Briana McDowell

Briana McDowell was born and raised in Cambridge, Ontario. She has been in the club and on the mats from 4 days old, officially starting classes at age 5, but doing breakfalls before she could run. In her 30 years of judo, she has competed in numerous tournaments all over Ontario from 1997 to 2009, when she retired from competitions. She has medaled at Jr. Olympics, Canada Cup International, Ontario Opens, Tora Annual and the Ontario Winter Games, just to name a few. With over 20 years as a registered NCCP level 2 instructor, she has dedicated her career to passing on her knowledge and passion for Judo.

Briana takes on many roles within the judo community; she is a trainer for the tournament systems, a coach, a provincial A-level referee, a draw coordinator team lead and currently the southwest regional director for Judo Ontario. Her passion project is retaining girls in the sport; she is a part of a team of female judoka that runs a girls-only summer camp, giving girls a safe space and friendships that last beyond camps. She has volunteered at most tournaments held in Ontario over the past 30 years. Most notably, the World Masters, Nationals, Ontario Opens and the Tora Annual. Briana, in her pursuit of continuous learning, has become a certified women’s self-defence instructor, focusing on women who have never trained in martial arts before. She joined Cambridge BJJ in 2023 for our Judo program and in 2025 also assisting with kids' BJJ classes.