sep.21.2006
Clifford Parris a graduate of the 2003 the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee(TTOC)Olympic Youth Camp in 2003 continues to make progress in his choosen sport.
With football and cricket so popular here in Trinidad and Tobago and the country's success in track and field drawing more and more young people to that sport, how does a pre-teen find himself in a St James dojo, learning the art of judo?
"I needed something to occupy my time," 19-year-old Clifford Parris explains. "Judo was only a few blocks away."
Parris was just 12 when he and his mother, Wendy, were walking along Nepaul Street, St James-just a couple blocks from his Benares Street home-and Mrs Parris noticed a sign advertising classes at the Queen's Park Judo Club.
Mother and son walked straight into the dojo, where they met Sensei Mark Littrean.
"I remember," Littrean laughs. "Clifford was wearing short pants and slippers."
Today, Parris enters the dojo-which has since been relocated to the Jean Pierre Complex-in his gee, with a black belt wrapped around his waist.
Last year, at the tender age of 17, Clifford became the youngest person in the history of the Trinidad and Tobago Judo Association (T&TJA) to be awarded the rank of shodan (1st degree black belt)-a testimony to his work ethic.
"Clifford is not a gifted judoka," Sensei Mark reveals, "like most that win medals at the regional level, but he is one of the hardest working competitors in judo in Trinidad."
Littrean recalls the young judoka's introduction to regional competition.
"He was given a baptism of fire when he participated at the CAC (Central American and Caribbean) Junior Championships, in Santo Domingo in 2001.
"It seemed to have done him good," the former national champion continues, "because he improved tremendously since then."
Two years later, Parris travelled to the Dominican Republic, where he earned silver at both the CAC Juniors and the International Cup. Littrean describes those performances as "the highlight of his judo career...the best results for Trinidad and Tobago in years".
Though still a teenager, Parris is the reigning national men's champion in the 66 kilogramme and under division.
The St James judoka got his first taste of international competition at the 2005 US Open, in Florida, where he lost in the first round but gave a good account of himself.
Clifford's next international outing was at the 2006 Commonwealth Judo Championships, in Northern Ireland. Victory over South Africa's Justin De Swardt earned him the opportunity to fight for under-20 bronze, against Welshman Kyle Davies. Beaten but not disgraced, the T&T representative finished joint-fifth with Northern Ireland's Jonathon McGowan.
It was then onto the CAC Games, in Cartagena, Colombia.
"Clifford showed his ability to step up to the senior division," says Littrean, "by winning one of his three fights, the first and only match won by a T&T judoka in the history of these Games! He is a highly adaptable athlete, disciplined and focused, characteristics of a serious medal contender at any level."
Next month, Parris will be in the company of the best under-20 judokas on the planet, at the World Junior Championships, in the Dominican Republic. The global competition, though, is merely a stepping stone for the youngster. He intends to join his father, Tyrone Parris, in New York, and plans to attend college there.
"I need to get outside, so I can get more competition and international coaching. Hopefully, I will get into a school in New York that does judo, and take it from there."
The ultimate goal is a trip to the top of the podium, in 2020, on the sport's biggest global stage.
"I would like to attend the Olympics...and get a gold medal."
Seven years after stumbling onto a sport he knew nothing about, the little boy in short pants and slippers has caught the vision-Vision 2020.
Team TTO
Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee