Montréal, February 27, 2025 – “It is not important to be better than someone else, but to be better than you were yesterday.”
Ever since Jennifer Parker first heard that quote by Jigoro Kano, the founder of judo, it has echoed in her head, and she lives by it every day.
As the oldest of four children, Jennifer saw one of her younger brothers take up the sport of judo when they were young. Their mother therefore decided that all her kids would practise judo, to save time getting them to their activities.
And although Jennifer was initially more interested in ballet, today she cannot thank her mother and brother enough for allowing her to discover and fall in love with judo, which she practised for several years before taking a break during her university studies.
A few years later, however, she returned to the sport, and she hasn’t left it since.
“At university, I had to do a presentation in French on someone who had made a major impact on my life. I immediately decided to do it on my sensei! Everyone was really impressed, and thought I practised judo a lot. That’s when I realized I wasn’t doing it enough,” explained Parker.
That was all it took for Jennifer to get back into judo, earning her black belt in the process, and fighting in a number of senior-level competitions. It was at one of those tournaments that she served as a referee for the very first time.
“On one of the competition days, there weren’t enough referees, so they asked me to step in. I told the organizers I had never done it before! But they insisted, and told me I could compete early in the day so that I could referee at the end of the competition. So I agreed. That was my first experience. I officiated in my judo-gi!” she recalled, laughing.
A new start
About fifteen years ago, Jennifer decided to move to the town of Pincher Creek. In that small community in southwestern Alberta, judo was practically unheard of. So the teacher by training immediately decided to add another string to her bow.
“When we chatted with people, they would talk about joining the village running club or going skiing. I mentioned judo, and everyone was enthusiastic about it. So my husband and I founded the Barracuda Judo Club in 2012, and it has been an amazing experience ever since.”
Last spring, Jennifer became the first Canadian woman to receive the International Judo Federation (IJF)’s international coaching certification. She also holds a similar certification in refereeing.
“Throughout my judo career, I’ve been lucky enough to have had several incredible mentors, including my sensei, Yosh Senda, who passed away in 2009. Since then, I’ve felt a bit like a judo orphan, even though I’ve met many extraordinary people who have helped me a lot. For me, obtaining this certification proves that I’ve received excellent training and that I now meet a world standard for teaching judo myself,” explained Parker.
“I love watching young children develop in sports. Seeing them learn to control their bodies is super interesting. I also love coaching young people who are just starting to compete, who suddenly find themselves dealing with expectations and who have to overcome their own inner challenges,” she added.
Judo for all: A top priority
While the Barracuda Judo Club’s participants are mainly children, Jennifer recently made the decision to open the doors to adults who wished to try judo. To her great delight, five women answered the call.
“In a tiny village like this, the fact that there are five women who wanted to try judo is huge. The course wasn’t specifically intended for women, but they’re the ones who showed up. I was extremely happy to see that, and to be able to share my experience and my love for judo with them.”
This was not Parker’s first experience with women’s judo, however, as she had previously organized a summer camp to encourage young women to become referees.
“In Alberta, some of the referees were older than me and some of them were around my age, but there were no younger ones. There was no younger generation of referees that could take over. So we targeted young athletes who were not necessarily interested in competing. In judo, there’s something for everyone,” she explained.
“[For the camp], we rented a former church that had become an Airbnb, and we taught the participants all the aspects of refereeing. The women came from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. After the camp, several of them went on to become referees, so for me, the camp was a success. I’d like to do it again in the future,” said Parker.
Although she may not receive all the attention she deserves, Jennifer Parker has been an important contributor to the success of women’s judo in Canada, at all levels. But what matters most to her is giving back, so that everyone has a chance to participate.
“I also deliver training sessions. The last one I took part in was in an Indigenous community, where I introduced a lot of young people to judo. If I had more time, I’d like to offer more, for example to the elderly or to young people with developmental disorders. We can learn a lot from judo,” concluded Parker.
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For more information:
Patrick Esparbès
Chief Operating Officer
Judo Canada
(514) 668-6279
p.esparbes@judocanada.org