USA Wrestling to host women's developmental camp in Arizona, Dec. 27-30

USA Wrestling is hosting a women’s developmental camp in Phoenix, Ariz., Dec. 27-30. The purpose of the camp is to bring some of the most promising up-and-coming women’s wrestlers, ranging from schoolgirl to Junior level, from across the nation together for a chance to grow their wrestling.

“This is our fourth year having this camp at Arizona State University,” U.S. Women’s Freestyle National Assistant Coach Emma Randall said. “We are so thankful to the Sunkist Kids and the ASU program for allowing us to utilize their facilities.  These camps are crucial for our young athletes to come together to learn, grow and train regularly for development.  Fifty percent of this year’s Senior National Team took part in our development programming from 2012-2016.  Our future stars are coming through this program.”

The camp includes eight practices with special sports psych and nutrition sections over four days.

Among those expected to attend are 2017 Junior World champion Maya Nelson, 2017 Junior World bronze medalist Asia Ray, Cadet World silver medalist Emily Shilson, past World medalists Alleida Martinez, Gracie Figueroa and Macey Kilty and several other age-group World Team members.

The camp will be led by a star-studded coaches lineup, including three-time World champion Adeline Gray, 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Clarissa Chun, 1992 World champion for Japan Ryoko Sakamoto, 2017 U.S. World Team member Tamyra Mensah, 2012 Olympian Kelsey Campbell and Coach Randall, just to name a few.

“This year we are really focusing on uniting our top athletes and coaches at every age level,” Randall said. “When we get everyone together, we’re actually bringing large amounts of experience and knowledge together doing so helps us improve as a country.”

Also attending the camp are young women’s wrestlers from Canada and Japan, bringing the total number of athletes to 75.

Immediately after the camp, most of the wrestlers will head to Vancouver, Canada, for a training camp and dual meet tournament.

“Development tours are an opportunity for our Schoolgirls, Cadets and Juniors to gain international experience,” Randall said. “We have to learn how travel, how to manage our weights, how to wrestle against foreigners and how to compete in hostile environment.  These experiences are building blocks for long term success.”

This will be the second women’s developmental camp in a series of five. While this one is invite-only, the remaining three are open to those interested in attending.

• Feb. 8-11: Dev. Camp #3 - Wyoming Seminary (Kingston, PA)
• March 25-28: Dev. Camp #4 – Oklahoma City University (Oklahoma City, OK)
• April 19-22: Dev. Camp #5 – U.S. Olympic Training Center (Colorado Springs, CO)

If you’re interested in attending one of the three remaining camps, please contact Emma Randall at erandall@usawrestling.org.