The moment of triumph: Sydnee Andrews celebrates completing an ippon on her opponent, Helena Vukovic, in the women's +78kg final of the Gold Coast Oceania Open judo tournament last month. Photo / RCSportPhotography, Brisbane
Gisborne-born judoka Sydnee Andrews beat a fighter ranked eighth in the world to win her division in the Gold Coast Oceania Open in Australia last month.
Now she’s home for Christmas and – among other things – running a meat raffle to raise money so she can keep living and training at Camberley, 50km southwest of central London.
The Camberley Judo Club is recognised by the Commonwealth Judo Association as a training hub for judoka from throughout the Commonwealth.
Andrews has been based there since the build-up to the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, where she won a bronze medal. It has a training programme for elite-level judoka and is handily located for major competitions in Britain and Europe.
This has been a big year for Andrews. In April she was the +78kg women’s silver medallist in the Pan American and Oceania Championships in Santiago, Chile; in July she took gold in the Tallinn European Open in Estonia, winning the final against the fifth-equal placegetter in the world championships the month before; and in the Gold Coast Oceania Open final last month she beat Croatian fighter Helena Vukovic.
In June, at the world championships in Budapest, Hungary, Vukovic beat Andrews by a yuko – the lowest score in the judo points system. The fight went the distance and Andrews had the consolation of being in good company in defeat. Vukovic went on to beat Paris Olympic champion Beatriz Souza, of Brazil, but did not make the podium.
In the Gold Coast tournament last month, seven judoka contested the +78kg women’s division. As second seed, Andrews went straight into the semifinal where she beat Urszula Hofman, of Poland.
“I was leading by a waza-ari (the second-highest score in judo, behind an ippon) and then I threw her straight on to her back for an ippon,” Andrews said.
An ippon ends the match immediately, as does a second waza-ari.
“In the final, I went out with the attitude that I had nothing to lose. She [Vukovic] had beaten me before, so she probably had more pressure. I’d just go out and do my judo.
“I threw her in the first 35 seconds of the fight with a massive ippon. I even twinged my back doing it.
“I was so happy because she had beaten me before and I needed those points from the gold medal.
“Before the competition I was ranked 28th in the world and she was ranked eighth. After I beat her, I was ranked 18th – the highest position I’ve ever held.”
This year’s results have given Andrews belief.
“I’m getting there,” she said.
“I know my goals are possible. Basically, I want to be No 1 in the world.”
Andrews plans to leave Gisborne on January 3 and get straight back into training at Camberley for the Paris Grand Slam tournament four weeks later.
Nine grand slam tournaments this year each have prizemoney of €5000 euros ($10,000) for winners, €3000 for runners-up and €2000 for third placegetters, with a fifth of the purse earmarked for the coach.
“I’m partially funded by High Performance Sport New Zealand, but it doesn’t cover the full financial year,” Andrews said.
“Judo isn’t a cheap sport ... travel, equipment, accommodation. I’ve been doing some raffles while I’m home. I have a meat raffle. I’m also looking for sponsorship. I’m always searching.
“Next year I’ll be doing a lot of grand prix and grand slam tournaments. I’ll do everything I can to get to where I want to be and I won’t let money get in the way of my dreams.”
Any prizemoney will come in handy, but Andrews also needs competition points.
Her July success in Estonia was her first gold medal in Europe. It earned her 100 ranking points, whereas the Gold Coast win – as a continental open event – earned 700.
“To compete in the World Judo Championships you have to be in the top 100.”
She’s been in the top 100 since 2022, when she was 19. Before that year’s Commonwealth Games, she had two podium finishes while a brown belt. Those performances were taken into account in her elevation to black-belt status in time for the Games.
Judo has been a part of life for Sydnee Andrews since she was taken along to lessons before she was 5. Family folklore has her pushing her grandmother off a chair at the age of 4, and that strength being recognised as a sporting asset.
Andrews can’t recall the push, but remembers being “very sporty”.
“I had some cousins and family friends who did judo. It was a case of ‘try it and see if you like it’.
“Since judo was all year round, I developed that with all my other seasonal sports ... softball, tee-ball, basketball, cricket, hockey, football, netball, rhythmic gymnastics”.
When asked what made her concentrate on judo, she said: “It was a safe space and I felt I could be me there. I am quite a big personality. All the problems were left outside, I had lots of friends who did judo, and it was fun to do it with them.
“Unfortunately, not many of them do it any more. When I see them they say, ‘I wish I’d never quit’.”
What keeps her motivated?
“The love for the sport, but also the opportunities I get from it ... travel, meeting new people, making lifelong friends who might not even be in the same country or city. You have that connection because you have been through it together.
“It’s not an easy sport, physically or mentally, and it’s nice to have people who are in the same boat and know exactly what you are going through.
“I just really love it. You have to do what you love.”
In such a tough sport, what drives her?
“I think it’s the adrenalin, that rush you get before you go out to compete. It’s insane – I don’t even drink coffee – the feeling you get, like your heart is beating so strongly, the nerves, everything ... knowing all that hard work in the lead-up, now it’s time to show it.”
It’s early days, but injuries haven’t been a major problem.
“Last year, a few months before the Olympic Games, I had a bulging disc in my lower back. I think it was something that happened over time and I was ignoring it and not listening to my body – I do now.
“I want to do three Olympic Games. I feel like that would be a pretty awesome achievement. I’ve done one. I want to medal at the next two.”
She hasn’t thought much about coaching, but has not discounted it .... she enjoys helping youngsters at Gisborne Judo Club and at Camberley. If she’s seen as a role model, she’s pleased about that and says it would be nice to pass on what she’s learned.
Andrews was born in Gisborne on December 15, 2002, the younger daughter of Darren Andrews and Michelle Lexmond. Her sister Alex is two years older.
She doesn’t know why she was called Sydnee, but acknowledges the sporting pedigree of her mother’s family.
Her cousin, Kelsey Teneti, is a New Zealand women’s rugby international (Michelle Lexmond and Kelsey’s mother Louise Teneti are sisters; Louise is a stalwart of Gisborne hockey), her uncles Greg and Rene Lexmond played on the wings for the Poverty Bay rugby team, and their brother, Jason, played Central League football for Gisborne City.
Sydnee grew up next door to her maternal grandparents, Leo and Marilyn Lexmond.
“I like being in England and plan to be there for quite a while, but it’s nice to come back and see them [her grandparents] and the rest of my family and friends. Who knows what the future holds, but I’ve always said that when I’m older and want to raise a family, I’ll move to Gisborne.
“The Gisborne community has been good to me.”
Family means a lot to Sydnee Andrews and so does her judo family – Gisborne Judo Club coaches Kiki Velloza (now in Taranaki) and Jason King, New Zealand coach for overseas athletes Jason Koster, Camberley Judo Club coach Luke Preston and his wife and Sydnee’s “judo mum/mum away from home”, Carly Dixon.
The move to Camberley came about because Dixon and Velloza knew each other as competitors “back in the day”, and Covid-19 had laid waste to the competitive schedule that Andrews hoped would prepare her for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“Kiki said, ‘How do you feel about going to England before the Games to do competitions and train’. I was so keen, and the rest is history.
“It’s such a family there. We support each other.”