Help Abby Knapp Make it to Series A and Romania!

My name is Abby Knapp and I am a full-time amateur athlete in hot pursuit of my dream to become the #1 kata (forms) athlete in the world. I am currently embarking on a new challenge of ascending in the World Karate Federation (WKF) rankings in addition to my continued participation as a member of the AAU team. If I am able to break the top 100, I will be able to compete at K1 Premier League events against the best of the best. If karate were to return to the Olympics, this would also enable me to be potentially eligible for this great honor. However, in order to increase my ranking score, I need to attend events called Series A that are held all across the globe, 4-5 times a year. As you can imagine, this is an incredibly expensive task.

I began karate at the age of 10 and quickly realized that I had found my passion in life. I worked hard to improve and dedicated myself to it completely. 19 years later, I have been fortunate enough to enjoy a great deal of success in the competitive world of karate. My accomplishments include becoming national champion in all three disciplines of competitive karate (forms, weapons and sparring), and a world champion in weapons. This past summer, I was fortunate enough to leave the WUKF world championship as a three-time silver medalist. In times of success and times of failure, I can definitely say that my dedication to improvement in my sport has stayed consistent. There are athletes with more talent and more skill than me, but no one works harder or is more determined.

As a full-time athlete, I train 3-6 hours a day, 5-6 days a week. Before, during and after training, I also work a busy schedule as a full-time karate instructor, teaching classes and private lessons on a daily basis as well. Helping the next generation reach their full potential is just as important to me as my own self-improvement, and I am fully committed to it.

Events on the calendar for 2023:

--January 13th-15th: Athens, Greece

--March 10th-12th: Turkey (City TBD)

--April 14th-16th: Vancouver, BC

--July 13th-16th: Dundee, Scotland** NEW ADDITION: I will also be joining the AAU/USA Team to the WUKF Championships in Scotland!

--September 29th-October 1st: Lamaca, Cyprus

--November 24th-26th: Matosinhos, Portugal

The difficult truth of being an amateur athlete in this country is that airfare, lodging, registration and meals for these trips are all paid for out of pocket. All things said and done, most of these trips cost me at least $2,000 each (Vancouver will fortunately be a cheaper trip than usual, as it is in driving distance, so I have not added it to my fundraising goal). This does not include my training expenses, the weekly lessons that I invest in in order to prepare myself, the equipment (uniforms, belts, weapons), as well as the 10-15 local, regional and national tournaments that I attend every year in order to work up to the bigger events.

Despite the immense financial difficulty that this lifestyle means for me, I would not have it any other way. I am still absolutely and completely determined to see this journey through, because 19 years later I still believe in myself and my ability to accomplish my dream. I will stand on the world stage and become one of the best athletes in the world. In doing so, I hope to not only make my personal dream a reality, but to inspire the next generation into believing that they can too.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for considering my cause. I could not be here without everyone’s support and generosity.