Swirling on FB posts the death of Jack Hatton, age 24. America's best male judoka who fought 81k replacing Travis Stevens. Stunned and saddened I am. I first saw Jack at the Senior Nationals as a 15 yr. old brown belt beating all the older brown belts in his division. I asked who was this kid and his coach Jason Morris informed me .
Jason told you? I was just near his dojo when I went to Albany for a state meeting two weeks ago but couldn't stop in. How did he pass. This was on instagram but they didn't say??
Jason informed me who this 15 yr. old kid who was beating college aged brown belts. Hatton's death is on FB. I am not aware of what happened. One our top judokas trainied and knew Jack well. They were going to open up a dojo together last time I talked to him.
This broke my heart. Jack, his brother and dad are close family friends.
I will not divulge details but it was self induced.
he was a sweet kid and lit up a room. I wish him the peace he was looking for.
I didn’t and neither did anyone else see it coming.
Oh man that's too bad Mike. Sorry to hear. Unfortuneatly we see this a lot. I work in public health in NYS.
Yeah. Never saw it. Spoke to his dad and it's a fucked up conversation to have.
I'm probably driving out to wake on Sunday.
Mike was he in CA?. I was at class last night and our instructor brought it up:
https://people.com/sports/jack-hatton-dead-judo-athlete-24/
Hatton trained at San Jose State for a while. He left and went back to Pedro's. Not sure of the circumstances. This is so sad for the judo community and his family. Unbelieveable and unbearable.
My fondest memory of him was this skinny 15 yr. old kid beating these college aged very skilled brown belts mainly with ouchi-gari. Being right there mat side and asking "who is this kid"?
He was in Boston. He was something else. Pedro was molding him into something great.
I remember randori with him was insane. Great matches that he dominated standing. I had 50 lbs on him and he just outclassed me… a bb in BJJ with a wrestling background and strength advantage.
then we’d head out after to catch a Mets game over food. Talk about life, crack jokes.
just an all around good kid with insane talent.
Oh man that's too bad. I have worked out with a few Olympians. Guys at that level are insane.
The wake was today and it was pretty sad. Awesome to see who's who of USA judo there. I spoke with Mark (father) for a bit. He recited a poem that pretty much crushed everyone in the room. Birches by Robert Frost. Jimmy did a great job as well. There was a lot of compassion there.
That's good but man he was so young.
This has rally shaken the judo community. I haven't discussed this with the people that knew him. Too early. When I do this in person maybe I will be able to communicate some insight into this terrible tragedy. I guess we expect everyone to be like a Travis or Kayla. Travis endured so much punishment from the sport and Kayla was the best in -78k and had to endure her teen abuses and stayting on top so so long.Funding for USA judo comes from medals won by Travis and Kayla back then. We think being a world class judoka makes you super human and can endure anything because the sport demands this to survive.
1 Like
Well everyone has personal demons I guess and you kind of never know what's going on with people.
You never know what someone's going through. That's why I try to be nice/respect everyone.
Oh so true. We deal with painful things in our lives that we only know and are unwilling to share with anyone. I had mine that subsided with aging but the mental scars are still there and will always be.
How do I upload a photo? I have it on my desktop of my computer. I try to do a copy and paste but it won't let me paste. I have one of Jack with Jimmy and our Judoka who trained at Jimmy's with Jack( Harun). Appreciate any help. Still sadened by Jack's death.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2639905586041004&set=a.148244295207158&type=3
Photo of Jimmy, Jack and our judoka Harun. Jack and Harun were good friends.
1 Like
I've seen this pic. I remember Haruns name.
I haven’t spoken to jacks family since Boston wake. There’s another service in Brooklyn heights coming up where Jack was originally from before moving upstate ny.
i find it hard to talk to his dad about it so I think I’ll just show up for randori and talk naturally. Judo is definitely helping the family. I’ve got to get over there.