Wrestle Like A Girl, founded by Sally Roberts, hosts its first fundraising Gala July 30
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by Taylor Miller, USA Wrestling
Watch the inspiring Wrestle Like A Girl promotional video here
An exciting new non-profit organization, Wrestle Like A Girl, will host its First Annual Glitter Into Gold Gala on Saturday at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center from 6-9 p.m. MT.
The event serves as a celebration of the 2016 U.S. Olympic women’s wrestling team as well as a way to support and advocate women’s wrestling across the United States.
Keynote speakers for the night include Paralympic swimmer Elizabeth Marks, who won the Pat Tillman Award for Service at the 2016 ESPYs, U.S. women’s wrestling Olympic coach Afsoon Johnston and three-time World champion and 2016 Olympian Adeline Gray.
“This is so exciting because it is the first significant event that Wrestle Like a Girl has put on,” founder Sally Roberts said. “It was organized in such a short time frame, too. So in just six weeks, we have a high-end event coming to Colorado Springs. We have completely sold out of our seats, and everyone who is coming is so excited. We were able to reach out and get new people involved in women’s wrestling. It’s so exciting to be able to use this event as a way to showcase our girls and how great they are and hopefully get more people involved.”
Founded by two-time World bronze medalist and four-time national champion Roberts, Wrestle Like A Girl is an organization with a mission to educate and empower girls through the sport. Roberts, who competed in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials for the U.S. Army WCAP program, has found a way to give back to the sport that means so much to her.
“I came from a really challenging background,” Roberts said. “Through my career and journey wrestling, I really started to come into my own and become a beneficial member to society, rather than just being the delinquent child who was getting ready to be sent to juvenile detention.”
Fast forward several years.
“I was riding the bike one day and I realized that I was going to start my own non-profit, Wrestle Like a Girl, because I can go out and do exactly what I want to do and reach out and touch the lives of these at-risk girls all over the country. I could bounce around and start amplifying the message for why it’s important to get girls to wrestle and all the cool benefits it provides,” Roberts said.
Roberts and her team, which includes members of the USA Wrestling Women’s National Team, travel the country putting on camps and clinics, focusing on low-income communities and teaching them technique and developmental skills through hard work.
The organization also works to help start up new high school programs in order to increase the number of sanctioned girls’ high school state tournaments. WLAG has also created partnerships with other organizations to work toward bringing women’s college wrestling to the NCAA level.
“At the end of the day, all of these messages that we try to teach through the sport of wrestling are so beneficial, and the girls really respond to it. It’s so exciting to see,” Roberts said.
For more information on Wrestle Like a Girl, visit wrestlelikeagirl.org.
An exciting new non-profit organization, Wrestle Like A Girl, will host its First Annual Glitter Into Gold Gala on Saturday at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center from 6-9 p.m. MT.
The event serves as a celebration of the 2016 U.S. Olympic women’s wrestling team as well as a way to support and advocate women’s wrestling across the United States.
Keynote speakers for the night include Paralympic swimmer Elizabeth Marks, who won the Pat Tillman Award for Service at the 2016 ESPYs, U.S. women’s wrestling Olympic coach Afsoon Johnston and three-time World champion and 2016 Olympian Adeline Gray.
“This is so exciting because it is the first significant event that Wrestle Like a Girl has put on,” founder Sally Roberts said. “It was organized in such a short time frame, too. So in just six weeks, we have a high-end event coming to Colorado Springs. We have completely sold out of our seats, and everyone who is coming is so excited. We were able to reach out and get new people involved in women’s wrestling. It’s so exciting to be able to use this event as a way to showcase our girls and how great they are and hopefully get more people involved.”
Founded by two-time World bronze medalist and four-time national champion Roberts, Wrestle Like A Girl is an organization with a mission to educate and empower girls through the sport. Roberts, who competed in the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials for the U.S. Army WCAP program, has found a way to give back to the sport that means so much to her.
“I came from a really challenging background,” Roberts said. “Through my career and journey wrestling, I really started to come into my own and become a beneficial member to society, rather than just being the delinquent child who was getting ready to be sent to juvenile detention.”
Fast forward several years.
“I was riding the bike one day and I realized that I was going to start my own non-profit, Wrestle Like a Girl, because I can go out and do exactly what I want to do and reach out and touch the lives of these at-risk girls all over the country. I could bounce around and start amplifying the message for why it’s important to get girls to wrestle and all the cool benefits it provides,” Roberts said.
Roberts and her team, which includes members of the USA Wrestling Women’s National Team, travel the country putting on camps and clinics, focusing on low-income communities and teaching them technique and developmental skills through hard work.
The organization also works to help start up new high school programs in order to increase the number of sanctioned girls’ high school state tournaments. WLAG has also created partnerships with other organizations to work toward bringing women’s college wrestling to the NCAA level.
“At the end of the day, all of these messages that we try to teach through the sport of wrestling are so beneficial, and the girls really respond to it. It’s so exciting to see,” Roberts said.
For more information on Wrestle Like a Girl, visit wrestlelikeagirl.org.
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