As a judo coach for nearly three decades, Bruce Kamstra has tried to teach his students all the right moves to get them to the medal podium, but also strives to instill life skills that go way beyond the dojo.
About a year ago, one of his former students at the Hart Judo Academy, a teenager named John Rustad, used Kamstra as a reference for a job he was applying for and Kamstra was only too happy to sing the praises of someone he'd worked with on the mats for 10 years.
"He just got accepted into the military to be a fighter pilot," said Kamstra.
"He wasn't successful in judo but he came to every practice, he worked hard, he learned to get along with others and when the military called and asked me for a reference for him it was really easy for me."
Kamstra, 45, was in Vancouver Wednesday to receive Viasport British Columbia's recreational/grassroots coach-of-the year award for 2016, part of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremonies.
"It's been a great career choice, we have few professions where you have the opportunity to influence people and as a coach it's an ongoing relationship that starts when they're five or six years old and I work with them until they're 17 or 18," Kamstra said.
"I know there are a lot of great grassroots coaches in our province so I feel pretty humbled to win this award - maybe more like I'm winning it on behalf of all the grassroots coaches, particularly in the north."
As an athlete, Kamstra joined judo when he was 10. He went on to become Judo BC's athlete of the year in 1995, 1996 and 1998, working his way through the provincial and national ranks to represent Canada internationally. Kamstra won silver at the 1996 Olympic trials and served as an alternate for the '96 Games in Atlanta and in 1998 was crowned a national champion. He was inducted into the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.
Kamstra founded the Hart Judo Academy in 1998 and started coaching the provincial team program the following year. He was B.C.'s head coach at the 2015 Canada Winter Games and served six years at that position before passing on the duties to current head coach Jeremy LeBris in June 2016.
"When I first started coaching - and I still have this goal - I wanted to develop someone up to the Olympic level," said Kamstra. "I'll be working with them during their development years and then obviously they have to move on beyond me to get to the Olympics, but I want to be a part of someone who makes it that far.
"I want to be known for developing champions in judo and in life. There's a lot more to judo than just being an athlete. We teach a lot of things I think are important like work ethic, being punctual and being respectful. Not everyone is going to be a champion in judo but you can learn the skills that will make you successful in whatever you do."
Geroy Simon (football), Mark Recchi (hockey), Michelle Stillwell (wheelchair athletics/basketball), Mark Wyatt (rugby) and Rolan Green (cycling) were the athletes inducted in the B.C. Fall of Fame ceremonies. Hall of Fame alumni Darcy Rota, a former NHL winger who grew up in Prince George, was on hand to congratulate Kamstra.
While Kamstra's work developing athletes with the Hart Academy and the provincial team program is well known around the province, he's also willing to work with kids outside the dojo.
"He puts a lot of time and effort into his own club but he also spends a lot of time in the schools teaching it as part of the gym program and he goes to a lot of elementary, middle schools and high schools " said Prince George Judo Club head coach Aline Strasdin.
"We've made a lot of positive changes provincially and Bruce was a big part of that."
