By: Pamela Stern
On Sunday, August 11th the Starrett Judo Club held their 4th Annual Tyrick Smith-Carter Memorial Judo Tournament at the Brooklyn Sports Club (BSC). 21 dojo’s participated in this event from the tri-state area.
Smith-Carter was an Assistant Judo Coach for the Starrett Judo Club who tragically passed away in 2020 and left a huge impact on the judokas. Tyrick Smith-Carter was cherished and this event was renamed in memory of him.
There were 60 participants at the Tyrick Smith-Carter Judo Tournament. Although Sensei Legros was not present at this event, Assistant Judo Coaches, Jetaun Washington and Jeremy Bonserio held down the fort and were able to keep the Tournament momentum going.
How the Starrett Judo Club members placed:
Jackson “JJ” Billups -1st place (gold)
Caiden Bernard 2nd place (silver)
Cayen Altidor 1st place (gold)
Diangelo Bonserio 2nd place (silver)
Nathan 2nd place (silver)
Kelsey- had no one in her division
“Although we were unfortunate and not able to have Sensei Legros at the Tyrick Smith-Carter Memorial this year because he is recovering from recent surgery, we had a life changing experience. In the absence of Mr. Legros, Jeremy and I came together as a team and got things done by closing out the evening successfully at the end. With the outstanding help of a handful of the parents, such as Krystal Pena (JJ and Kelsey Mom) who is our number one Judo mom and parent coordinator. She covered all arrangements from beginning to end exclusively. We also had Christyanna (Caiden’s Mom) stepping in as our nurse at the Memorial and dominating the evening by nursing all the wombs that came her way. Last but not least Jotamar (Cayen’s Mom) was the voice of reason on all ends engaging in all the fundamentals from being to end at the tournament. We had an awesome outcome. I also want to give a big thank you to Randi for being there for us not only as our director, but she stuck with us at the end of the evening and assisted with the cleanup portion. So kudos to you Randi. There was also so much love and support from all of Mr. Legros supporting Dojo families. His fellow judo brothers represented what the real meaning of judo is, and that is “Judo is Love,” said Jetaun Washington, Assistant Judo Coach.
Photos courtesy of: Jetaun Washington
