2006 Pan American Championships Coaches Notes

May 28, 2006

TEAM! That’s what the last day at the Pan Ams was all about in every sense of the word. The USA team which consisted of 5 weight classes each, 52, 63, 70, 78 & +78kg for the women and 66, 81, 90, 100 & +100kg for men was made up of Carrie Chandler, Val Gotay, Katie Mocco, Nikki Kubes and Eva Smith and Taylor Takata, Aaron Cohen, Ryan Reser, Garry St. Leger, Djamaldin Aliev and Kirk Hoffmann. Every single one of these kids displayed courage, unselfishness and just plan guts to place second for the men and third place for the women. One example of the team concept was the fact that Eva Smith changed her ticket to stay for the team competition as she was scheduled to be in a wedding.

As it turned out Smith was the deciding factor for the U.S. team picking up the bronze as she broke a 2-2 tie against Argentina by slamming her opponent with harai for ippon and the victory. The highlight of the evening came in the men’s semifinal against Argentina. The match was tied 2-2 going into the +100kg bout and the Argentina coach signaled for Eduardo Costa to put his gi on and go out there even though he wasn’t on the original roster making him ineligible. The U.S. officials vigorously protested. The debate between coaches and officials went on for about 20 minutes making the crowd go crazy.

The U.S. finally won the protest and the Argentines were forced to put forth their original heavyweight. Kirk Hoffmann came through with flying colors throwing his opponent for yuko right into a pin for the win and a trip to the final.

The only down side to the day was the injury Nikki Kubes suffered fighting the world champ Cuban. Kubes was in a close match with her until the Cuban came in a double sleeve sode that came across Nikki’s knee awkwardly forcing her to retire. Days like this are the very reason I want to be in coaching. The total USA team effort was an honor to be a part of.

May 26, 2006

By Jason Morris, Team USA Coach

The second day had its ups and downs. The young and talented Jeremy Liggett announced his arrival on the international scene by upsetting one of the top players in the tournament and making the 60kg final. Defending champ Ryan Reser wasn’t able to make it a three-peat. Valerie Gotay was her usual stable self, picking up a hard fought bronze in a very competitive 57kg. Another defending champ, Carrie Chandler, looked flat as well as Reser. I was impressed the way Chandler and Reser carried themselves in defeat as they were true sportsmen. Anyone can be a gracious winner, but being a good loser is much tougher to do. Chandler and Reser were clearly disappointed in their performances, but acted like champions and know that there is more work to be done and already started trying to adjust with their coaches.

              I personally liked the USA team camaraderie as they were all supporting each other as the others competed along with getting water or whatever they needed. I was also impressed with veteran Taylor Takata’s conditioning. He still seemed fresh after a nine-minute marathon bronze medal bout with the Canadian and although it ended in defeat I think Takata is still on the rise and can build on this the for the future. It was very disappointing to see John Leonhardt injure his knee on his bronze medal fight which I thought he was going to win. John fought hard and with great spirit all day and deserved a better ending. All in all, the event went off well for the Americans in one of the toughest Pam Ams ever.

May 25, 2006

By Jason Morris, Team USA Coach

Day one went off very well as there was some very good performances. Ronda Rousey looked very strong to reach the final of 63kg for a third straight year, but got her left osoto countered by the Cuban in the final. Katie Mocco continued to show improvement taking a bronze in 70kg, including a win over last year’s champ. Aaron Cohen picked up his fourth Pan Am bronze losing only to Olympic bronze medalist, Flavio Canto (BRA) in the semis. Nikki Kubes took a fifth place in 78kg which is a good result considering her long layoff. Youngster Garry St. Leger fought extremely well against last year’s 90kg champ, Costa (ARG), proving promise for the United States in that division.

The preliminaries started at around 10:30 a.m. and ended about 1 p.m.  Then the final got going close to 7 p.m. and ending at 9 p.m., making it a very long day for the athletes. We go at it again starting at 6:30 a.m. tomorrow as the bus leaves to the venue for the weigh-ins.

Overall, this year’s event has turned out to be one of the most participated and toughest Pan Am Championships in recent memory.

May 24, 2006

By Jason Morris, Team USA Coach

The first day went off well in terms of the USA team’s judo practice. We arrived in Buenos Aires at about 10 a.m. and settled into the hotel by noon. Our first training session was at 6 p.m. that same day. The West coast kids had to fly from California to Texas which was three hours and then another 12 hours to Buenos Aires. The East Coasters met in D.C. and then had a 10-hour flight to Argentina. Even with that long travel the team seemed relatively well rested and had a solid work out.

We trained today at 10 a.m. to acclimate ourselves to the competition time which will be at 10 a.m. tomorrow. This training session was basically to shed some weight for the athletes that compete tomorrow. It appears that all the athletes have their weight under control which is a highly important part of being able to function on game day. We trained along side the Cuban team who will make this years Pan Ams extremely tough as they didn’t participate in the 2005 edition.