Losses can be hard to take at 15 years old, but as world championship judo fighter Abby Lloyd learned in Germany, not everything is going to go as expected.
Abby competed for the Thuringia Cup in Germany last month and walked away without a ranking. She explained the circumstances were beyond her control.
“It was a little bit questionable but [the referees] called me on a leg grab which is part of the new rules for the IJF [International Judo Federation],” she said. “Unfortunately that put me out in the first round. But I would say about 90 per cent of Canada went out in the first round. But we did have a good training camp and a really good experience, and that’s all that I was looking for.”
Though she didn’t come back with a rank, Abby returned to Canada with lessons about what kind of fighter she is and the things she can and cannot control in fights.
“I learned not to let the refs dictate the fight. Just don’t give them a reason to give points to the other girls, being inactivity, illegal calls, whatever.”
She did tie with Kazakhstan in team fighting. Her opponent was given a penalty for inactivity and the match was called a draw.
Abby’s dad, Jeff, agrees the tournament gave his daughter a great learning experience, even outside of judo. “We’ll continue on with another busy year and keep going until the next one. She flew from Vancouver to Frankfurt, Germany all by herself to meet up with the team.”
Abby and her dad reminisced about when he used to worry lots, though that isn’t the case anymore. “That’s part of it too is the travelling by myself,” she said. “Just maturity wise. I’ve flown to Montreal by myself, flown to Frankfurt by myself. Vancouver is nothing now. If I’m across Canada he doesn’t worry about me anymore. It used to be a big deal but now it’s no big deal.”
Jeff added, “I still worry, but I worry less.”
This is also Abby’s last year fighting in the Under-17 category. She turns 16 in November but she said she has already had a glimpse into the category she’ll be moving into.
“When I actually turned U17 I wasn’t fighting girls who were my age. My coach moved me up to fight U20 girls so when I do reach that age I’ll be prepared and I’ll know what it’s like. I’ll know what the difference is in calibre. I’ll know what the difference is in technique versus conditioning. I’ve started to fight seniors as well.”
Jeff said Abby has had the backing of great training to help her along. One such trainer is Kyle Cook, who she has trained with since she was six years old. “He’s really come on in the past couple years,” said Jeff. “We’re really proud of him. He’s the boy that took silver in the BC Winter Games this year. He won his first BC championship in Abbotsford last year. Abby has got him to train with and that helps having him right here. On any afternoon they can call and train.”
“He’s stuck with me,” said Abby. “He’s been so committed these past years. We resorted to training in a garage, we’ve shown up to class and it’s only been me and him and we’ve stuck through it the whole time and actually led me to win nationals, to win BC championships.”
Abby has a busy year ahead of her. Outside of being a trainer at the Sunshine Coast Judo Club her dad opened a few months ago, she has a jiu jujitsu tournament in May in Langley and is going for her black belt in June. If she succeeds at that, she will be even more of a force at the Canadian Nationals in Toronto in July as a new black belt.
