Scotty Member, Poppy, fights her way to become Junior Jiu-Jitsu World Champion! 14-year-old Poppy was just a baby when her dad died. Last year, hoping to improve her fitness and learn how to defend herself, Poppy took up Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. What started as a hobby quickly became a passion, and Poppy is now the World and European Brazilian Junior Jujitsu Champion. It’s an incredible achievement.
Poppy started Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu lessons just over a year ago, hoping to find a fun way of staying fit and gaining some self-defence skills at the same time. As she grew more passionate about the sport, her lessons became more and more regular, and she now trains five times every week.
“On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I have an hour and a half session after school,” Poppy explains. “Every Tuesday I have a thirty-minute private session with my coach, and on Saturdays I do No-Gi Jiu-Jitsu, which is when you’re not allowed to wear your Gi so it’s harder to grapple.”
The Scotty Allowance, a grant Scotty’s offers every member to help pay for extracurricular activities, helped Poppy and her family cover the cost of the lessons she needed to reach her dream.
“The Scotty Allowance contributes to my private lessons every Tuesday,” says Poppy. “It’s after those private lessons that I started to see a big improvement in myself and began entering competitions. I’m always using things I’ve learnt from my private lessons and it’s definitely all that stuff that helped me win the World Championship.”
Her mum adds: “Financially, all these lessons aren’t cheap. Especially doing it five times a week. The funding Scotty’s provide has been a massive help, particularly with the cost of living and the way prices are rocketing at the moment.”
Despite being only 14, Poppy is already part of the adult Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club, as her coaches quickly realised she was too advanced for the younger groups.
“I started in the kids' class,” she says, “but I was only there for a little while before being moved in with the adults. I’m now training with men and women of all ages and sizes. It was a bit weird at first but now I quite enjoy being the youngest and people know not to go easy on me. I love the challenge.”
“It’s overwhelming,” adds Poppy’s mum. “I’ve seen such an improvement in her self-confidence. She no longer avoids situations and is always challenging herself, which she never used to do. Her mindset has completely changed since she started the lessons. She won silver in her first competition and although she was really pleased with it, I could see how much she wanted that gold. We sat down and I asked her how serious she was about this, and she made it clear she wanted to go as far as she could. I could see how much passion she had for it.”
As a result of increased media attention and lots of celebrities taking up the sport, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has become much more popular over the last few years – something Poppy couldn’t be happier about.
“It depends on the day, but I’m normally training with 30 or 40 other people. Everyone is super supportive of each other and I love the atmosphere. Loads of people are getting involved now. Even famous actors like Tom Hardy, who was in the news for winning a tournament. Hopefully I'll get to fight him at some point!”
Earlier this year, Poppy took on two of her biggest challenges yet: the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Junior European Championships and Junior World Championships. Her hard work paid off, and she came home with the gold medal in both.
“A lot of people had been telling me I should go for it, so I did. There were competitors from lots of different countries and winning against them was amazing. It was almost a relief as well because I had been building it up in my head for so long.”
Her mum adds: “I’m so proud of her. It’s not a sport you see many girls doing as it’s so physical and full-on, but she’s completely taken to it and I think she’ll be a brilliant role model for other young girls interested in the sport.”
In addition to benefiting from the Scotty Allowance, Poppy and her mum have attended a number of Scotty events including respite breaks and our annual Christmas party.
“We really enjoy the breaks,” says Poppy. “It’s a great chance to get together as a family as we’re all normally busy with work and school and stuff. We’ve been to Blackpool, Haggerston Castle, Great Yarmouth and Center Parcs.
Scotty’s is so important to me because it’s supported me loads and connects me to my dad. I’m really grateful for it.”
“Scotty’s are unbelievable,” says Poppy’s mum. “They've been there for us almost from the very beginning. Like Poppy said, it’s a connection to her dad and a connection we’ll always have. She looks forward to the treats she gets every year, the birthday presents and vouchers, and we love attending the National Remembrance Parade with Scotty’s. It’s great to know Scotty’s aren’t just there for a year or two, but will continue to support her as she grows up as well.”
As for the future, Poppy is determined to keep working hard and push her Jiu-Jitsu dreams as far as she can.
“I want to have a future in Jui-Jitsu. Keep working at it and getting different titles, going semi-pro and getting my name out there.”
If you know a child or young person who has experienced the death of a parent who served in the British Armed Forces, they could be eligible for specialist bereavement support from Scotty's Little Soldiers. Hundreds of bereaved military children aren’t getting the support they need but we are here to help.
