Jiu-Jitsu
In recent discussions with Head Coach, Professor Yoshi Hasegawa of the Caza Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club, plus documentation from the same gentleman, it reveals an interesting point. The club is at present experiencing a weekly rapid increase in female membership. Could this be related to the growth of domestic violence plus every-day incidents on the streets of our cities ? It is indeed food for thought. Are our women starting to say- Enough is Enough! Now it could become – protection through sport.
Every week on Mondays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:30 pm, the Caza BJJ Club conducts Women’s Only Classes. The club which is located, on 153 Cooyar St Noosa Heads, is at these sessions training under First Degree BJJ Black Belt, Courtney Hasegawa: a lady who has for 13 years, been learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Japan and Australia.
Courtney is driven by a desire to introduce Sunshine Coast women to the Brazilian Jiu -Jitsu community. ‘’This a way to empower women by building their confidence and one day achieving their own black belt.’’
Classes focus on the fundamentals of Brazilian Jiu- Jitsu and Self Defence. “A warm, friendly and welcoming environment for women and a good introduction to martial arts: great for working out, self- defence and building confidence. Our classes currently have teenagers to middle age women, beginners and some intermediate members, with around 20 active female members in the class, plus all skill levels from teenagers to retirement age.’’
Jiu-Jitsu has been gaining popularity, particularly in the last five years. Part of this serge is due to an ever- increasing number of female practitioners, who have been increasing at an exceptional rate. Our Sunshine Coast and in particular the Noosa population, has also been showing lots of interest, and more female members are now joining our club every week. We are honoured to introduce jet-jitsu to women and take that first step in the journey with them.
We have also started Women’s only classes in Caza Hinterland affiliation in Cooroy, running every Tuesday from 6:30 to 7:30pm. Courtney is also running private lessons, group lessons, and self- defence classes in Caza, supporting women’s empowerment, and martial arts in the Sunshine Coast community. With only 35 female jiu-jitsu black belts in Australia, Caza is lucky to have Courtney leading their women’s team.
Courtney received her black belt in Japan from Takamasa Watanabe in 2021, the founder of Axis Jiu- Jitsu Academy in Tokyo Japan. He in turn is a black belt of Master Rickson Gracie, one of the original Gracie founding members. Courtney received her first degree in January 2024. Don’t hesitate to contact us for a free trial today.
Outriggers
For the paddlers that travelled from the South Queensland Zone to attend the Outriggers carnival at the Rainbow Beach last weekend, they on arrival, found very challenging conditions. In the early racing for OC1s and 2s, there were some great results for Noosa. Glen Brown took the Golden Masters Men and Fiona Fisher came third in the Golden Masters Women’s. Mark Gravolin came third in the platinum Men and Wendy Mabbot won her race in the Platinum Women’s.
In the OC2s, Nicola Cameron and Sue Alvsaker won the Senior Masters Women’s. Team Flea came second in the Mighty Minnows Junior Race. In the OC6 8km men’s race, Team Bodo won the overall and Team Mabbot won the Platinum Masters Men.
In a women’s major event team Hegarty won the Overall with a novice team. Certainly unexpected, but a brilliant result for the Noosa squad. In the 18km mixed race, Team Hegarty won again in the Seniors Masters age group, while Team Rocco won the Golden Masters Men and Team Bodo won Senior Masters in the men’s 18km event. In the OC1 racing on Friday, held over 15 km Bodo took out second in the Seniors Masters Men, just in front of Glen Brown in third. Tim Scarce won the Masters Men, while Des Mabbot won Platinum Men. In the OC2 race over the same distance Michi Schaare and Frank Manu triumphed in the Open Mixed.
In summer- rising the carnival, club spokesperson Colin Jones said, “ All in all a great weekend of racing, despite very strong winds. These winds resulted in the Friday racing being moved from the ocean inland to Carlo Point. It was a great effort by the Noosa Club to host this regatta on behalf of the South Queensland Zone. Congratulations to Des Mabbot and Mark Gravolin who, along with Flea White, ran a brilliant weekend of racing. A big well done to all involved.”
Rugby League.
Last weekend for Noosa Pirates Rugby League Club was definitely going to be the toughest of the season. Kawana has one of the forward packs in the competition,” said Pirates Head Coach Michael Duff, “ I was proud of the boys for we managed them well in the middle of the field.”
Pirates started the game well scoring within the first few minutes, from a set piece finished by Ethan Pohlner, scoring in the corner. Pirates second try came soon after from a strong run by lock forward Harry Dwyer, scoring beside the post. Kawana came back strong after a string of errors and a penalty, and following this they put four sets together and scored out wide.
Coach Duff was happy with their defence in mid field. “We were turning them away set after set with strong defence up the middle. We went into half time leading 18 to 10 having scored another by five-eight Matt Craven forcing his way over and Pat McGinn kicking 3 from 3. The second half started like our first half, having scored within minutes through a nicely executed set piece by Rohan Messer”
With lots of possession Kawana fought back in the middle of the second half before Blake Ginman crossed the line from the dummy half position. The score remained with Pirates leading 28- 22 for the majority of the period, until hooker Dyllan Cousens opened up Kawana’s right edge sprinting 50 mts, to score the final try in the corner, taking Pirates to a strong win 32-22.
Once again, I thought our forwards were great on the night matching the much bigger squad. Captain Kris Williams and Brody Baker kept us moving up field all night, while Dwyer cut through their defence on a number of occasions. I was really pleased to see the return of Jackson Ricotta from injury. He started the game in front row and laid a great platform for our guys to work from. Craven and Messer have been standouts in the past few weeks and will relish next weekend off.”
As a club Pirates are in a great position having A grade still undefeated and our reserves sitting second on their table having lost only one game. Third Grade had a great win on the weekend to move them into the top four in the Tiger division: while our women are fighting to stay in the top four. All grades will enjoy having this weekend off due to the NRL magic round. Next game for Pirates will be at home against Nambour Sunday 26th May.
The great club spirit that is very obvious on training nights, is apparently starting to consolidate all involved. It is hoped that all young ones, now starting to come through the ranks, will observe, learn and appreciate the importance of club spirit. It is always the first basic of success.
