Montréal, Might 28, 2024 – Over the previous 60 years, Gilles Bellerose has held virtually each place potential on the planet of judo: athlete, coach, technical director, referee, organizer, and, in fact, volunteer. It was subsequently solely pure for Judo Canada to honour Bellerose with the 2024 Hero Award, sponsored by Mark Hicks and Sherwood Ford.
Picture Judo Canada / Antoine Saito
Brian Kalsen and Gilles Bellerose
In accordance with Bellerose, when he first began out as an athlete, he was regularly overshadowed in Quebec by such high-calibre adversaries as Robert Arbour and Roger Tremblay. Nonetheless, he nonetheless managed to make his mark, successful medals at each the Quebec Video games and the provincial championships.
As soon as his profession as an athlete got here to an finish, Bellerose determined to make it his mission to assist different athletes obtain their private targets. With this goal in thoughts, he based the Membership de Judo Saint-Paul l’Ermite, within the Lanaudière area, in 1974.
“If I couldn’t go to the Olympics myself, I wished to present youthful folks the prospect to take action. I considered my college students as my very own children! I’m additionally proud to say that our children by no means needed to spend a penny to compete in tournaments exterior of Quebec, since we at all times discovered sponsors to cowl all the prices,” defined Bellerose.
Wins and losses by no means held an excessive amount of significance for the coach, who merely wished to develop by judo. And whereas he loves coaching athletes with lofty ambitions, he’s equally passionate about coaching learners and anybody else who’s involved in his sport.
“I wish to assist everybody. Now we have partnerships with completely different organizations to assist children from deprived backgrounds. We tackle a couple of every year, to introduce them to judo. We welcome anybody who actually desires to be right here, and we adapt to every athlete and their targets. We’ve at all times made room for everybody,” he added.
“Being a technical director means hiding backstage to shed a tear every time one in every of your athletes receives a medal, a distinction, or a bursary. I by no means wished to be up entrance with the athletes; I wished to look at and really feel proud from behind the scenes. That was my payoff!”
Bellerose additionally frolicked as a referee. Following a couple of tough years within the position, he finally succeeded in transferring up by the ranks to officiate on the nationwide stage. Naturally, the coach in him used that have to learn his membership’s younger athletes.
“I’ve at all times been very direct, and that didn’t assist me a lot as a referee after I first began out. I spent numerous time on the Nationwide A stage, and later, Donald Ferland helped me qualify on the worldwide stage. As a referee, I used to be capable of maintain my college students updated about any new guidelines, and to be trustworthy, that’s what appealed to me essentially the most about refereeing,” he admitted.
Over the course of his profession, Bellerose additionally made a reputation for himself as an occasion organizer. He and his crew had been requested to arrange quite a few competitions over time, and he at all times ensured they had been carried out to perfection.
“As a result of I travelled so much for competitions, and since I used to be typically within the altering rooms, I noticed what folks had been doing elsewhere, each the great and the unhealthy. So after I organized occasions right here at dwelling, I used what I had seen. I at all times wished to ship a high quality occasion, and I at all times made certain I had one of the best crew potential.”
“Gilles is a necessary, excellent occasion organizer. While you ask Gilles to arrange an occasion, you understand you’ll be able to take your palms off the wheel, as a result of he’ll do a wonderful job. He at all times goals excessive, and issues run like clockwork. Gilles has a really beneficiant spirit, and he’s been concerned in any respect ranges, all his life. He completely deserves the Judo Canada Hero Award,” mentioned Patrick Esparbès, Chief Working Officer of Judo Canada.
Bellerose accepted the award with humility and delight. He thanked all the opposite volunteers he has labored with, in addition to his household, who’ve at all times supported him in his judo adventures.
“I missed numerous vital occasions like birthdays, baptisms, and weddings. I used to be typically away refereeing or teaching in locations like Saguenay, the West, or the USA. Folks would ask my spouse the place I used to be. She would simply shrug, and so they understood. My spouse has by no means let me down, and she or he deserves as a lot recognition as I do,” mentioned Bellerose, with emotion.
“I achieved a number of of my goals because of my spouse, my children, and the devoted volunteers who helped me. I’d do something for my volunteers, as a result of with out them, it could be not possible to arrange something.”
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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada
For extra info:
Patrick Esparbès
Chief Working Officer
Judo Canada
(514) 668-6279
p.esparbes@judocanada.org
