What’s the reason for such an increase in participation; something is going very right in Panama, in the region. It is likely to be attributed largely to an integrated system which includes qualification events for the prestigious Junior Panamerican Games. The junior cup in Panama and the 2025 Panamerica and Oceania Junior Championships have a lot riding on them as they are the final two selection events for those Games.
The 2025 Junior Pan American Games, a second edition, will be held in Asuncion in Paraguay in August, with more than 4,000 athletes from 41 countries taking part across 28 sports. A main purpose of the Games is to detect and support the next generation of athletes and it seems to be working!
PJC Sport Commissioner Nidia Cordero and PJC Vice President and IJF Sport Director Mike Tamura are satisfied with the new and improving level of the event in Panama and with its link to aspirational events coming up in the future, “The Panamerican Junior Games is this year and this junior cup is a qualification event for that. It will be the 2nd edition of the Games, a huge multi-sport event in the region. A gold from the Junior Games qualifies an athlete immediately for the Panam Senior Games in 2027 in Lima, so it’s a massive incentive."
"Four years ago in Cali at the 1st edition of the Junior Games, two athletes who qualified through the Junior Games system won gold later at the Panam Senior Games. It shows how integrated the system is and therefore how valuable the Panama event is at the beginning of the chain. This is why there is such a large entry here for this junior cup.
It’s great for the Panama Judo Federation, managing a large entry and a lot of athletes in an event which is highly significant for them all."
Mike Tamura added, "European systems have improved greatly as can be seen internationally but in PanAmerica, we are two continents trying to build together for the future and it’s a complicated task. It’s not easy and with the PJC Executive Committee we will continue to develop different programmes within the PJC family which can bring them all together and also improve the level."
"Looking at the Panama cup in isolation, usually there are fewer than 100 entries but now we have almost 200 and that’s because of this qualification system. The more athletes fighting across the region, the greater the overall impact on development.“
In Panama, at the end of the junior event, Brazil, Cuba and Colombia topped the medal table, in that order, but 13 countries won medals, indicating that the PJC is in good shape with all countries pulling together to raise the level of judo in the region.