Prince George’s Lavanna Laass won Silver in Judo Wednesday night in the Canada Winter Games.
Laass, from the Hart Judo Club, reflects on her final match against Alberta’s Hana Varsanyi in the – 63 kilo class.
“I’m proud of myself for not giving up, even though I did get choked out,” she says. “I think I fought really well, I’ve definitely improved a lot from the last time I fought her.”
Laass was excited to fight in the final round, but also nervous going into it. “When I got on the mat, my nerves, they just went away,” she says. “Having all that support behind you is really overwhelming, but for me, it empowered me, to give it my all.”
However, Laass feels she put a lot of pressure on herself, being in front of a home town crowd. “I didn’t want to let anyone down, I don’t feel like I did, but I did feel pressure to do my best and I think I did.”
Her Coach, Bruce Kamstra agrees that Laass put a lot of pressure on herself, keeping her from a Gold medal.
“Being in Prince George, wanting to do really well … I think handling that stress, she did well managing it,” he says.
Kamstra calls this a learning experience, saying “She was successful at the beginning of the match; She was dominating the match, controlling the match, then she changed her tactic, her strategy, and got caught.”
Kamstra feels that he is only just starting to scratch the surface with Laass’ potential. “She needs to get her mental game a little bit sharper, learn to stick to her strategy, her game plan , and I think she’ll be a lot more consistent .”
Laass is back on the mat Saturday for the team competition starting at noon.
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