Interview with Sabrina Wright

Today our chat is about a super important and very little publicized category, the juvenile category. We have many reasons to believe that an early start in jiu-jitsu can make a difference in an athlete’s life, but just a few are lucky enough to have the privilege of knowing and falling in love with the soft art as a child or as a teenager. The juvenile category has many girls with jiu-jitsu as sharp as some in the adult category. These girls usually arrive in the adult category well prepared with regards to technique and with a vast baggage in championships, which brings extra points for them. Pay close attention to the next fight of juveniles that you have the opportunity to watch; I’m sure that you will be positively surprised.

As BJJ Girls Mag goes where female jiu-jitsu exists, we talked to the multi-champion Sabrina Wright, a 17-year-old athlete from Lucas Lepri Jiu-jitsu – Alliance.

So many of us have complained about not having started practicing jiu-jitsu as a child or teenager, the phase that we consider ideal to start the sport, but not many of us know how complicated the life of a teenager who decides to be an athlete can be. It is certain that the unconditional support of the family is indispensable and in addition to the sensei and teammates, they become the pillars in the journey of these young athletes. Worrying about evolving in jiu-jitsu and finding time for school, homework and tests is not easy at all, for sure. How does Sabrina deal with all this? You can check out the interview below.

Sabrina started to practice when she was 9.  It all started when her mother enrolled her in a self-defense class. It was love at first sight, and after finishing the self-defense program, she felt that she could not stop anymore.  She told us that at that age, one of the reasons that made her keep practicing was knowing that she could beat the boys who were the same age as her.

To Sabrina, the most difficult thing was to find a balance between training and school. Both are the two most important things in her life, so, for everything to go well, she needs to have a very well planned routine. Nowadays she goes to school in the morning, practices at noon, comes back home for lunch and then tries to do her homework and everything else she must do before the night practice. Sabrina also helps with children’s lessons before her own jiu-jitsu class. When she arrives home, after a long day, she finishes all the homework that remains and prepares herself for the next day.

The routine tightens as the most important championships of the year approach. Physical conditioning and diet become part of the athlete’s list, and it is at this point when the support of teammates and the family becomes even more important. Sabrina has many titles already conquered, but her main goals every year are the Pan American and the World Cup championships.  In 2015, Sabrina fought in the IBJJF World Championship and got the second place in both weight and open weight. Determined to rise to the top of the podium, this year Sabrina showed for what she came for and won not only the World Cup, but also the Pan American Championship.

She says her goals for 2017 are to recover from a recent shoulder surgery and be prepared to compete in the World Championship. We are sure she will do very well in both.

When asked about the opportunity to train with Lucas Lepri, the current lightweight world champion, Sabrina fills the master of praise and emphasized that her jiu-jitsu has reached another level since she started training at Lucas Lepri BJJ. This is because she has coaches who look out for the smallest details of her game to make corrections. She also knows that she can count on the support of her teammates, who, according to her, treat her equally, push her at practice, and make her feel part of a family. All these details make the moments on the mat much more special.

We asked Sabrina to comment on how her family encouraged her in the sport and she told us that she has an agreement with her parents. In this agreement, Sabrina proposes to study and to make good grades at school, and in return, her parents pay for the trips for her to compete. She has the full support of her family and she said that it makes all the difference. Jiu-jitsu is really a family program to them.  They always accompany her at the championships and go along with all her teammates.

Recently, Sabrina came to be sponsored by Storm Kimonos.  It is not often that we see a juvenile athlete being sponsored by such a large company. On this subject, Sabrina commented that she was amazed by the invitation and that the fact that she was the only woman on Storm’s team and the youngest one made her feel particularly happy. Also, she told us that that she is working hard to give her best in the championships and represent the company in the best way possible.

Finally, we asked her how parents can encourage their daughters to follow the sport’s path. In response, Sabrina said, “The most important thing is not to force them into anything.  If they show interest in following this path, be there at all times and in every possible way.  Always make them believe that they can do whatever they want”.

Last week, the Lucas Lepri BJJ graduation ceremony took place and Sabrina is now a purple belt. Lucas Lepri’s exciting speech at the ceremony moved the crowd to tears, and Lucas said that he also received the purple belt at age 17 similar to Sabrina.  Lucas also said that he sees a lot of himself in her.

We hope she has a bright future and we are sure that we are going to hear her name a lot in the future.

You can read the portuguese version here.

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