Being a woman in a male dominated sport.
Some women look at wrestling and immediately feel intimidated, scared or afraid. Maybe it's because when you initially think of wrestling you think of a male dominated sport. It seems as though there is an unspoken rule or tip of the iceberg surrounding certain genders in sports that are dominated by the opposite gender. For example, a men's volleyball team or a women’s football team for high school.
Being a woman in a male dominated sport such as wrestling, doesn’t necessarily feel intimidating but rather it feels different. When LPS first introduced girls wrestling last year there wasn't much mention about it at all. I heard about girls wrestling through links live, a news broadcast that uploads episodes of school updates everyday which sparked my interest in the sport. I remember going to the wrestling room for the first day of practice and had no idea what I was doing. I remember looking around the room and seeing 20-40 guys and maybe 5-10 girls.
Breaking social norms.
I feel as though it’s this difference not only gender, but ethnicity, religion, etc. that pulled me closer to this team. I go to the most diverse school in Lincoln, Nebraska and it’s these differences that made me feel connected to my team and to my school as a whole. Getting to hangout with my teammates and learn about their religion, background, culture and them as a human being has been an amazing learning experience.
Some people may look at this difference in terms of gender and see only negatives but I think LPS introducing girls wrestling is making a positive change not only in our community but in girls today. I wished they would have introduced girls wrestling a lot earlier to break these social norms. But now that they have recently introduced it, it is inspiring and empowering young women today to break the tip of the iceberg and make change.
Anybody is capable of doing this. Whether you're a woman who is afraid of breaking the ice, or a woman who wants to try something new. You are capable of making change. We are capable of making history in these sports, because we are making herstory
