Pedulla leads U.S. Judo Team to Athens

Joe Pedulla knows that his daughter Marisa has never been one to back down from any challenge…. Joe Pedulla knows that his daughter Marisa has never been one to back down from any challenge.

He remembers a high school science trip where the class was split into two groups. The instructor explained that each group would be given a choice between paths to reach the end of an obstacle course.

One path was said to be easier, while the other was more difficult. However, the more difficult path was said to be more rewarding.

That’s when Joe Pedulla watched his daughter speak up as a leader and tell the instructor that her group would take the difficult path.

“Even back then, she was never afraid of a challenge,” Joe Pedulla said.

And Marisa Pedulla has accepted yet another challenge. Pedulla, an Olympic athlete herself at the Centennial Olympic games in 1996, will lead a team of 12 athletes to Athens, Greece as a coach for the U.S. Olympic Judo Team. Opening ceremonies will begin Aug. 13 and judo competitions are Aug. 14 through Aug. 20.

As is the case with most Olympic athletes, Pedulla has dreamed of competing in the Olympics since childhood.

“I always wanted to go to the Olympics, even before I was in judo,” Pedulla said. “I wanted to go for gymnastics when I was a little kid. I’d seen the miracle on ice actually happen when I was young, and I was always just very excited watching the Olympics.”

Pedulla took up judo back in 1981 and began competing seriously in 1986 when she came to Pitt, where she earned a doctorate in Biological Sciences. She is currently a fourth-degree black belt, or Yodan, and instructs students of all levels at the South Hills Judo Club, which she and her husband founded.

“I enjoy working with athletes and like providing them with the support that I would’ve liked when I was an athlete,” Pedulla said. “I had a lot of support and I just like to be able to pass that on.”

Christina Pro, currently being trained by Pedulla, has known Pedulla since she was training for the ’96 Olympic games.

“She’s one of the best role models I’ve known,” said Pro, who will come to Pitt this fall as a freshman and who hopes to compete at the 2008 Olympics. “She knows when to push you, but she knows you have limits. She pushes you toward a balanced lifestyle and teaches you that school is important.”

Judo’s mantra is “Mutual Benefit and Welfare,” and Pedulla tries to implement the principles of the sport into her daily life.

“The central principle of judo is that what you’re doing helps you, but meanwhile you’re helping your training partner by being there and participating,” Pedulla said. “The sport is really about developing as a person, not just a competitor.”

Pedulla prides herself on her ability to stay organized. Her determination and self-discipline are what allowed her to achieve her lofty goals. Her list of academic awards is matched only by her even longer list of athletic awards, which is longer than the average shopping list. But her recipe for success is simple — just focus on the important stuff.

“When you’re organized and you have clear goals, then you just sort of march along,” Pedulla said. “There’s not a lot of time for extraneous stuff, but if what you’re doing is important to you then you don’t really miss watching real-life TV shows, or whatever people do when they don’t have a lot to do.”

And Pedulla always has a lot to do, giving her parents plenty to be proud of. But her father was mostly proud of the way she made her own decisions, set her own goals and utilized her own abilities and drive to achieve those goals.

“The pride was knowing that she had done all this on her own,” said Joe Pedulla of his daughter’s achievements. “It was such a long road for her and it was a high plateau after watching all of the intense work she put in.”

But athletics are just one part of Pedulla’s life. This mother of two also works at Pitt in the department of biological sciences in programs headed by Graham Hatfull and Roger Hendrix. She coordinates the research for the Pittsburgh Bacteriophage Institute Genome Center and also supervises undergraduate and pre-college students who are engaged in real research projects for the Phagehunter program, funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Pedulla considers herself lucky to have the support of her family. Her husband, Dean Markovics, is also very involved in judo and is an international referee. He says that the couple owes a lot to the sport because it is what brought them together.

“We met at a judo tournament,” Markovics said. “The pun is that we fell for each other.”

Pedulla and her husband are forced to do a great deal of traveling throughout the year. The couple can usually coordinate their schedules so that they go on the road at different times, but sometimes they take the family on the road. The couple’s two children, Leanna, 4, and Kyle, 2, can usually be found scampering around the South Hills Judo Club throughout the week and have even begun to pick up a few moves.

“Sometimes its hard on them, but in general, they do really well,” Markovics said.

Pedulla will not be bringing the family along to Athens in August because of the crowds and the heat. She says that although security is a concern, her team’s focus is on preparing for the competition.

“It’s a concern for everybody,” Pedulla said. “We’re really focused on our team and getting them ready to go with what they need to perform optimally. Security is part of that situation, but you can’t live in fear. I mean, if fear is what controlled your life then you’d never leave your couch.”

Judo is an individual sport, something that Pedulla believes enhances the U.S. team’s chances of bringing home multiple medals.

“Each individual athlete has their shot to win a medal,” Pedulla said. “We have three or four athletes who have outstanding shots to win medals, and everybody else — you never count anybody out on a given day. Our job is to maximize their chances to win a medal in the next two months, and that’s what we’re going to do.”