Barbara Stary-Brown: A Lifelong Love of Judo and Sport

Montréal, March 10, 2026 – From her early years in a small village on Quebec’s North Shore to her current home in the capital of Nova Scotia, where she teaches the sport six days a week, Barbara Stary-Brown has always made room in her life for judo.

And although her involvement in the sport has waxed and waned, sometimes a person’s love for a particular sport can be rekindled, and that is exactly what happened to her.

The Côte-Nord, where Barbara’s judo story began

Barbara Stary-Brown is an athlete of many talents. She has excelled in disciplines as varied as judo, cross-country skiing, rock climbing, and running—both marathon running and cross-country.

In fact, on the day of our interview, the grade one French immersion teacher had taken advantage of a snowstorm-related school closure to go cross-country skiing with her daughter, despite suffering from a nasty cold that she just couldn’t seem to shake.

Stary-Brown first discovered judo while growing up in the small village of Galix, on Quebec’s Côte-Nord (North Shore). One day, when she was in grade two, she found an invitation to a judo class on her desk.

“I didn’t know what judo was, but I was interested in trying it, and once I did, my whole family—parents, brother, and sister—also got involved.”

Although the village’s judo club closed a year later, the family continued to train at the Judokan Club in Port-Cartier. In the late 1970s, the Judokan’s membership already included many females. In fact, both Lyne Poirier, who competed at the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992—the first year women’s judo was included in the Games, and Marie-Hélène Chisholm, who finished fifth in the under-63 kg category at the Athens Olympics in 2004, are former members.

“I did some training with Lyne, but Marie-Hélène joined a bit later. However, I had the opportunity to train with both of their coaches, and we still keep in touch today. Both of those athletes were very inspiring for women who practised judo. They showed us that anything was possible, even if you came from a small town.” 

Stary-Brown eventually moved to Halifax, where she raised her family. Naturally, her children became involved in sports from an early age: artistic gymnastics for her son Matthew and dancing for her daughter Katherine. Later, as a pre-teen, Katherine decided to try judo. She wasn’t sold on the sport at first, but when she tried it a second time with a friend at the Numa Performance Club, she fell in love with it. Today, Katherine and her friend still train at Numa, and they even represented Nova Scotia at the 2023 Canada Games in Prince Edward Island. For Barbara, her daughter’s successes in judo were the sign she had been waiting for, since “judo was still in my heart,” even at the age of 45.

“I didn’t have my black belt when my daughter first started practising judo, but I obtained it later. Now my daughter is at university, and she still practises judo. She has also started coaching, and she plans to become certified.” 

“I don’t think my daughter and her friend would have stayed in judo had they not had such a great group of female friends at the club. Because although they enjoyed the company of the boys, they needed other girls for support and to develop and progress together in the sport. In addition, it’s important for girls to have female coaches who can serve as role models. It all adds up to a cooperative environment where everyone wants to remain involved, not just for the sport, but for the social aspect as well. They become a big family.” 

Leading by example

In addition to reconnecting with her favourite sport, Stary-Brown is also rediscovering the joys of teaching outside of an elementary school classroom. Six days a week, she shares her expertise at the Numa Performance Club, where she trains the next generation of athletes who will compete in the 2027 Canada Games in Quebec City, and where she offers exclusive women’s and children’s classes.

“Getting to teach something I really love gives me a lot of joy and energy. I don’t feel like I’m working overtime. To me, it feel like quality time.” 

It is important to Stary-Brown to follow in the footsteps of the female role models who positively impacted her own life. That’s one of the reasons she launched an all-female judo class on Friday evenings in 2024. Since then, four of the participants have earned their yellow belts.

“I see how beneficial it is for women to have a collaborative space like this. It’s inspiring, and many of them specifically request it.” 

Stary-Brown is also a member of Judo Nova Scotia’s Para Judo Committee. She was very impressed and inspired after meeting Christa Deguchi at a NextGen camp in Montréal, before Deguchi became an Olympic champion in Paris.

“She taught our athletes her throws and she shared her top tips with them. You don’t see that kind of thing in very many sports. It was very inspiring! [. . .] In judo, you have to give back what you receive: discipline, passion, mutual benefit, and collaboration.”

Those values align perfectly with the lessons she hopes to impart to her students when she returns to the classroom.

Your turn — step on the tatami.

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Written by Sportcom for Judo Canada