When Bianca Ockedahl walks onto the judo mat, she’s not much taller than the young athletes she coaches.

But the petite judoka’s hands-on style and infectious positive energy have won over the hearts of Yukon’s young judo athletes and their parents.

“The passion, I think that’s what shines the most,” says Ockedahl. “You can show technique, you can play games all you want, but I think they feed off your enthusiasm for the sport.”

Those watching from the sidelines often wonder how she manages in the chaos. But Ockedahl says it’s really not hard. The kids put their energy into it and she responds with her own. The result: a nursing ground for budding Yukon judokas.

Four years ago Ockedahl was on the Canadian national judo team with a bid to go to the London 2012 Olympics. She was 29 at the time and had dedicated most of her life to the sport.

Her bid fell short.

“You put so much investment into it and you get to the point where, okay, you tried to make your goal and you didn’t make it,” she says. “So are you going to invest another four years or are you going to call it quits?”

She had competed on the world circuit for many years, picking up medals and placing high. When she decided to retire, Ockedahl recalls she was ranked around 37th in the world.

“It was an amazing experience, just travelling all over the world, meeting people, seeing cultures, training in different ways,” she says. “Being an athlete is an amazing life.”

Ockedahl got her start in judo after breaking her ankle in gymnastics. She went to watch her sister’s recreational judo class and from the sidelines thought, I can do that.

So she started going to class and never looked back.

“I guess I liked throwing people,” she says.

But after 15 years in the sport, she was ready to move on, start a family, so she stepped away.

Her break took her backpacking through South East Asia, which is where she was when she received an email from a friend inviting her to be a special guest at a girls judo camp in Alberta.

This time when she stepped back on the mat, it was as a coach.

“I realized the reason I stopped doing it wasn’t because I stopped loving it,” she says. “It was my turn to give back.”

She then found her way to the North through an old friend and coach in B.C., Bruce Kamstra, also known as super-sensei, who has a knack for remembering names.

Then Yukon Judo President Dan Poelman, who coaches out of the Northern Lights Judo Club in Whitehorse says that Kamstra was hosting a clinic. Ockedahl asked if she could join.

Kamstra, who at the time was a head coach with Judo BC, was familiar with Ockedahl and knew she wanted to get into coaching.

“I think he saw the opportunity. She has so much to offer,” says Poelman.

Ockedahl, a five-time national champion had a lot of knowledge to offer and her spirit was bright.

Kamstra says she’s able to quickly connect with athletes and communicates well.

She came up for the weekend and Poelman believes she fell in love with the Yukon.

“Then another weekend. Then it became another week and two months here, two months there and then a move,” says Ockedahl.

While the Yukon wasn’t the same competitive world of judo she was used to in Quebec, she liked that she had the opportunity to work with athletes from the start, to teach them the fundamentals.

“You can start building your pyramid here. You can start building from the base up,” she says.

By next year she says there are some under-14 athletes who will be able to compete at the national championships in Calgary. She started working with them on that first weekend trip, about three years ago.

“They’re pumped, they’re ready to go,” she says. “They want it now. I have to hold them back.”

In addition to being the Yukon judo head coach, Ockedahl also works with kids at Poelman’s club, Northern Lights.

Ockedahl has seen the number of kids on the mats increase three-fold. Something she credits to the hard work of Poelman behind the scenes, the club’s coaches and the enthusiasm of the kids and their parents who show up week after week.

She enjoys working with the really young kids and also started a girls-only class.

With her impending move to Carmacks with her husband, puppy and one-year old, parents have said they’re already going to miss her.

But Ockedahl is still planning to come back. She’d love to be able to still run the girls class twice a month and help out at Northern Lights as well.

And her plans don’t stop there. Ockedahl already has a judo program in Carmacks in the works.

Initial support has been positive and she’s hopeful there will soon be another club to host meets and attend Yukon Championships.

For the Montreal-bred new mom, living in the village of Carmacks might take some getting used to. But with her son and judo to keep her busy, Ockedahl is looking forward to it.

Cindy Underhill, recreation director at the village of Carmacks, says she thinks there will be interest in the program.

While they have offered an MMA program, this will be the first time judo is offered, and with an NCCP III coach like Ockedahl.

“I'm hoping that once she gets here and it gets started then more kids will get interested in it,” says Underhill.

Right now the program will run in the fall and will be free to the community.

Poelman is prepared to support her as well. It’s never a bad thing to grow your sport.

“It’s a little family and that’s the best part about it,” says Ockedahl. “Everybody is supporting everybody else. It’s great.”

She’s optimistic that 10 youth will show up to her classes in Carmacks in the fall.

“I just hope Carmacks is open to the new activity that’s coming their way,” she says. “I’m looking forward to seeing what the small community has to offer. I’ve heard a lot of great things.”

The novelty of seeing kids learn new skills will never get old either.

“Magic. Total Magic. It makes me smile every time,” she says.

Next week Ockedahl will run a judo summer camp alongside Kamstra, a homecoming camp of sorts.

The camp is open to youth eight-years old and up and everyone is welcome.