The Grapple Girls Open Women's Grappling Tournament started as the brainchild of a few women grapplers in Toronto who had a vision of a better grappling scene for women, locally and everywhere. We wanted girls to have a better experience at grappling tournaments, where generally very few women compete and usually there aren't enough competitors to fill each division (many of us have medals we "won" just for showing up) and many girls end up fighting above their weight class. We wanted to give women a more comfortable environment to fight in (actually the environment at many tournaments leaves much to be desired for all competitors and spectators alike where disorganization, long hours and no toilet paper are de riguer). But most of all we wanted women to feel they weren't isolated; we wanted girls to know they were part of a community.
So we decided to organize our own tournament: one that would kick the ass of all the tournaments we'd suffered through; one where women could fight women in their own weight class and skill division; one where everyone could feel comfortable and eat good food and there'd be no shortage of toilet paper. We wanted to blow minds. And whaddya know, we did.
We wanted to create change - and the results were pretty darned awesome. Now it's time to ride that wave.
The Grapple Girls Open is happening again this August. Mark your calendars, ladies. Saturday August 21, 2010. It's on.
