RAMSAY HS WRESTLING - coach, uniforms, and scale
Donation protected
5K GOAL
RAMSAY WRESTLING NEEDS:
A COACH, UNIFORMS, AND A SCALE
Ramsay is a charter school in the heart of downtown Birmingham, Alabama.
The wrestling program at the school is only 4 years old. During this time, Ramsay has never been able to put money aside for wrestling, the only reason the school has the program in the first place is thanks to Beat The Streets Birmingham, a nonprofit organization that donated mats and put me on board as a coach when BTSB was started in 2016.
I am not an employee of the school, and I haven’t been paid a nickel since we started.
I coach because I believe in what this sport teaches young people about life.
This sport did so much to help transform me in positive ways that allowed me to overcome challenges, it broke my heart to know that there were kids close by, who have much bigger challenges, much bigger obstacles in front of them, and they didn’t have the same solution offered to them that I had.
The average annual household income in the areas from where these students are coming from is less than $30K. During the wintertime, the kids who’re not involved in basketball and indoor track deserve to have a wrestling program to channel their energy in a healthy and productive way.
Honestly, the biggest issue for the program this year is me. I am in a job transition phase. I usually do fundraising and pull money from my pocket to get the team where it needs to be. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to put in the proper time for fundraising this year and I’m not in a position to give financially at the moment.
As a result of this transition phase, I don’t know what my schedule will look like a month from now, if I’ll be able to make it to practice every day, what time I could get there, or will I even be in Birmingham?
I haven’t got the faintest idea, all I know is that the students do want to continue with the wrestling team
In just a few years, we’ve already begun to see great progress, both in getting the program off the ground and in the lives of our wrestlers. The program is in a very exciting place right now!
Last year, we had our first ever state qualifier! He unfortunately lost in the placement round at state, but has been working hard all offseason and is preseason ranked #4 in the state.
This kid is started with me when we started the program. He’s entering his senior season, and he has been the picture perfect team leader! He actually had a short documentary made about him last year by 2 college students. There is a link to that at the bottom of this page if you want to check it out.
Also, last year we finally found a spot underneath the school where we could put 2 sections of a mat and call it our wrestling room. It’s not much, but it beats transporting the mats everyday and wrestling in various places like hallways, the band room, auditorium, or cafeteria. We really want to keep this momentum going and to continue growing the program.
BTSB has been tremendously helpful in helping the team get its mat, shoes, and headgear for our athletes. We are immensely grateful for this! However- other than that, we have been left to our own devices as BTSB’s funds are mainly tied up in the youth programs that it has started and running in Birmingham.
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP US OUTt:
1. I’m asking for $1-2 thousand to help get the team new uniforms, and some shirts that the athletes can wear around school and be proud of. Hopefully this will help advertise and grow the sport at Ramsay as well.
2. I’m asking for $2-3 thousand dollars to attract someone to come coach and be a part of the program for the season.
3. We desperately need a scale! We would be happy to accept an older donated one.
I can assure you that these funds will only be used for the program at Ramsay. Possible uses for extra funds include: recycling into next season for uniforms, to pay the coach again, to aid a wrestler that wants to attend a camp, or potentially put aside and saved to aid in buying a wrestling mat so Ramsay can host home matches one day.
If you’re in the area and interested in coaching, please contact me. My information is on here. If you’re in the area would like to volunteer some of your time, shoot me a message- if you can be there 1 day a week, 1 day a month, I’ll send you the forms you need to sign. It would mean a lot, and would make a big impact.
If you’re not in a position to coach, volunteer, offer a scale, or give financially–Please share this GoFundMe to your homepage or with someone that you know who has wrestled, and understands the transformative power it can have on lives. Someone with the potential to sponsor, or with anyone who has a heart for young people in disadvantageous situations.
Please check out these links about how wrestling is a life changing sport
https://medium.com/@derekpan1/10-life-lessons-i-learned-from-the-sport-of-wrestling-700e52750824
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevecooper/2012/07/31/why-wrestlers-make-the-best-employees/#7353e83d5f88
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/270425
There is also a podcast called Wrestling Changed My Life that talks extensively on the matter.
If you don’t feel like reading a link or listening, just read this little excerpt that I wrote in preparation for the documentary.
“I also got a lot of self confidence and boldness from this sport. It taught me how to be honest with myself, how to help others be honest in themselves as well. It taught me that life is hard and sometimes you have to be the one that’s willing to put themselves in miserable situations and grind it out in order to succeed. In life, you can’t sub out and let someone else do your job for a little bit while you recover. It just doesn’t work like that. YOU have to be the person that makes the decision to keep on going, to push, to not just sit there and take it. YOU have to be the person to make that decision for yourself, nobody can make it for you, nobody can make you do it. You have to”.
There’s so much more that can be said, but I feel like this is one of the exact messages that absolutely has to be passed on in order for some of these bright minds to reach their potential; especially with their comparatively limited resources.
So here it is. I’ve set a goal of 5 thousand dollars! With this, the team would absolutely be in position to succeed even with the threat of my absence! I wish I was in a position to fund from my pocket but unfortunately that is not the case. If this has struck a chord with you, and you can give in any way (whether that be of your time, money, a share), please do. It would have a tremendous impact on our athletes season and hopefully their lives as well. And for that, there’s no way to thank you enough
UPDATE: THE LINK IS WORKING
Below is the documentary I mentioned in the video above
RAMSAY WRESTLING NEEDS:
A COACH, UNIFORMS, AND A SCALE
Ramsay is a charter school in the heart of downtown Birmingham, Alabama.
The wrestling program at the school is only 4 years old. During this time, Ramsay has never been able to put money aside for wrestling, the only reason the school has the program in the first place is thanks to Beat The Streets Birmingham, a nonprofit organization that donated mats and put me on board as a coach when BTSB was started in 2016.
I am not an employee of the school, and I haven’t been paid a nickel since we started.
I coach because I believe in what this sport teaches young people about life.
This sport did so much to help transform me in positive ways that allowed me to overcome challenges, it broke my heart to know that there were kids close by, who have much bigger challenges, much bigger obstacles in front of them, and they didn’t have the same solution offered to them that I had.
The average annual household income in the areas from where these students are coming from is less than $30K. During the wintertime, the kids who’re not involved in basketball and indoor track deserve to have a wrestling program to channel their energy in a healthy and productive way.
Honestly, the biggest issue for the program this year is me. I am in a job transition phase. I usually do fundraising and pull money from my pocket to get the team where it needs to be. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to put in the proper time for fundraising this year and I’m not in a position to give financially at the moment.
As a result of this transition phase, I don’t know what my schedule will look like a month from now, if I’ll be able to make it to practice every day, what time I could get there, or will I even be in Birmingham?
I haven’t got the faintest idea, all I know is that the students do want to continue with the wrestling team
In just a few years, we’ve already begun to see great progress, both in getting the program off the ground and in the lives of our wrestlers. The program is in a very exciting place right now!
Last year, we had our first ever state qualifier! He unfortunately lost in the placement round at state, but has been working hard all offseason and is preseason ranked #4 in the state.
This kid is started with me when we started the program. He’s entering his senior season, and he has been the picture perfect team leader! He actually had a short documentary made about him last year by 2 college students. There is a link to that at the bottom of this page if you want to check it out.
Also, last year we finally found a spot underneath the school where we could put 2 sections of a mat and call it our wrestling room. It’s not much, but it beats transporting the mats everyday and wrestling in various places like hallways, the band room, auditorium, or cafeteria. We really want to keep this momentum going and to continue growing the program.
BTSB has been tremendously helpful in helping the team get its mat, shoes, and headgear for our athletes. We are immensely grateful for this! However- other than that, we have been left to our own devices as BTSB’s funds are mainly tied up in the youth programs that it has started and running in Birmingham.
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP US OUTt:
1. I’m asking for $1-2 thousand to help get the team new uniforms, and some shirts that the athletes can wear around school and be proud of. Hopefully this will help advertise and grow the sport at Ramsay as well.
2. I’m asking for $2-3 thousand dollars to attract someone to come coach and be a part of the program for the season.
3. We desperately need a scale! We would be happy to accept an older donated one.
I can assure you that these funds will only be used for the program at Ramsay. Possible uses for extra funds include: recycling into next season for uniforms, to pay the coach again, to aid a wrestler that wants to attend a camp, or potentially put aside and saved to aid in buying a wrestling mat so Ramsay can host home matches one day.
If you’re in the area and interested in coaching, please contact me. My information is on here. If you’re in the area would like to volunteer some of your time, shoot me a message- if you can be there 1 day a week, 1 day a month, I’ll send you the forms you need to sign. It would mean a lot, and would make a big impact.
If you’re not in a position to coach, volunteer, offer a scale, or give financially–Please share this GoFundMe to your homepage or with someone that you know who has wrestled, and understands the transformative power it can have on lives. Someone with the potential to sponsor, or with anyone who has a heart for young people in disadvantageous situations.
Please check out these links about how wrestling is a life changing sport
https://medium.com/@derekpan1/10-life-lessons-i-learned-from-the-sport-of-wrestling-700e52750824
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevecooper/2012/07/31/why-wrestlers-make-the-best-employees/#7353e83d5f88
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/270425
There is also a podcast called Wrestling Changed My Life that talks extensively on the matter.
If you don’t feel like reading a link or listening, just read this little excerpt that I wrote in preparation for the documentary.
“I also got a lot of self confidence and boldness from this sport. It taught me how to be honest with myself, how to help others be honest in themselves as well. It taught me that life is hard and sometimes you have to be the one that’s willing to put themselves in miserable situations and grind it out in order to succeed. In life, you can’t sub out and let someone else do your job for a little bit while you recover. It just doesn’t work like that. YOU have to be the person that makes the decision to keep on going, to push, to not just sit there and take it. YOU have to be the person to make that decision for yourself, nobody can make it for you, nobody can make you do it. You have to”.
There’s so much more that can be said, but I feel like this is one of the exact messages that absolutely has to be passed on in order for some of these bright minds to reach their potential; especially with their comparatively limited resources.
So here it is. I’ve set a goal of 5 thousand dollars! With this, the team would absolutely be in position to succeed even with the threat of my absence! I wish I was in a position to fund from my pocket but unfortunately that is not the case. If this has struck a chord with you, and you can give in any way (whether that be of your time, money, a share), please do. It would have a tremendous impact on our athletes season and hopefully their lives as well. And for that, there’s no way to thank you enough
UPDATE: THE LINK IS WORKING
Below is the documentary I mentioned in the video above
Organizer
William Byrd
Organizer
Birmingham, AL