It is not uncommon for students to pack their belongings and head off for a new adventure after graduation, but what about their parents?
With youngest daughter Abby now gearing up for university, longtime Judo supporter, Powell River Judo Club founder and proud father Jeff Lloyd has recently begun considering a permanent move to Campbell River for work. Although it remains a temporary commute for now, the Lloyd family’s impending absence threatens to leave a big impact on both the sport and the community.
“We will be more than likely facilitating a full move, but it just takes a little bit of time,” said Jeff. “We wanted to go over and check out the waters first.”
Being that judo is a winter sport, the timing has worked out well for the club and the athletes involved. “Summers are generally when we shut down anyways, due to vacations and heat,” explained Jeff.
If the move does not work out for the Lloyds, the club will open back up and carry on as usual. In the meantime, however, Jeff has been in touch with the Powell River Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club. “We’ve talked to Drew [Thistle] at the jiu-jitsu club, which is really similar to judo, and he’s going to be putting on some kids’ classes that weren’t available before. That will kind of facilitate that need for what we were doing if this happens to become a permanent thing for us.”
The Lloyds have now been in Campbell River for just over a week and already they have become well-known faces at the judo club. “Abby is over here with me right now and she’s training with the Campbell River judo club,” said Jeff. “They have some kids who are going to Hawaii for the US Junior Open. Abby has competed in that event and won in years past, so she’s come over here to help them train for that.”
However, Abby won’t be following her parents to Campbell River if they do relocate. Instead, she’ll be making an exciting move of her own. The recent Brooks Secondary School graduate has taken a scholarship opportunity at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby. “She’ll be wrestling for the Clansmen this year and working her way onto the national team to hopefully try to make a run for the olympics in wrestling,” said Jeff. “Judo was just getting too costly and the [financial] support wasn’t there. This was the best opportunity for Abby to get an education. She’s going to be studying law at SFU while wrestling for them.”
While financial support may have been tough, community support for Abby and judo has been an entirely different story. “We’ve had such unbelievable support from Powell River,” said Jeff. “We’re definitely going to keep everybody in the loop as to what’s going on and hope that they share the same excitement with her wrestling career as they did with the judo. The priority will lie with the wrestling, but she’s still going to fill her free time with judo down there in the Burnaby club and who knows what will happen.”
