Hello my name is Kurt Smithgall and I
am a member of the United States Wildwater Team. In June, I will represent the United States
at the Wildwater World Championships in Italy. I am contacting you in hopes of
raising money for this trip. In case you
are unaware, Wildwater kayaking is a non-Olympic discipline where competitors
race kayaks down different lengths of whitewater. It is a sport that tests both the
competitor’s skill as well as strength. While it is not an Olympic sport, it is
quite competitive. When I first raced on the team in the summer of 2012 there
were over 70 competitors from 35 different countries at the World Championships
in France. This coming summer I hope to
improve my rank and better represent the United States in international
competition. Since France, I have
continued to train hard and get faster.
For 2013, I was ranked 2nd in the national rankings for
wildwater. Before I go over the specifics of what I am asking I want to tell
you about my personal background.
I first started whitewater kayaking when I was 12 and it quickly became
a passion of mine. Once I became
comfortable on whitewater, I started racing and by my senior year of high
school I had become hooked on the new challenge of racing. I made a commitment to training and racing
through college despite the rigors of engineering classes. It was a lot of hard
work, and this May I will graduate from Penn State with a degree in Biological
Engineering and with a 3.5 GPA no less. I apply myself in all aspects of my
life and I have worked very hard to get to where I am now.
As I mentioned earlier Wildwater is a not an Olympic
sport. What this means is there is
virtually no funding for the national team.
All major expenses from airfare and transportation to hotels and lodging
are up to each individual competitor. I
work as both a teaching assistant and research assistant while being a full
time student in addition to training ten times per week. There just simply
aren’t enough hours in the day to work enough to afford this trip on my own. I am asking if you would be willing to donate
some money to help fund my trip. Every penny that you give will go toward my
direct expenses. Several of us on the
team are starting to plan the logistics and I will need to book an airline
ticket as well as start to save for my expenses while competing in Italy this
summer.
My projected costs are between $6000 and $7000 and if you
chose to donate I will be extremely grateful and you directly help me represent
the United States in international competition. As an added incentive if you donate $20 I
will send you a cotton tshirt, a $30 donation will result in a synthetic
tshirt, and a $45 donation will
result in a US Team polo shirt. If you
would like to support me you can mail a check to the address below with your
shirt size or send it by paypal to krsmithgall@gmail.com. If you have any questions feel
free to call or send me an email. Thank
you for taking the time to read this and I hope to have your support.
Kurt Smithgall
225 Montour Street
Montoursville, PA 17754
krsmithgall@gmail.com
