OPA London Show

So, the last OPA show of the season and it was one of the best shows of the season for the OPA. Great competitors on stage and a pretty good turn out in the seats too. This was one of the best lit OPA shows I have been to enabling me to get better shots of the Team Emerge girls on stage. Lets find out how Team Emerge did.

Prejudging:

First Team Emerge girls on stage were Ashley and Janet, both competing in the Bikini Short category. Ashley came out and as usual rocked the stage, she looked a little tighter than the UFE show last week and I was very happy with how she looked and presented. Janet was the last girl in the class to come out and Janet also showed a great presentation, especially since this is her first bikini competition. After watching all the girls on stage I had Ashley or Goretti in 1st and Janet 3rd or 4th, by my eye anyway.



Next in Bikini Tall we had Niki, she was the last to enter the stage but when she did she out classed the other girls with her presentation. Bikini is new and many girls still don’t understand the presentation, fortunately I got to watch the best in North America compete for IFBB pro cards and took this presentation style back to Team Emerge. I told Niki back stage that she has 1st, if the judges wanted to see a more ripped look then I thought she had 2nd but I would be shocked if she didn’t get first. I told her to play safe with her food between the prejudging and evening show as I thought she would be competing for the overall against Ashely!



In Figure we had Kristine compete in the Grand Masters class, sadly she was the only one in the class but still looked great and deserved her win. In the Figure Short class we had Cara and Kristine. Cara was the smallest girl in the class and not the hardest either, however she is balanced and that is a big requirement for the judges. I told Cara that I saw her in the top 3 due to her balance but thought the biggest leanest girl would be 1st and Kristine might be 2nd if the judges are looking at muscle mass as a priority.

Evening show:

Ashley and Janet were the first Team Emerge girls out in the evening. Again they looked and showed great, then left the stage to wait for the top 3 to be called out. Ashley made it to the top 3. When 3rd place was called it was Goretti, I was shocked as I had her and Ashley fighting for first, I knew Ashley had first at this point. Ashley was called for second place, the half dozen people around me (who don’t know I am working with her) exploded! They thought, as I did, that Ashley had this category hands down….

I don’t want to take anything away from the girl that won but I don’t know how she scored over Ashley. They had similar bodies, conditioning and musculature wise but Ashley’s stage presence was leaps and bounds ahead of the winner. Back stage Ashley had a great attitude and wasn’t over the moon with her placing but she wasn’t complaining either.

Despite Janet not placing she did very well and I know that next season she is going to be one of the top girls in Bikini Short for sure! We have some work to do with presentation and getting the right suit for Janet before the next show, watch out cause next time will be a new and improved Janet.



Let’s put Bikini on hold for a minute and go to Figure. Kristine came out and collected her win for Grand Masters to a round of applause. She looks great for any age let alone 47!! Kristine and Cara came back on stage for the Level 2 Figure Short class. After performing their turns they left the stage to wait for the top 3 to be called. Cara made the top three but to my surprise Kristine did not. At the end of it all Cara came out with a second place trophy against much bigger girls, again her balance must have been the key. I joked with her back stage about not coming first (she is very competitive and always wants to win), she laughed and said she was happy with her placing and so she should be!! This is probably the last time the stage will see Cara as a figure competitor as she will be moving to Bikini which is a better class for her body type. Next season should be interesting to see how she does in Bikini.



So, back to Bikini Tall. Niki was nervous back stage due to some things she had heard about the judging of her category. I told her not worry about anything and to go out there and be ready to compete for the overall. Again she was the last girl on stage and came out with a confident attitude! People around me said “She won hands down!! Unless the same thing happens in this class as the short class”. Her class left the stage and we waited for the top 3, Niki was one of them! The one girl I was concerned about in her class was also called, she was more conditioned than Niki but lacked the presentation. At the end of it all Niki came out with 1st place!! She was glowing when she left the stage.

Niki had to come back out to compete for the over all against the short class winner, the girl that “beat” Ashley. After a few turns and a few striking poses the judges made their decision and the overall winner was Niki!!!! I feel she avenged Ashley’s second place and Team Emerge came out with the overall and set the new standard for Bikini in the OPA!! Back stage Niki was shocked, dazed is more like it, as she posed for pics and was congratulated by many. I told her never to doubt me again;) This was the confidence booster of all confidence boosters.

All in all a great day for Team Emerge, a couple shockers and a couple high lights. I have a funny feeling that Team Emerge is going to be a Bikini power house next season. I am already hearing from many girls that have been on the circuit for some time looking to join the ranks so keep your eyes on Team Emerge. We had our first IFBB Figure pro this year, could our first IFBB Bikini pro be next year???

UFE National Championship update:

Once again, great UFE show. Their production quality and entertainment factor is spot on. To be honest I am not a big fan of competitions and never go to one unless I have clients competing in it. This is one organization that I would go to watch regardless of having someone in it or not. Great job Sean!
Ashley Harrison stepped on stage for the first time as a member of Team Emerge competing in the Elite Fitness Model class. We had only been working together a few short weeks and Ashely's conditioning isn’t where we would like it yet, saying that she rocked the stage. This was my first time seeing her in action and I have to say she has wow factor big time!! It was a class of almost 30 top knotch competitors and unfortunately she did not place this time out. The top 3 girls were very conditioned and I feel totally deserved their placing. Ashley’s stage presence stood out and she had the crowd cheering for her, it was great to watch.

Ashley will be bringing a similar package to the OPA London show this weekend for the Bikini division. After this show it will be construction time as we come up with the off season game plan to take Ashley to new levels next year!! I am very excited about her future with Team Emerge!!

The OPA show in Ottawa , Team Emerge results.

Janet competed in the level 2 figure catagory and as it turned out not many level 2 girls were at the show so the promoter combined all classes into one. This created some confusion initially until it was explained later to me. Since there weren’t many girls competing technically every girl qualified for level 3. The top 3 girls at level 2 were given trophies but the rest were not given trophies for their height class but were awarded the pass to level 3. Janet and others were not thrilled about moving ahead by default, some were also upset about not getting a trophy even though they 'technically" placed within their class.
Since the OPA seems to be leaning towards a harder more developed look for figure (probably due to the bikini class) I think Janet is best suited for bikini and fitness model going forward.Janet and Niki both competed in the SAF figure model category. Janet had a great showing first time out but did not place top 8 out of 17 girls. After seeing the pics I took I know what we can work on presentation wise for next time.

Nikki on the other hand walked out and had that wow factor I always preach about to my competitors. Apparently it was a close call between Niki and the winner of the class. Nicole came in 2nd but it could have gone either way.

Congrats to both girls on a great performance I can’t wait to see what the future holds for both girls.

Team Emerge made their first appearance at a UFE event this past weekend.

Team Emerge made their first appearance at a UFE event this past weekend. Team Emerge member Nicole Goodman competed in the Bikini Model class (the bikini class is something that I am very excited about as it is a body image that is less extreme than figure and something more women can compete in genetically). It was a large class with over 30 competitors, some very seasoned competitors. Nicole had never competed in Bikini before as a matter of fact she had only competed one time in the past at a SAF show's Figure Model class (which she will be doing again in a couple weeks in Ottawa), she didnt place at that show as she needed more balance in her physique as well as more confidence on stage.

Before telling you how Nicole did I would like to say that the UFE event was top notch and had a great turn out both on and off stage. There were great competitors from what I saw on stage when I wasnt back stage with Nicole. Ok, back to Nicole. Nicole has been working with Team Emerge since August 09 and in that short time has improved the balance in her physique and improved her presentation tremendously! I was confident that she would look the best she has looked to date and it was up to the judges from here.

Nicole showed herself very well despite having to change her posing routine on the fly as what we had practiced had to be tweaked for the UFE stage. In her group she was the last to come on stage and blew everyone else away when she did, she showed real wow factor! I knew she had taken that group but wasn't sure how she would fare against the other groups. It seems like the judges agreed that she had wow factor because she came away with second place her first time out!!

Nicole will be competing in the SAF show in Figure Model Nov 7th in Ottawa and I can smell the trophy this time. This was the show we were actaully aiming to peak for, the UFE show was a last minute entry (and Im glad she did enter). She will also be competing in Bikini at the OPA Level one show in London where I expect her to qualify for her level 2.

Congrats Nicole and congrats Team Emerge, I can barely remember the last time we left a show without any hardware at this point;)

Woodstock Level One OPA

How did the team do at the Woodstock Level One OPA show do? Good of course, with a twist.

Kristine entered both the short class and the grand masters class. She competed against 5 girls in the short class and came in 2nd (could have gone either way depending on the look you were judging) and came in first in the grand masters class. Unfortunately she was the only one competing in the grand masters class, regardless she looked great and would have beaten every woman I have ever seen in grand masters anyway!

The other team member competing this weekend was Janet Chan, this was her first show. She looked great (although she did smooth out a little due to a breakfast choice with too much sodium) and presented very well her first time on stage. She was in the medium class, unfortunately the only one in the medium class!! Needless to say she won, but she didnt want to win that way nor did I. Janet was in the hunt for the overall and thats what I told her she was COMPETING in today. It looked like it was between her and the winner of the tall class. The tall class winner took the overall, Im guessing for being tighter and having a more capped shoulder. Janet was far more balanced looking than the tall class winner. Thats ok, at the level 2 show in Ottawa Janet will be tighter and more pumped up to bring out her best. Again, another successful show for Team Emerge!

CBBF Ont Naturals

This weekends results for Team Emerge at the CBBF Ont Naturals. We had only one girl competing, newest Team Emerge member Kristine Ridler and she placed 1st in the Short class and Grand Masters! Congrats to her and yet another well earned trophy for Team Emerge!

OPA Naturals

Just came back from the OPA Naturals. We had the following outcome:

Vanessa competed in the new bikini division, she placed 4th out of 4 in her class. It seems that tonight the judges were leaning towards a curvier fuller physique so back to the drawing board for us. we are going to take some time off the stage and focus on building some more muscle in a long off season.

Cindy came in 2nd in the Med Class for figure, I always admit when a client doesnt win that we have something to work on but not this time. Cindy should have won that class no question, she is happy with the second place but I am not even close to happy. She was the most balanced girl on stage and had perfect conditioning for the show. Sour grapes, no just sketch judging in this case.



IN the masters class Cindy placed 3rd, it could have went either way in this class. Any of the top three could have come in any place and I could see why, different looks but all good in their own way.