Compete Like a Girl

By Carolyn Lyon James

College sports fans love and follow their teams throughout the season and year after year, even when those teams may not be winning. But college wrestling fans reach a whole new level of devotion. Go to any college wrestling meet, and almost anyone there can tell you in minute detail the complex, and sometimes subjective, way of scoring during a match. As the competitors grapple and struggle for control over their opponents, the spectators will begin to chant, “Two, two. TWO!” It’s their way of letting the referees know that their favorite wrestler should be awarded points for a particular move or technique.

At the University of Iowa’s season-opening wrestling meet for the 2023 season, the emcee proudly announced that the entire season was sold out. Fans cheered and applauded the news. I was at that first meet and could feel the excitement and anticipation running through the audience. And then Coach Tom Brands came to the center of Carver-Hawkeye Arena floor, holding a microphone in one hand and guiding someone out to the floor with the other. He proudly announced that the state of Iowa had finally sanctioned women’s wrestling, and the woman with him was Olympic wrestler and medalist Clarissa Chun, the new coach of Hawkeye women’s wrestling. The entire arena erupted with noise. People were on their feet, cheering and applauding. It was amazing to feel the love and excitement from all those devoted fans who were in favor of allowing women and girls to participate in their beloved sport.

But does that love and excitement carry through to the high school level? After speaking to Kennedy High School coach Craig Mallicoat, I learned that the answer is a resounding yes. Five years ago he started coaching a couple of girls who had transferred from other states that had already sanctioned girls wrestling. They could wrestle girls from other schools in the same weight class, but they were not considered part of the team. Now that girls’ high school wrestling has been officially sanctioned in Iowa, he’s the full-time coach of 24 students on their own team. “The joy and excitement these girls have for wrestling has reinvigorated my own excitement and love of the sport,” he said. And when some of those girls made it to the regional level, emails were sent to all the staff throughout the work day to keep them updated on each girl’s progress and achievement.

A little history of women’s sports might be helpful here. More than 50 years ago in the United States, Title IX was enacted as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX prohibited discrimination on the basis of sex in federally funded educational institutions. Since then, women’s participation in sports, as well as the people’s attitudes toward them, have come a long way. Historically, any strenuous activity, let alone playing organized sports, was considered detrimental to a woman’s reproductive organs, and having muscles was just plain unladylike. In the struggle to gain legitimacy, women and girls spent years being compared, unfavorably, to boys in sports arenas. Finally, in recent years, they have forged their own path in the world of sports and gained enormous followings.

The first Thursday of February is recognized as National Women and Girls in Sports Day. The best way to celebrate this day is to appreciate how far female athletes have come in the world of sports. Look back at pioneer athletes, such as tennis great Billie Jean King, Olympic figure skater Dorothy Hamill, and Olympic gymnast Nadia Comaneci. Look at today’s athletes like soccer great Mia Hamm and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles. And look to the future, when female athletes will be appreciated in their own right with equal pay and equal respect.

A reporter once told professional tennis player Serena Williams that she would be remembered as one of the greatest female athletes of all time. Williams’ response summed up the hope of female athletes everywhere: “I prefer… ‘one of the greatest athletes of all time.’”