Throwing it back

Girl’s Got Grit!

Girl’s got grit was a Strong(wo)man club I co-coached back in Newcastle and I am so very proud of what we achieved back then. I am on a whole new chapter here in Leeds and I hope to make just as much noise here!

GGG Journey

I was invited to FSI (functional strength institute) to help co-coach Girl’s Got Grit (GGG) because of my experience in competing in the sport of Strongman. The aim was to create a safe space for lasses to come try the sport and those with a natural talent could look to enter competitions. I can’t believe what happened next! I can only hope to achieve this much in Leeds but also the backlash and bullying we had endure did take It’s toll!

A competition?!

So despite the comments and the backlash we were getting from running the the club we managed to get a group together of women who were keen to compete as first timers in Newcastle’s strongest competition! Amazing right?? We had to endure comments about us being “sexist” when all we were doing was helping to remove a barrier to this sport. I mean It’s literally called StrongMAN. Our ability was in question because “who did we think we were” running this club and entering participants. Without our club though there wouldn’t have been enough entrants to have a first timers division. I am so proud of us for pushing through the negativity!

Stubborness prevailed!

This is what my colleague had to say about all that we went through and yes our mental health really did take a battering that year. We were bullied and the bullies thought they could stop our club and our lasses from entering the competition (gatekeeping much??). You have probably gathered from my newsletter thus far and my socials if you follow me that I have a strong sense of justice. The fact that their behaviour was not justified and what was happening was WRONG. It did not sit right with either one of us so we pushed through! We were so stubborn AND IT WORKED!!

When the comp finally came around it was EMOTIONAL. Wow! Throughout the whole process there were so many tears but my goodness was it worth it!

This is exactly what I wrote back in 2019:

It was amazing watching the 1st timers compete today. Those that have attended our club. I have watched you blossom! You have all grown in strength and mental fortitude.

You all hit personal records today + had fun experiencing something you've never done before. You're all walking away with the knowledge that you've grown! Just turning up to a competition is something to be applauded in itself! I just wanted to let you all know I'm proud as punch! I also have this lovely warm fuzzy feeling because it's been lush being part of Girl's got Grit! Without it I doubt there would have been a women's category for the comp! Strong(wo)men needs more women's categories so I feel like "yeeeeeesssssaaaaaaa". Haha that's the only way I can describe it  I'm just so glad positive steps are being made in a direction that gets more lasses involved in this sport because it's pretty f*cking epic! I'll be quiet now but I just had to have my little Happie gushing rant.

I was reflecting on it all and decided I want to do this again but here in LEEDS!!