Today marks the 31st consecutive year that Cayuga Community College will host the Empire State Games Central Region judo qualifiers.

CCC professor Peter Petrosino, who is also a judo instructor at the college, has been an integral part of keeping this tradition alive all these years.

“I was one of the people who helped found judo as a part of the games,” Petrosino said. “That was in 1978, since then I have served as director for our region - region six. And we have had the regionals here ever since then.”

Petrosino said that over the years, as the games have evolved, so too has the approach to them.

“We started out with an Olympic -tyle format,” Petrosino said. “But with that, one loss and you are out. Then we went to a round-robin style format, where you get to compete with everyone in your weight class for a chance to get to go to the games.”

Over time, Petrosino has also seen interest in judo in the games ebb and flow.

And in recent years it has become increasingly difficult to organize the qualifiers around other competitions that are going on.

“Our numbers have been kind of low,” Petrosino said. “Interest hasn't been low. There are a lot of national events and Olympic trials and events that earn people points for the Olympics, so it has been tough to find a date to hold these that doesn#'t interfere with other events. The timing has been really critical lately.”

But lower numbers has not diminished the caliber of competition at the qualifiers.

“It is a good competitive event,” Petrosino said. “We get really talented people that try out for the games here.”

Petrosino also said that the officiating is also top notch, with officials traveling from as far as Buffalo to monitor competition.

“No one gets paid for this,” Petrosino said. “We are all just very dedicated to our sport and it is something not to be missed.”

While in past years it has been difficult to find a time that doesn#'t conflict with another event, Petrosino said this year has offered other challenges.

“It is always an adventure,” Petrosino said. “This year we have gone paperless. Registration is all online, so right now until the day of the event it is tough to even guess how many people we are going to have.”

The games move around the state each year.

With more than 20 events, annually there are approximately 5,000 athletes of all ages competing in the games.

This year the event will be held at Binghamton University.

“They have an excellent facility,” Petrosino said. “It is a really good venue and we are definitely looking forward to go to the games this year.”

Petrosino said that he was encouraging members of the CCC Judo Club to go out for a spot in the games and he hopes to see some quality competition today.

“It should be a good time,” Petrosino said. “It is free and open to the public. So I would encourage anyone who is interested in seeing a good day of competitive judo to stop by the college.”

Weigh-ins begin at noon with competition beginning at approximately 1:30 p.m.

Walk-ins will be accepted as well.