Schutz grew up in River Vale, New Jersey, where seeing her brother taking a lesson convinced her to take up judo at the age of six.[2] She began training at a young age with Sensei Ogasawara at Kokushi Dojo, in Westwood, New Jersey. She became nationally ranked at age 14 and internationally ranked at age 16. While competing worldwide, much of Celita's extended international training occurred in Japan, Spain, Germany and Brazil. She became Captain of the 1996 US Olympic Women's Judo Team; held consecutive #1 ranking in the United States for seven years; and while accumulating medals from around the world, achieved highest ranking of 5th in the World with expert coaching of Sensei Matsumura, Technical Advisor of Kokushikai, Inc.
1996 Summer Olympics, Atlanta 2000 Summer Olympics, Sydney 2004 Summer Olympics, Athens
2x World Team Member
US Open International Champion
Multi-time International Medalist
6x US National Judo Champion (Senior Level)
2x US Olympic Committee Female Athlete of the Year, Judo
Ultimate Female Titan
2x Grapplers Quest BJJ Champion
ADCC North American Champion, 2007
Certified Personal Trainer, NASM
^Berkow, Ira (July 23, 2004). "Olympics; A Judo Champion Bounces Back From Heartbreak". The New York Times. p. D1. Retrieved November 24, 2017. And so at the beginning of this year, after the emotional and even physical upheaval of the last few years, the 5-foot-5 Schutz (pronounced Shoots), 36, sat back on her couch in a tan T-shirt, blue jeans and silver earrings and recalled how she had decided to try a comeback to the sport that she has loved since she first took it up at age 6, in River Vale, N.J., after watching her older brother Del take judo lessons.
