Sophie “The Dog” Sharp

By Evelyn Sutton
Photos By Sophie Sharp

She got the nickname, “Dog” from her dad for her tenacity. At just 14 years old, Sophie Sharp has countless of hours of training and an impressive number of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions under her belt. The teen athlete from New Jersey has more drive and ambition than most adults. Her dreams of one day becoming the ADCC Champion of her generation are not far-fetched. Like a dog with a bone, Sophie is relentlessly paving her way to Jiu-Jitsu glory, one submission at a time.

Sophie’s love story with BJJ started years ago when her older sister Emily became interested in wrestling. Their mother researched the sport and came across Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. She thought BJJ would be a good option to get Emily ready for wrestling. Curious, Sophie followed her big sister. After a few months on the mat, Emily decided BJJ wasn’t exactly what she was looking for, but for Sophie, it was love at first roll. 

“I had only been practicing full-time for 5 months or so then, but I already couldn’t imagine my life without Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. From that day on, I’ve practiced Jiu-Jitsu seven days a week. It’s my passion and hopefully it will be just like this for the rest of my life.”

The love and dedication Sophie puts into her training is admirable. At 14 years old, the teen juggles a demanding schedule of daily training, competitions, school and time with family and friends. Jiu-Jitsu has been the epicenter of her life for the past four years and she wouldn’t want it any other way.

The young athlete is confident about her decision to pursue Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as a career and the fact that it makes her stand out from her peers.

“I like that I’m doing something that isn’t normally “for girls”. I know how to defend myself in real world situations. I think the best part is when people look at me, and see a cute little girl, they underestimate me. And then I choke them in a triangle before they can do anything to stop me. That’s always funny.”

Surrounded by Great Mentors

Sophie trains at Studio 84 AJJ & MMA in Cream Ridge, New Jersey, under Professor Guitano Mione. A life long Martial Artist, Guitano is a BJJ Black Belt under Tom Deblass and a member of the legendary “Team Renzo Gracie.” Professor Guitano is a 2019 IBJJF World and Pan-American Champion amongst many other medals and titles.

Guitano is not the only accomplished coach Sophie has on her corner. She also trains with Jay Regalbuto, a respected black-belt known for coaching some very talented people in BJJ and an active commentator in prominent events like F2W.  

John Combs is her third coach. The ADCC West Coast Trials winner and IBJJF American NOGI Nationals champion is known for his signature guillotine nicknamed “the Combatine”.

Add to the power trio a woman. A leader at her gym, Sophie assists EBI Veteran Danielle Kelly with the women’s program. Danielle earned her black-belt last year, at 24 years old with remarkable wins along the way, including Sub Hunter Pro 60 all-women’s card in 2020 and the submission of UFC fighter Cynthia Calvillo at Quintet Ultra in 2019, which took her only 17 seconds. Danielle is a source of inspiration and a mentor. “Our main girl is Danielle Kelly. She’s amazing. She trains all the time and has accomplished so much. I am super excited about helping her with the women’s program. It’s another opportunity for me to do even more in this sport.”

Besides her natural drive Sophie credits her coaches and teammates for keeping her motivated. “Having their example, that inspiration, definitely helps you take your training to the next level. I’m glad that I have the opportunity to be surrounded by people like that.”

In the future, Sophie wants to have a gym of her own where she plans to focus on the women’s program to bring BJJ to more ladies. “I absolutely love teaching the kids and even adults if there’s a new guy trying class or a woman, especially a woman. I just love to make them feel welcome. Once I get to brown-belt, I might open a gym. One of my dreams is opening a gym with my dad who is a purple-belt right now. We’ve kind of planned everything out for the future, in the meanwhile, I’m learning and having fun teaching any chance I get.”

Sophie feels one of the reason why there aren’t more women participating in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is because of the incorrect assumption that this is a sport for men and boys, women and girls just don’t think they are strong enough to do it. Sophie wants to charge that perception. “It’s definitely a male-dominated sport. I love watching new women step on the mats for the first time. I’ve helped plenty out, and you get a couple that are a little scared, then you get a handful that are like, ‘Wow, I really like this!’ I just want to get as many girls and women to train and experience it for themselves. Just have fun, you know?”

Besides having an exceptional working relationship with her coaches and teammates at Studio 84, Sophie credits her success to the support of her family: “Honestly, I don’t know where I would be without my family. I probably wouldn’t be anywhere without my mom and dad being able to drive me to wherever I need to go, paying for my training, paying for all of my tournaments, making sure I have everything I need to succeed and that I get to train every day. My family means everything to me and I don’t know what I would do without them.”

Recently, she did an interview with Sam Ryan of ABCNews for a segment called Future Stars. Sophie describes it as an unbelievable experience. “They used a ton of different cameras including a GoPro on my partner’s head to capture takedowns. The news anchor asked great questions and the best part was being able to share the spotlight with my little sister Stella “The Monster” Sharp. Another of dad’s nicknames.

Future ADCC champion

Before committing to Jiu-Jitsu, Sophie trained in Taekwondo, and she was pretty competitive. Competing in BJJ was a natural transition for her. 

When you watch any of her matches, it becomes clear that her signature go-to submission is the triangle arm bar. “I mainly play from my back, in guard. From there, I work my way into the triangle.” 

Before Covid, Sophie was competing almost every weekend, an impressive schedule for anyone, especially for a teenager who is trying to balance BJJ, social life and school work. Covid slowed things down a bit, yet she still found tournaments to compete a couple of times a month. 

Sophie wants to motivate more women to compete. “Just go for it”, she says. The athlete shares with us her first experience in a Jiu-Jitsu tournament to inspire other Jiujiteiras.

“You’ll never know how you will perform until you do it. My first ever tournament, I was only three weeks in BJJ and I was petrified. I didn’t know what I was walking into or how good I would be against my opponent. Now, I’ve gotten used to it. But in the beginning, it’s nerve-racking, for sure. You get the little butterflies in your stomach, but if you just keep doing it, you will get over that initial fear. And the more you compete, the better you get at it.”

Competing is not for everyone, however Sophie encourages women to try it at least once, “you discover things about yourself that you didn’t know when you compete”, she explains. She also hopes to see a stronger presence of female athletes at Jiu-Jitsu sporting events. 

Not every match is a win. Anything can happen and even when you are at the top of your game, at some point, loss is inevitable. Sophie demonstrates great emotional maturity and wisdom on how she treats those moments as learning opportunities.

“I just went through a big loss last weekend, and I was very upset. I lost five matches, one by one they got away from me. I look back now and I see how much I learned from that.”

When looking for inspiration, Sophie also looks up to competitors Grace Gundrum, from 10th Planet Bethlehem and Elizabeth Clay, number one in the IBJJF NOGI brown belt division, just to name a few.

Sophie is after the ADCC title and there is no stopping her. “My biggest goal for this year is the ADCC trials in November. That is a huge one for me.”

With no time to waste, she is hitting the mats hard already getting ready for ADCC. “The ADCC trials is mainly what I’m training for right now. I will definitely participate in all the other local tournaments but my main focus is ADCC. I want to be in that huge stage.”

When Sophie is not training for ADCC or competing, she likes to pursue creative endeavors and enjoy the company of animals. “I’m a very artsy person. I love painting, drawing, singing, listening to music, stuff like that. I’m also a big animal person. I love being around animals.”

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank my professor, all of my coaches, my family and my sponsors for believing in me and helping me every step of the way.”

Her advice for young girls and women who may be struggling to be seen at their gyms, feel they are constantly ignored or left out is to be bold and have a voice. “The main thing is to have a voice. Don’t be shy and don’t be the girl in the corner waiting for someone to say, “hey, you wanna roll?” Go up to them and ask them yourself. We’re here for a reason.”

We hear you Sophie, loud and clear. And we will be there to celebrate your victory when you reach the top of the ADCC podium and many other amazing triumphs you will sure have along your journey! 

Follow Sophie “The Dog” Sharp:

IG: sophie_dog922
FB: facebook.com/SophieDog922

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