Our Story
Who We Are
Grit & Gratitude Wrestling Academy is a community non-profit organization dedicated to empowering and enriching the lives of young people through wrestling.
We believe that grit and gratitude are the best indicators of both academic and career success. Together they forge the backbone of greatness. With proper coaching and encouragement, participating in the sport of wrestling is the best vehicle to develop these traits.
Our Beginning
Quality sports programs are key to student success. Our Students thrive on the structure, discipline, and motivation that these programs provide. The Suspension of these programs due to the Covid restrictions resulted in record numbers of academically ineligible students in our district.
Grit & Gratitude Wrestling Academy was conceptualized during the Covid Pandemic. Students were home struggling with the “new normal”. Distance learning and the suspension of extracurricular activities including sports programs were having a devastating effect on a large percentage of our students, and in particular, our student- athletes. As a high school teacher and coach in Springfield, MA, I witnessed this firsthand.
We decided to do something about it. There was a void in the wrestling community in our region. We used the shutdown to create something great and fill that void. By uniting the wrestling leaders in Western Massachusetts under one flag we would improve the wrestling culture of the entire region and reach more students than ever before.
Our goal was simple…
" ...build the greatest wrestling academy that we possibly could, and let the students reap the benefits."
