McKayla Parker

Grey/Black Belt
Instagram: @mckaylabjj13

I was born and raised in Arizona. I was a very shy little kid and my mom decided to enter me in a raffle for a local martial arts gym who was selecting 2 kids to train free for a year. I happened to be selected to train at Patriot Martial Arts Academy in 2019 when I was 6 years old.

After my first class I fell in love with Jiu-Jitsu. During the pandemic I still trained everyday via zoom classes. I did my first competition in September 2020 and got my first gold medal. I now have done 34 competitions.

Jiu-Jitsu opened me up and I no longer am the shy little kid. I have confidence and love what I do. I train 6 days a week doing Jiu-Jitsu and Machida karate. I did my first out of state competition in 2022 in Las Vegas for Kids Con and after that loved going out of state to compete.

I would like to thank my mom for always getting me to my classes and to any open mats I would like to attend and for always being there. My family for always being there supporting me. I would like to thank my coach William Rhett Sandoval for believing in me, always being in my corner and teaching me how to be better. My teammates for helping me train to achieve my goals.

I am so honored to be a Hyperfly Junior Athlete. I love what they do for the Jiu-Jitsu community. Especially being a female athlete in a male dominated sport I can’t wait to help show what I can do.