Neon Martial Arts & Fitness in Southampton, who hosted their first wrestling competition in July this year, is running a crowdfunding campaign to buy Olympic wrestling mats and other equipment to grow the club and competition.
You can follow the campaign and donate on Crowdfunder here.
The mats are said to cost over £13,000 each with the club’s fundraiser target of £20,000 covering the equipment. The extra funding will go towards a new first aid kit, wrist and ankle bands for competitors, whistles for the referees, a podium, and medals.
Ahileas Bovolan who runs the club said:
“Our club has done great at bringing people together and engaging with everyone around us. We have 85 children currently training with us and we are open to everyone to come and join us. We can’t accommodate all the children for the events due to the lack of competition-mated areas.
“In order to deliver our planned programmes and to increase the capacity for the 2023 tournament, we aim to purchase a full-size competition mat. By running a wrestling tournament regularly we would generate enough revenue from sponsorships and entry fees. From there we can grow the sport on the South Coast and help more children and keep our costs affordable for parents too.”
