In support of the USA World University Games Judo Team, the USA Judo Board of Directors will match funds up to $5,000 for all donations made in the month of June on the World University Games Go Fund Me page: https://www.gofundme.com/JudoWUG2017.  The judo community is encouraged to participate in supporting the future pipeline of athletes. All donations will be split evenly between the athletes, coaches, and team manager.

The 2017 World University Games USA Collegiate Judo team will be represented by fourteen athletes from various colleges and universities. The Universiade is an international sporting and cultural festival which is staged every two years. Over 10,000 participants from 160+ countries will attend the Summer Universiade from August 18-30. The Judo competition is held from August 20-24, 2017.

The World University Games is a self-funded trip, meaning each athlete and staff needs about $3,300 to cover their transportation and stay in Taipei. The team’s fundraising goal is $25,000.

“The USA Judo’s Board of Directors recognize that the Collegiate Judo Programs are under-funded,” explained USA Judo President, Mark Hill. “We want these young men and women to feel supported by the USA Judo Family as they represent our country this summer in Taipei. The collegiate ranks are an important target growth population for the sport of judo in the United States. We want to do our part and wish the World University Games U.S. judo team the best of luck and hope the USA Judo community will step up and support this team.”

The 2017 WUG team includes:

Men

60kg  Aaron Fukuhara - Long Beach State University (CA)
66kg  Brandon Worthen - Fairleigh Dickenson University (NJ)
73kg  Leonardo Subiza - Hudson County Commumity College (NJ)
81kg  Jacob Nickel - University of Texas at San Antonio (TX)
90kg  Ishmael McGinty - United States Military Academy (NY)
100kg  L.A. Smith - San Jose State University (CA)
100+kg  Arash Valizadeh Soofiani - San Jose State University (CA)

Women

48kg  Destinee Nagtalon - San Jose State University (CA)
52kg  Elaine Ramos-Tandjung - San Jose State University (CA)
57kg  Miranda Imamura - Fresno State University (CA)
63kg  Alisha Galles - San Jose State University (CA)
70kg  April Fehr - San Jose State University (CA)
78kg  Kendra Kehrli - Iowa State University (IA)
78+kg  Emma Lwin - California State Polytechnic – Pomona (CA)

Team Staff

Coach David Dunham - United States Military Academy (NY)
Team Manager Bob Perez - Texas A&M University (TX)

“The National Collegiate Judo Association thanks USA Judo for supporting the athletes who will represent the United States at the 2017 World University Games (WUG),” said Team Manager, Bob Perez. “The WUG is the largest sporting event apart from the Olympics Games.  The selected athletes have demonstrated ability to balance academics and athletics. USA Judo's Board of Directors willingness to match donations will allow our athletes to focus on training for this international event.”

Click here to support the World University Games U.S. Judo Team: https://www.gofundme.com/JudoWUG2017

Thank you for your support!