Olympic hopeful blazing a trail
- Details
- Published on Saturday, May 6, 2017
By Laurie Kroeker
Submitted
In the March 3 edition of the Rivers Banner it was reported that Harding’s Melody Kroeker was in Richmond, B.C. at a judo competition and following that, competing in Edmonton, Alta. We wish to update you on her progress and thank you for all the support offered her thus far. She surpassed her fundraising goal for the March 4 and 5 trip to Pacific International (competition between Canada, United States and Japan) and the Edmonton International tournament March 10-13. She was both humbled and thankful for the local support.
She made many new friends and other important new connections while in B.C. She fought in U21/52kg at Pacific and won a bronze medal! After the Richmond tournament, Melody attended national-level training for three days; there were 160 participants training with guest instructor/two-time Olympic medalist Janusz Pawlowski.
Following training Melody travelled to Prince George with the B.C. provincial coach to train at his home club, and then accompanied him to the Edmonton tournament. At the Ice Palace (in West Edmonton Mall) her extra training proved its worth when she produced a gold in U21!
She also fought in a second category, senior women’s/52kg. She had four hard fights in this category and won against both blue and brown belts. She only lost to one first-degree black belt (who is currently national champion) and one second-degree Japanese black belt who was four years her senior, narrowly missing both the gold and bronze medals in Edmonton. She fought very well against these two tough competitors and greatly impressed her mentors. She is thankful for the experience; we were very pleased with her excellent fights.
On April 11 Melody received her brown belt. She has been working hard and her persistence and dedication was rewarded; congratulations!
As reported in March, Melody has once again qualified to go to nationals (Canadian Open judo championships) in Calgary May 24-28 and has been invited to stay with selected high level athletes for more national level training (May 29-June 1). She is both honoured and excited about this opportunity to showcase both her skill and strength as she again competes at this high level. We have been informed that national coaches will be in attendance at the tournament, and training camp, to scout for athletes to travel internationally and represent Canada abroad.
We would like to invite you to take part in her journey and thus, have created a new campaign to give you the opportunity to stand with her as she represents Manitoba in Calgary. You can support her and continue to follow her on her judo journey here: gofundme.com/melody-goes-to-judo-nationals-2017. We expect to include a link to live streaming coverage as it becomes available and post updates to her GoFundMe page and her Instagram account at melody_road_to_judo_excellence, as we know more.
Melody is grateful that you are taking the time to become familiar with her past accomplishments and the steps she is taking toward her goal. She hopes you consider supporting her as she blazes her own trail toward her dream of the Olympics.
