About BASED Wrestling
BASED stands for Beat Aussie Streets Every Day, founded in 2020 by Karen Gregory. It is all about saving lives with wrestling and helping young people who are at risk. The program follows a 10 week cycle and aims to address the root cause of social and behavioral issues in later life.
As an organisation BASED conducts regular events to help people of all ages and walks of life get involved in wrestling and other grappling sports. You will see fun, game style events like the "Beach Bash" and "Freestyling" programs that happen every month as well as bigger events like the "Serpentine Showdown" camp and competition.
The focus is always on providing opportunity and experience for people to enjoy their sport, have fun and make friends. You will see people of all ages involved in all aspects of these events as players, officials, coaches and managers. Most of them are athletes as well however many are simply involved to learn new skills and be part of an awesome sport!
BASED is also a Kidsport WA organisation
BASED is also actively involved in club growth and development with uniform, mat and referee packages available. We recommend the "Club starter" pack for those keen to make things happen.
The BASED program
The BASED program is a 10 week/session program that teaches basic skills and rules of the different wrestling disciplines while also providing life insights in to things like stress, anxiety, anger management, friendships, conflict and other things that can lead to deeper issues and problems.
The sessions are conducted by qualified coaches and focus on helping young people develop socialisation skills and a sense of community that helps them feel safe to speak up and discuss challenges rather feeling isolated and alone. So while wrestling is an individual sport and each person needs to be solely responsible for their own success or failure they are part of a wider team and it is not "wrong" to reach out to these other people when you face a challenge or issue.
How BASED was founded
In 2019, Karen Gregory, one of Australia's rising female wrestlers, attempted to take her own life because of stress and depression, despite having achieved success unseen in someone so young.
From that experience, she created the BASED program to help other young people like her.
The idea was taken from models in the USA, Canada and Singapore which have successfully helped young people change their lives.
Karen's adaptation puts the focus on developing skills to manage things like stress, anger, communication, poor self image and peer pressure because from her experience and those of her friends these were the things that led to further problems with violence, self harm, drugs and alcohol.
Our Mission
Beat Aussie Streets Every Day (BASED) is about saving lives through the sport of wrestling.
Unlike many "outreach" programs run by adults to help kids. BASED is driven by the young people to help their friends and peers. Adults are involved in the senior coaching and administration roles however at a BASED club you will see young people involved in the coaching, refereeing and administration of the club. Some of them do not even actively compete! They still train and perform essential roles in the clubs, organisation and at events. Their experience in the club also creates opportunities for them in later life through VET and their experience.
We say "saving Lives with wrestling" because this captures why we do, what we do. There is a love of the sport and winning of course (nobody plays to loose), however more important is that the resilience, tenacity, respect and fortitude learned on the mat helps people stay strong and feel confident that they can face challenges and come through the other side stronger and smarter regardless of who "wins". That is what makes the difference between a young person dead on the floor and a young person knocking on the door asking for help.
That is what makes a BASED club! They are a community of young people.
Great players want to be told the truth.
PACK
Vision
To make wrestling and grappling accessible to every child in Australia!
Why
Because on the mat young people learn about resilience, dealing with fail-ure, character, responsibility and self reliance to carry them through life.
Passion, we show drive and energy not just on the mat or in the training room but in all aspects of life.
Adventure, we take on new challenges, moves and ideas without fear with an open mind. We do not limit ourselves or our team mates. We accept and own our failures not just our successes.
Camaraderie, we stand together and support our team mates even when they make mistakes and have bad days. Our team doesn't end when the session does!
Knowledge, we never back away from new ideas and information. There is always another view and we will be humble enough to know that we don't know everything.
Some of what we do
- BASED "Pathfinder" program!
- Camps and competitions for local and international wrestlers!
- Trips to Asia, New Zealand and more!
- Referee and officials development programs.
- Support to BASED clubs to develop and grow within their communities.
- BASED "Aussie Dingoes" Team!
- Player support/development programs.
- Uniform and merch support.
- Fundraising/Sponsorship support.
- Coaching development programs.
- Dinners & awards nights!