The ADCC North American trials have hit a snag. After learning a few weeks ago of the postponement of the European trials, many feared North America was next. Their fears have come true. The news came by way of Instagram when the ADCC official account posted the following:
“Attention. Due to travel bans coming in from Europe and Dubai, the ADCC trials November 7th and 8th must be postponed. The ADCC refs and judges must fly in and bans were supposed to be lifted by now. Unfortunately, they aren’t and there is no telling when they [will be]. What we do know for sure is they will most likely be delayed for two to four months, but will 100% be held in the same location.”
After the announcement, many people apparently complained to ADCC. They felt that the organization could just allow refs from North America to do the officiating instead of trying to fly them in from another country. This prompted ADCC to make another announcement shortly after.
“Getting a lot of messages from people saying to use some USA judges and refs. ADCC rules are very complex and there is literally only one judge in the US that I trust. I refuse to diminish the quality of ADCC by using unqualified judges and cancelling trials. Trials for me is one of the most important aspects of ADCC, it allows new grapplers to make a name for themselves and not just established grapplers.”
So there will not be any trials this year. The earliest we can hope for will be mid January, but it’s possible they wont take place until at least March. Will the organization also delay the championships? That is the big question. If all goes as planned, they will be in September of next year. But that is a tall order for ADCC to pull off. With all of the qualifiers postponed, that means they will have their work cut out for them to make up for lost time next year.
From the first qualifier to the championships is usually the time span of a solid year. Now, it’s looking like they will have to do everything within about nine months. On the topic of postponing the championships, organizer Mo Jassim recently said “If we have to delay the trials and do all of them in 2021, that’s gonna be a challenge to get it all done before the worlds. So, it is possible. Personally I think it’s gonna be ok by then…”
The news of the trials must come as a relief to some who haven’t been able to train like they wanted due to the lockdown. It gives them a few more months to get ready to compete against some of the best grapplers on the planet. For others, the news is ony disappointment. Some have been training through the pandemic and were hoping to have an edge over those who haven’t.
As for fans of the sport? We can only hope to see the best of the best compete in the championships a year from now. And according to ADCC, the championships won’t disappoint. The instagram account finished it’s news update with some optimism, “I promise one thing, the next ADCC will surpass everyone’s expectations.”
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