Creston teens Kaeden Rendek and Chloe Luke will compete, respectively, in judo and hockey at the provincial level this week at the 2014 BC Winter Games.
They will join nearly 1,400 athletes aged nine-17 in 18 sports at the Games, which run Thursday through Sunday in Mission, and other Lower Mainland venues.
For Rendek, what started out as something to do in the winter — when he wasn’t swimming or playing soccer — has turned into something far bigger.
Last summer, the 13-year-old won a silver medal at the Canadian Judo Championships — after wining bronze in 2012 — and next week he will take on other provincial competitors at the 2014 BC Winter Games, which run Feb. 20-23 in Mission.
“It feels good to represent the Kootenays and Zone 1,” said the Creston teen. “I’m the only one from the Kootenays in my weight division.”
Rendek is now in the under-46-kilogram division, and has been taking on fighters up to three years older.
It hasn’t been easy to get this far, having to train and fight in three qualifiers since the nationals in order to represent the Kootenay Zone at the Games.
“It’s hard, but you’ve just got to push through,” Rendek said, adding that he enjoys “just getting experience and getting to compete.”
He hopes to come back from the Games with a medal — but only after taking on eight, and possibly up to 12, competitors.
To that end, Rendek been training with chiropractor Wade Giles, with the goal of making sure he’s exercising correctly at the gym and maintaining good form on the mat, and he can’t express enough appreciation to the other Creston judokas who spend extra time at the dojo helping him practice.
“I just want to thank all the people who come to the club to help me train,” he said.
For 14-year-old Chloe Luke, playing hockey is nothing new — she joined her first team 11 years ago, having developed an immediate passion for the sport.
“I grew up in a very competitive family,” she said. “I play today for all the same reasons — the fast pace, mental strategy, getting goals, shutting down the other team’s strategies.
“And there’s nothing better than the smell of hockey in the morning.”
Luke should know — she’s been practicing early Thursday mornings at the John Bucyk Arena with her father and minor hockey coach, Chris Luke, leading up to joining the Kootenay zone team at the BC Winter Games, which start today in Mission.
She’ll play five games by the end of Saturday, putting all of her training — working out at the gym, running, swimming competitively and more — to good use. Her fitness was already tested at a three-day qualifier held in Nakusp last month, which allowed her to show evaluators her strengths.
“I’m fast, I know how to move the puck well, I’m strong, I’m a playmaker and have a really good shot,” said Luke , who has competed at the provincial level in the BC Cup championship.
She hopes those strong points will help her to eventually join a college team and represent Canada or the U.S. at a national level — but for now, she’s excited to demonstrate her skills at the Winter Games.
“I look forward to the competition and those girls that say, ‘Oh no. I have to battle against that girl again,’ ” she said.