Are they walls or obstacles?
The sport of wrestling is growing quickly for women, faster than any other sport in the country, and that is a good thing. However, despite this rapid growth we still see many obstacles in the way. Obstacles for women in wrestling include the number of women that wrestle in a geographic area, and the location of tournaments that have separate women's divisions. These are unfortunate, and difficult obstacles that many women in wrestling have to deal with. We face them like a wrestler: down, but never out. And if you fall, get up and go again.
But an obstacle can be overcome, and using networking and information sharing can help in doing so. By networking with parents in the sport, openly sharing information about events, working together to get to tournaments and other events, we can grow our networks while providing more opportunities. If you can not find people that are sharing information, then become the subject matter expert and freely share whatever you can find!
It can be tough in larger states, especially ones that have not yet sanctioned womens wrestling, to overcome the geographic obstacles that we face in providing our wrestlers opportunities. With networking, information sharing, and dare I say, a bit of tenacity, these obstacles can be minimized. These are obstacles, unfortunate circumstances in the sport that we all have to work to change and improve. But these are not walls…
Walls are barriers that are built with the intent of separation, or even keeping people out. Walls are real, and there are people that want to keep building them.
Walls are intentional and deliberate acts of trying to keep women that wrestle away from the sport. These walls, the deliberate acts, exist in many forms. There are doctors that won’t sign off on a physical because they don't feel women should wrestle. There are coaches that actively, and purposely deny opportunities, and even create negative environments to dissuade female participation in “their” rooms.
Many parents of women in wrestling feel that Title IX will stop the actions of bad actors, unfortunately, it doesn’t. Title IX is an important tool in providing equal opportunity, but when it comes down to actually using a Title IX action, it can be an extremely long and difficult process to navigate. It usually will involve hiring lawyers that specialize in Title IX regulations, and can take years to resolve. This can become a deterrent to the athlete and parents involved.
We have to face walls in the same manner as we face the obstacles– with good information. Knowing the regulations in your state, and even local areas can help. Become a subject matter expert in regulations and rules. Find your state sport associations and learn as much information as possible, and then share that information and the source with everyone that it may help!
Address the issues in a direct manner from the bottom up. Parents may have to talk to coaches, athletic directors, and principals. Parents may have to bring their issues to local school boards, and even to their state athletic associations for resolution. If this happens, knowing as much as possible about the regulations, really having the best information available, will help in the long run.
Whether you are facing an obstacle or a wall, face it with positivity, the correct information, and do it like a wrestler. Even if you fall, get back up and go at it again.
