Brazilian jiu-jitsu
The True North Grappling championships pound the mat today at Servus Credit Union Place.
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu tournament starts 9:30 a.m. at the Sarasota field house.
Hosted by True North Grappling through Luke Harris, a top world-ranked Brazilian jiu-jitsu second degree black belt and owner of Hayabusa Training Centre in Campbell Business Park, the tournament is open to all belt and skill levels from ages five and up and organizers are expecting 300 competitors from Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C.
The object of the tournament is to give developing competitors an opportunity to showcase their skills at a grassroots level before advancing into the international component of their sport.
Matches run three minutes for youths and five minutes for adults.
Matches begin standing but the object is to get to the ground and secure a submission (choke, armlock, footlock, etc.). One competitor wins when the other taps out or submits.
Another way to win is by amassing points by gaining dominant position throughout the match.
The rules format is the same as the International Brazilian Jui-Jitsu Fedration tournaments Harris competes in.
Habs alumni game
The Montreal Canadiens Alumni headlines Sunday’s bilingual fundraising event, hosted by the ACFA regionale Centralta at 2 p.m. at Go Auto Arena.
The alumni game lineup includes Richard Sevigny, Glen Metropolit, Patrice Brisebois, Jesse Belanger, Marc Andre Bergeron, John Leclair, Pierre Dagenais, Keith Acton, Oleg Petrov, Steve Shutt and Chris Nilan.
General admission is $20 and VIP seating is $50.
Tickets are available at www.acfa.ab.ca/centralta and Canadian Tire in St. Albert.
Contact 780-961-3665 for more information.
Sharks playoffs
The best-of-three midget elite north division provincial qualifier between the St. Albert Sharks and Edmonton Pandas is underway in the Alberta Female Hockey League.
The score from Friday’s series opener in St. Albert was unavailable at press time.
Game two is tonight at 7:45 p.m. at Go Auto Arena and game three, if needed, is 8 p.m. Sunday at Mark Messier Arena.
The winner advances to the March 28 to 31 provincials in Grande Prairie.
The Sharks (17-9) finished first in the north for an opening-round bye and the Pandas (9-14-3) placed fifth before defeating the fourth-place Lloydminster Steelers (12-14) in the deciding game of the best-of-three series.
