Two young brothers from New Bothwell have successfully fought their way into the 2019 Canada Games.

16-year old Kaiden and 14-year old Keldon Christ recently qualified to compete in Judo, according to their respective weights, at the Canada Games this coming February.

“I am pretty honored that I was able to do well enough in these tournaments that I was picked by Manitoba to represent them in my weight category,” comments Kaiden, "so that was a pretty good feeling".

Sonia Christ, the boys’ mother, is a Judo instructor. While she is not their primary coach, she acknowledges the hard work and many smaller victories it took to get them to this point. She cites a summer match in Fort Lauderdale as an example; a tournament where both of her boys received bronze medals for their performances.

“They work really hard,” Christ stresses, “They train for Judo about four to five times a week, they work on their cardio because it’s a very explosive sport, and they do a lot of mental training too.”

Kaiden agrees, saying: “I’m a little nervous knowing the amount of people I have to fight and the number of emotions I’m going to have to overcome.”

According to Kaiden, both he and his brother have been practicing Judo for many years with the hopes of making it into the Canada Games.

Both boys are proud that they can now represent their community, their family, and their Judo club on this prestigious level.