|
|
News page
Why haven't more women integrated into wrestling at Wilcox?
Santa Clara, Ca.
Seeking A Few Good Women
by Serena Nguyen
No female athlete has ever endured an entire season of wrestling at Wilcox
High School. Female students interested in wrestling are left with only one
option: to
enroll in the ever-so-intimidating wrestling program with the opposite sex.
Family, friends, and predisposed ideals about women's athletic
abilities can come into conflict for female athletes seeking to pursue
wrestling. Woody Freitas,
a wrestling coach at Wilcox, believes, "In some cases, certain families do
not feel comfortable in letting their daughters compete [against] males."
Wilcox varsity
wrestling coach Ted Pettigrew agrees, "Females I have coached for wrestling
get pressured by families and friends into quitting. Most [females] don't
get support for wrestling."
The belief that women are disadvantaged against male opponents and
pressure from family and peers has prevented many female athletes from
integrating into wrestling. "My father discourages the idea of his daughter wrestling other
males," says freshman Chrissy Garcia. Garcia choose to participate in
women's soccer at
Wilcox after experiencing the difficulties of wrestling early in the season.
"He [father] would be okay with me wrestling with my own gender, but he was really
uncomfortable with me wrestling males." For Chrissy Garcia, family wasn't
the only obstacle that she had to face. "My friends did not support me in wrestling,"
Garcia explains. "They made fun of me wrestling and about my body disadvantages."
In most cases, informal contact with the male gender would prevent
curious female athletes from participating in this physically demanding
sport. Joser
Reynozo, a freshman at Wilcox with three years of wrestling behind him
states, "There aren't a lot of female wrestlers because there are not many
women to compete
against in the entire [wrestling unit]." It has been suggested that a
woman's frame is disadvantaged against male opponents. "In general, a
woman's upper body
strength is not equal to the male's upper body strength," inputs coach
Freitas. Chris Greenman, the head wrestling coach at wrestling at Santa
Clara High School
agrees. "Men and women are biologically different. Men are stronger in the
upper body." Josh Schneider, a first year wrestler at Wilcox describes the awkwardness
of wrestling opponents of the opposite gender, "I tend to be more careful
when I wrestle a woman, as in grabbing a woman in a way that would be considered
sexually inappropriate." Coach Greenman understands. "Some of the male
wrestlers were afraid to wrestle the females in fear of hurting them in the
beginning of the
season," he explains. "There's a lot of touching [involved in wrestling]
that can bring up a lot of legal concerns [like] sexual harassment."
With the support of friends and family, there are a handful of
successful high school female wrestlers in the bay area. Amanda Buckman
completed a season of
wrestling at Santa Clara High School, and is now back for a second season.
"When I just started out last season, they [the male wrestlers] seemed kind
of scared,"
Buckman noticed. "They feared of touching me in a certain way." Inspired by
her father, a former high school wrestler, Buckman has the full support of
both her
parents. "My father shows me moves [in wrestling] and encourages me to
wrestle. My mom wasn't sure if I could last, but my dad knew I could do it."
Buckman
benefits from the support of her family, friends and team. "My friends were
astonished and very surprised," Buckman recollects. "But this did not stop
them from
supporting or believing in me." "As the season progressed, the team accepted
the females on the team," Coach Greenman recalls from last season. "I was
kind of
surprised myself." "I feel very comfortable with the wrestling squad,"
Buckman shares. "I feel like my teammates are my family."
Amy Head, senior, is a first year wrestler at Wilcox. She is the only
woman who remains of the six women who originally signed up this year. "In
the beginning
I wasn't relaxed wrestling guys," admits Head. "Now I feel more comfortable.
I'm starting to know the other wrestlers and the sport itself. At first, my
father was
enthusiastic in me joining wrestling. After hearing that I was to wrestle
guys, he got nervous and uncomfortable. My mother tried to get me into a
more 'feminine
sport'. But now, she's willing to accept that wrestling is what I want to
do." Discouraged by her family, Head is displeased by her friends' attitudes
towards women
wrestling. "My friends thought I was crazy and some still do," Head
irritably remarks. Although family and friends doubt, their skepticism does
not restrain Head's
determination to be a wrestler. "Wrestling is a personal challenge," Head
believes. "I feel upset that my family does not support me fully. But when
the season is over,
I can prove to my family that wrestling isn't such a bad sport for girls
after all."
Wrestling continues to be a very difficult sport. With the success of a
few female athletes, the hope of more women participating in wrestling
increases.
"Wrestling is the hardest sport you can ever do," Buckman describes. "You
have to push yourself to the end. If you can do wrestling, you can probably
do any
sport."
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fong ranks No. 8 girl wrestler in nation
BY Roderick Roxas
B&G Sports Editor
Before becoming the No. 8, female freestyle wrestler in the
nation, most people have never heard of senior Katrina Fong. She has at oft
times been
known as the obscure female wrestler on the obscure wrestling
team. Even I didn't find out about her accomplishments at the National
Women's
Freestyle Tournament in Orlando, Florida until a fellow teammate
notified me.
Fong has been a quiet, athletic star for Center High. For two
seasons she has been wrestling collegiate in the 123 pounds weight class,
and despite a
less than perfect win-loss record wrestling guys, she totes her
first place medals.
"My first season went pretty well," said Fong. "But I really
didn't have any technique; things just went in one ear and out the other.
There was no
plan to the way I wrestled, I just did it."
And she did, but in a different way.
"In practice I began to ask more questions," said Fong. "I began
to picture my moves, have a set plan, and realize what I was good at and
what I
needed to improve on."
With a 2-3 record, Fong beat out 52 other girls to qualify for
the World Team Trials in June at Woodcreek High school. She now has a chance
to
compete against wrestlers from foreign nations for the United
States.
But she's not without her roots.
"I learned this step- and hand-slapping thing from (senior) Doug
Williams," said Fong. "But I don't do licking; that's part of Doug's unique
personality."
Fong also learned other lessons from wrestling. According to
Fong, wrestling kept her out of trouble, helping to raise her G.P.A. from a
2.7 during
her sophomore year to a 4.0 during her junior year.
But it's no fun with all work.
"Before (sophomore) May Bustillos came onto the team, I was
quiet and shy," said Fong. "But May was so loud and outgoing that we met
someone
at every tourney we went to."
And all those tourneys were won with sweat and hard work.
"On the team there was not much difference being a girl," said
Fong. "Our coach treated us just the same as all the other wrestlers."
Equal treatment was not always awarded to her though.
"Some guys are afraid of me because they saw me wrestle," said
Fong. "But some don't want to wrestle me because they don't think girls
should be
wrestling. Other than that, the majority are cool."
Despite what anyone thinks, girl or guy, Fong is out to win.
"I just love this sport," said Fong
