The founder of the Port-Cartier Judokan Club has been among the greats since June 15. Réjean Lavoie was inducted into the Judo Québec Hall of Fame as a pioneer-builder – Emeritus level.
“It’s a great honour, after so many years, almost 50 years of judo, for the efforts put into all the clubs,” said Mr. Lavoie.
The 72-year-old man arrived in Sept-Îles in 1973. He stayed there for three years, obtaining his black belt under the guidance of Gilles Deschamps.
Shortly after this accomplishment, Mr. Deschamps received a call from the City of Port-Cartier to open a judo club. With his black belt in his pocket, Réjean Lavoie was the designated person.
He had quite a start as the first year of classes was done on a theatre internship, the second in a school installing and removing carpets each time, to then have a permanent location at the Centre Éducatif L’Abri. Port-Cartier also hosted the Provincial Championships in 1984.
Réjean Lavoie trained several athletes in Port-Cartier. It is impossible to ignore Lyne Poirier, who took part in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. It was the first time that women’s judo was at the Games.
The inductee also spoke about Jean-François Marceau who “had a great judo career.” Originally from Port-Cartier, Mr. Marceau has been the general director of Judo Québec since November 2012.
Réjean Lavoie was technical director of the Port-Cartier Judokan Club from 1976 to 1988.
“It gave me experience in teaching and managing a judo club. We are there to train young people and make them good human beings,” he said.
In Port-Cartier, he masterfully led the judo club to such an extent that the club reached the 100 member mark. The dojo became permanent in its sixth year of existence.
After leaving the Côte-Nord for family reasons, Mr. Lavoie was a coach for ten years in Jonquière. He then continued by setting up other judo clubs in Anjou (1999), Mascouche (2016) and Sainte-Marie (2018).
In 2017, the Anjou Club had more than 1,150 members. This mark remains, to this day, a record far from being approached, for Judo Québec.
With Mr. Lavoie, the Côte-Nord has twelve inductees into the Judo Québec Hall of Fame. The others are, as pioneer-builders, Gilles Deschamps, Martineau Bouchard, Andrée Ruest, Gisèle Gravel and Gildor Pearson, as well as as athletes Lorraine Méthot, Lyne Poirier, Roger Côté, Jean-Pierre Cantin, Jean-François Marceau and Marie-Hélène Chisholm.
What they said about Mr. Lavoie
« REjean embodies for me the values of courage and surpassing oneself. Through his teachings, he transmitted to me his passion for judo and rigor in training. I remember very well his encouragement to train with good intensity. Réjean was committed to passing on his knowledge. He firmly believed in the benefits of making young people compete as much in defeats as in victories. » – Jean-François Marceau, native of Port-Cartier, and general director of Judo Québec
« It’s not complicated, he’s the one who gave me the passion for judo. He knew how to make practicing judo enjoyable and always believed in us. He dragged us every month in a minibus to Quebec and Montreal to do the competitions, he didn’t miss one! He was a great coach and he deserves the honors he gets. » – Lyne Poirier
«Réjean is easy to approach, always smiling and positive. He is a great example for the generations that follow, both in terms of judo and on a human level. What he brought me was only positive. » – Jacynthe Maloney, athlete trained at the Port-Cartier Club who performed on the international scene
2024-07-02 20:03:54
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