the IJF s highest refereeing level of IJF International Honorary Referee.

Most Outstanding U16 Female Athlete Candice Driscoll Candice started judo at the age of 8. Candice has competed and won the Elite 8 Invitational Judo Championships in Montreal in 2016. Candice s short term goals are to win Nationals in 2017, in 5 years compete at Jr. World s, and within 10 years make the Olympic Team. Candice trains at the Ajax Budokan under coach Kevin Doherty and is currently training at the HPP/Judo Canada RTC. Most Outstanding U16 Male Athlete Keagan Young Keagan started judo at 12 years of age and studies at the Ajax Budokan under coach Mark Welsh. Keagan also trains at the Judo Ontario HPP/Judo Canada RTC. Keagan placed third in U16 at the Nationals and then won gold at the Elite 8 Invitational Judo Championships in U18 and also won Most Outstanding U18 Judoka. Keagan competed in Amsterdan and placed 3rd and then finished the season with gold at the prestigious Bremen Masters International, the youngest athlete to win Bremen.

If there is effort, there is always accomplishment -Jigoro Kano -

" Winning means you re willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else. " -Vince Lombardi -

Most Outstanding U18 Female Athlete Natalie Rygielski Natalie started judo when she was 6 and is currently a members of the Ajax Budokan Judo Club. Natalie has been on the Judo Ontario High Performance Judo Program for 4 years. Natalie has won 5 Canadian Championships/Elite in U16 and U18. Natalie represented Canada in Thuringa, Germany in 2014, 2015, 2016. Natalie also took a 1st place in Scotland and a 3rd place in Holland. Natalie s dream is to represent Canada at the Olympics some day. Most Outstanding U18 male Athlete Benjamin Kendrick Ben started judo with his parents and brother at Takahashi Dojo in Ottawa before he could walk. Ben has won 5 gold medals at the national level, including golds at the 2015 and 2016 Elite Invitational in U18 and was awarded the Male Athlete of the Tournament in 2015 while still a U16. Ben won the most outstanding male U16 athlete award for Judo Canada in 2014-2015. On the international stage, Ben won golds in both U18 and U21 at the 2015 USA Junior Olympics, and most recently was the only Canadian male to win gold at the U18 Pan-American championships in Argentina in his new -81kg category, where he defeated the world #1 ranked Brazilian.

Most Outstanding U21 Female Athlete Jessica Klimkait Jessica started judo at the age of four and is a member of the Ajax Budokan Judo Club. Jessica is a member of both the Junior and Senior National Team and trains at the Judo Ontario HPP/Judo Canada RTC. Jessica has had a great competition season winning the Arlon Junior Open (gold), Arlon Senior Open (gold), Portugal Junior European Cup (bronze). Jessica also placed 5th at the Panamerican championships in Cuba in April, as well as (silver) at the European Senior Cup in Slovenia in June 2016. Most Outstanding U21 Male Athlete Mohab El Nahas Mohab started judo when he was 6 years old and fell in love with judo when he became competitive at the age of 12. In 2015 Mohab won gold at the Canada Winter Games in both individual and team. Mohab won the National Championships every year since 2012 in Cadet and Juniors and in 2016 he won gold in both the senior and junior divisions. Mohab also won the Ontario Open this year in both junior and senior divisions. Mohab attended the Judo Ontario HPP/Judo Canada RTC for 3 years. It is Mohab s dream to represent Canada again like he did at the Bremen Masters in Germany.

Most Outstanding Senior Female Athlete Kelita Zupancic At the top of the list of Kelita s accomplishments is her first Olympic appearance, in London, 2012. Kelita's next goal is to bring back a gold medal from Rio. Kelita trained at the Judo Ontario HPP/Judo Canada RTC for 1 year. Kelita recently won a gold medal at the Pan American Games in Toronto, a gold at the Pan Am Championships in Edmonton defeating Yuri Alvear of Columbia the defending World and Pam-Am Champion. Most Outstanding Senior Male Athlete Martin Rygielski Martin started judo when he was 10 years old and is a member of the Ajax Budokan. Martin trained at the Judo Ontario HPP/Judo Canada RTC for 2 years until transferring to the National Training Centre in 2014. Martin was the National Champion for 4 years in a row starting with U21 and then seniors. Martin was on the National Team and represented Canada at both the Commonwealth Games in Scotland and the Pan Am Games in Toronto.

ONTARIO OLYMPIAN ATHLETES Kelita Zupancic -70 kg Category At the top of the list of Kelita s accomplishments is her first Olympic appearance, in London, 2012. Her next goal is clear: she wants to bring back the under 70 kg gold medal from Rio, in 2016. Kelita recently won a gold medal at the Pan American Games in Toronto, a gold at the Pan Am Championships in Edmonton defeating Yuri Alvear of Columbia the defending World and Pan- Am Champion. Tony Walby Para Judo Athlete -90 kg Category Tony Walby is as passionate about judo now as he was 35 years ago. Tony has cone dystrophy and he began to feel its effects in his early 30s. After a two year break, Tony put his judogi back on and started competing as a para athlete. It didn t take him long to shine, winning the gold in the Under 90 kg at the Para Pan American Championships in 2010, and the bronze at the 2011 Para Pan American Games. Tony Walby doesn t only want to become the best judoka and the best mentor he can be for his team he wants to climb the highest step of the podium at the Rio Paralympic Games.

ONTARIO OLYMPIAN ATHLETES Priscilla GagnÉ Para Judo Athlete -52 kg Category Priscilla Gagné received several diagnoses for her vision before specialists discovered she had retinitis pigmentosa. Priscilla loves the culture of judo, whose teachings can be applied both in sport and in life. After her fourth competition, Priscilla broke her foot and had to stay off the tatami until 2013. When she started competing again, she spared no effort to qualify for her first Paralympic experience. Priscilla won silver at the Toronto 2015 Para PanAm Games. Andrzej Sadej Para Judo Coach Andrzej Sadej did gymnastics and soccer when he was a child, and then in 1970 he was invited, along with other students from his school, to a local judo club. He fell in love right away. One of the highlights of his career was his first gold medal in the Polish National Championships. Another memorable moment was the last medal he won in the European Championships in 1987. Throughout his career, he won quite a few medals, including seven National titles in Poland, five European Championship medals, and four University World Championships. His most rewarding experience as a coach was working with Nicolas Gill on his way to the top.

Thank you to our sponsors! MINISTRY OF TOURISM, CULTURE AND SPORT ONTARIO Youth Academy Graduation Veterans Training Women s Judo High Performance Programme