Tap Cancer Out 2018
Tap Cancer Out 2018 is now behind us, and I'm happy to say that all our hard work leading up to it has paid off! First of all, congratulations to all involved for raising $6,230 as a team. We not only surpassed our $5000 goal but also went on to raise the third-largest amount of all teams. Thank you so much to everyone who played a part in that.
As for the tournament itself, we showed up with a team of 16 (7 adults and 9 kids/teens), two of which were first-time competitors. As a team, we took home 15 medals: 6 gold, 5 silver, and 4 bronze. Without further ado, here are the results!
- Adults:
- Esteban "Steve" Alvarez: Bronze
- Mike Bafuma: Silver
- Harlan Bedell: Silver
- Danielle Gambardella: Gold
- Osei Hinds: Bronze
- Antonio Occhialini: Bronze
- John Trammell: Silver
I'll let them fill you in on the details, but here is a quick summary of how everyone did: Steve was part of a massive bracket, but still managed to snag a podium spot. Mike and Osei showed a lot of improvement from their last tournament, which was also their first. Harlan won two rounds and then went into his championship fight with less than 5 minutes of rest to take silver in his first tournament. Antonio, who was also competing for the first time, lost by only two points. This was John's first tournament as a blue belt, but he managed to snag silver regardless. And I fought three very talented women to take gold in a six-person bracket.
- Kids/Teens:
- Jaxsen: Gold
- Logan: Gold
- Magnus: Gold
- Yaya: Gold
- Manny: Gold
- Francesca: Silver
- Gabe B: Bronze
- Gabriel A: Silver
Our youth team generated a lot of attention, with all our kids focusing on getting the take-down, getting on top, and finishing with a submission. We received comments from other coaches regarding the fact that our youth competitors are very technical and that we are "raising a team of savages". What makes me even more happy is that our youth students are respectful. They fought amazingly well, but they didn't boast or showboat, and they showed respect to their competitors and their competitors' coaches. I'd also like to mention that Vishruti was in attendance and ready to compete, but she had no one to compete against. I know she would have done great.
Congratulations to everyone who had the courage to step onto the mats and give it their all! To say that we are proud would be an understatement. Thanks to Mike Fitzpatrick, Max Schlein, and Calvin Lau for cheering us on from the sidelines, to John and Steve for helping us coach when things got crazy, to Jeremy for covering classes, and for the rest of the team for helping us prepare for this tournament. Excellent work, everyone!
