TOTI teen Jeandre Brand represented South Africa in judo at the African Cadets championships in Egypt and earned herself a creditable fifth place at the competition.
The grade 10 Port Natal High School pupil competed in the girls group four, aged between 15 and 17-years-old in the U48kg category. She has been ranked number one in this age and weight group for the past two years.
To qualify for the SA team, Jeandre had to first qualify for trials which were held in Stellenbosch in February. To participate in the trials, a participant had to be ranked number one in SA and have won the Open SA championships. All gold medal winners were selected for Team SA to compete at the African Cadets championships.
Jeandre described judo as not just a sport. “It’s self-defence, self composure and discipline with big returns.” Judo, in Japanese means ‘the gentle way’. “It’s a contact sport with lots of close-up movements luring your opponent into the desirable position to execute a throw. Judo is a tremendous and dynamic combat sport that demands both physical prowess and great mental discipline. From a standing position, it involves techniques that allow you to lift and throw your opponents onto their backs. On the ground, it includes techniques that allow you to pin your opponents down to the ground, control them and apply various chokeholds or joint locks until submission.”
Jeandre got involved in the sport through her brother. “I was nine-years-old when I fell in love with judo.”
Looking to the future, the 16-year-old hopes to be selected to represent SA at the Judo Commonwealth Games in Port Elizabeth in 2016. However, her main aim is the 2022 Commonwealth Games and hopefully one day, the Olympics.
A sports-all rounder, she also finds time to participate in netball, athletics, softball and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Although Jeandre has a hectic schedule, training five times a week, she has a little bit of free time and enjoys reading a book, watching movies or spending time on the beach.
