Nina started Judo in 1992 as a hyperactive child with parents quibbling as to what to do with her. Her parents turned towards Judo as a potential solution. Nina was a self proclaimed “muscle head” when she started judo and just used her raw strength, however once she met her current coach Jim Hrbek, technique started to kick in. Nina is a unique judoka because she has 50 % bilateral hearing loss. This is highly unusual and yet she has hearing aids to help her during her day to day life. However she cannot wear them on the mat to...

MAKEACHAMP is created by athletes for athletes. We understand that it is easy to get swept by the preparation for the Olympic Games and forget about the funding needed to get there. However, we also understand that making sure you have enough funds available to travel for the competitions is just as important as making sure you are physically ready to perform. It has happened way too often that late in the qualifying season an athlete or a team will run out of funds and will not be able to make the qualification. For example, the Canadian women's beach volleyball team...

Ecaterina Guica was baptized into judo by her judo coach father at the age of five years old, she was fortunate to have a father that also opened a judo club. She has since gone on to compete for Canada at the international level and her goal is to make it to the Olympic stage representing Canada in Rio de Janeiro. One can assume that her father’s local judo club most of been a second home for her. A great challenge for Ecaterina is maintaining a good level of confidence which is necessary to succeed in high level tournaments especially...

Tarik Hopstock is a Norwegian Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitor. His campaign is focused around the IBJJF World Championship. Tarik has reached 227% of his total goal in a record 3 days. With 55 Supporters and 558 Shares Tarik's campaign has skyrocketed past its goal in a record time. Below is a small interview that I had the pleasure to have with Tarik. Q1) What made you start the sport you are currently training in?I initially started out training judo in a small club for two years, but there was only one training every week. I searched for somewhere else nearby...