The notion of wrestling her brothers to the mat and making life easier for her mother helped lead Jaquina Simao into the sport of judo.
“My brothers and I joined at the same time, eight years ago, because my mom didn’t want to drive us around to 12 different sports,” said Simao. “I was in dance, but I didn’t really like that. Judo was more appealing. I have two older brothers so I could beat them up.”
All joking aside, it was clearly a smart decision by the now 16-year-old, who two weeks ago won the female youth under-17 title at the Canadian judo championship at Sept-Isles, Que.
Simao was competing provincially at the age of 10 and two years later entered her first national championship. She finished fifth each of the previous two years before striking gold in early July.
“I started training a lot more this year. I guess I got a lot more serious,” she said.
Simao trains at the Red Deer Judo Club and is also registered with the Ishi Yama and Hiro’s clubs in Calgary.
“This year I trained once to twice a week in Red Deer and two to three times a week in Calgary,” she said.
Simao entered this year’s nationals on a bit of roll after taking top honours in one tournament and finishing third in the Ontario Open.
“I wanted to medal going in (to the Canadian championship). When I made the final it was a real eye-opener and winning gave me more confidence,” she said. “Hopefully I can carry that confidence into the worlds.”
Indeed, as a national champion Simao will compete in the world championship next month in Kiev, Ukraine, as a member of the Canadian team.
“I’m very excited. It should be fun, but I have no idea what to expect,” she said.
Simao, who also won a bronze in the under-20 class at Sept. Isles, will enrol in Grade 11 at Notre Dame High School this fall. She was in the sports performance class for the first term of the last school year.
Could an appearance in a future Summer Olympics be in the cards for the Red Deer athlete? Is she even entertaining such a thought?
“Hopefully I can be at a high level for a long time. We’ll see how I do at the worlds and next year and then beyond,” she said.
Simao was joined at the nationals by three other Red Deer judo athletes, including her brother Jordan Simao, Cole Hogarth, Kayla Thompson and Mark Antonio.
gmeachem@www.reddeeradvocate.com