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CIF to go to mat for girls wrestling?
By Billy Ortiz, STAFF WRITER 10/27/05
SLOWLY BUT surely the California Interscholastic Federation is noticing the growth of girls wrestling.
The CIF Wrestling Advisory Committee has proposed to hold two regional wrestling tournaments — one for the north and one for the south — beginning in January 2006.
On Friday, the CIF Federated Council is expected to cast its vote. It appears to be a slam dunk. The New Events Committee supported the proposal, along with the Executive Committee and several sections, including North Coast and Sac-Joaquin.
"It looks like it will pass," CIF executive director Marie M. Ishida said last week.
The proposal, a two-year pilot program, calls for two-day, double-elimination, 32-girl bracket tournaments to be held on Jan.20-21 in 2006 and again in January 2007.
They will be called the CIF Girls Regional Open Wrestling Tournaments, but will not be considered state championship events. Instead the tournaments are CIF's chance to gauge interest and attach its name to in-season events, a first for the governing body.
"When the CIF runs a girls competition, it's big," said Lee Allen, founder of the California Women's Wrestling Association and current women's wrestling coach at Menlo College. "The CIF logo is magic. It is what we have needed, to have them finally behind us."
Despite not being a season-ending state championship, Allen believes girls wrestling is finally making positive strides with CIF.
"I think it won't be too many years until we have a true state tournament," Allen said.
Busy CIF schedule
The CIF Federated Council will have quite a bit on its plate when it meets Friday and Saturday in Oakland.
In addition to girls regional wrestling tournaments, the Federated Council will discuss the possibility of state championships in sports such as boys and girls soccer, boys and girls swimming and diving, badminton, boys volleyball, boys and girls water polo, baseball and softball.
Currently, the only two sports that have official proposals on the table are baseball and softball.
The spring sports, specifically baseball and softball, will raise a couple of important questions for CIF: The possibility of high school athletes playing on Sundays, and if those championships could be held after the school year is completed.
Ishida
who met last week with area media representatives — noted Southern Section schools don't complete their years until the third week in June, so "it's a calendar issue for baseball and softball." Sunday play and post-school year tournaments, she added, probably would have to be agreed upon for those state championships to become a reality.
The prospect of Sunday play came up three years ago, according to Ishida, and was soundly defeated for two reasons: Administrators didn't want to supervise athletics one more day a week, and "Sunday is a day traditionally set aside for families and religious activities."
"But the fact is kids are playing on Sundays (with club teams) anyway," said Ishida, "so (CIF) would not be intruding on the family issue."
Ishida also updated efforts on the first state championship football bowl games for December of 2006.
She said CIF was "right in the middle of negotiations for television broadcast rights" and could have that locked in within the next couple of weeks.
She also stated CIF representatives would be visiting the three Southern California venues that have turned in bids for the games. She would not name the three sites, but Angel Stadium in Anaheim and the Home Depot Center in Carson have been prominently mentioned in the past.
Among the other CIF updates:
-In 2006, the boys state wrestling championships will be held in Bakersfield for the third time, but the venue may change for the next three years. The soon-to-be-completed Stockton Arena is a possibility. The 10,134-seat, 30,000-square-foot venue has already booked the Sac-Joaquin Section championships for the next five years.
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Sugar, spice, everything nice
Women in men's sports show exactly waht they're made of
By: Trevor Kupfer
Issue date: 10/27/05 Section: Student Life
In 1972, an education amendment to the Civil Rights Act known as Title IX paved the way for gender equality at all levels of interscholastic athletics.
As the amendment states, "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."
"We like to keep masculinity and femininity as separate as we can." -Pam Forman
Title IX expert
The amendment requires educational institutions to maintain policies, practices and programs that do not discriminate against anyone based on sex in all arenas of public schooling, according to the Department of Education.
Because of Title IX, many men's sports have been cut in an effort to comply with the amendment. For example, UW-Eau Claire has many men's club teams that are recognized athletic programs at other universities. Some lobbyists, like Phyllis Schafly, are trying to turn Title IX into an opportunity provider for the under-represented sex, instead of an opportunity-impeder for the most-represented sex.
While the amendment has given women athletes the opportunity to compete at all levels and in all sports, it remains a very rare occurrence for women to try out for what have been societally labeled "men's sports," Interim Director of Athletics Tim Petermann said.
And while women compete in "men's sports" at a young age, like baseball and wrestling, there is a bigger barrier at play as to why women don't continue playing "men's sports," associate professor and Title IX expert Pam Forman said.
Something rare in the air
Title IX has paved the way since 1972 for women in athletics in many ways. The U.S. Department of Education states that women participating in college athletics has increased fourfold; the number of women in high school sports have increased eightfold, and U.S. women won a record 19 gold medals in the 1996 olympics.
However, strides must still be made as women are not participating in male-dominated sports, Forman said.
"The basic structure of colleges everywhere is that girls don't play male-oriented sports," sophomore swimmer Emily Diehl said. "They wouldn't want to damage the social structure by allowing females and males to combine in a sport."
Women's hockey, at both the high school and collegiate level, is a relatively recent addition to athletics. This winter alone, between four and five high schools added a women's hockey program, Forman said.
"Now women's hockey is on the map, so to speak, and it's not as big of a novelty anymore," women's hockey coach Mike Collins said.
In the past, and even still in the present, women with an interest in hockey would have to play against men. Collins said every so often, there are women going through the program who played at the male level in high school.
"It would be to their advantage to play on a competitive men's team and we gotta give them credit for sticking it out in a sport dominated by men and overcoming barriers," he said.
Senior rugby player Marcy Reynolds said the barriers women have to often deal with in a masculine sport are socialization and systematic pressures.
"There's a socialized, reinforced idea that women are fragile," she said.
"With something like football, men come out to watch it as a joke. Labeling a sex on a sport is deeply imbedded in our society."
Instead of asking why this is so rare, Forman said perhaps a different question should be posed: How can we celebrate the accomplishments of women in sports in such a short amount of time?
"It's more of an intimidating step for women," senior golfer Maggie Loney said. When Annika Sorenstam and Michelle Wie crossed over the gender border in professional golf recently, Loney said she didn't know why it was such a big deal.
"I thought it was great to see a woman out there competing with the guys," she said. "I think more women should do it."
In 1997, Eau Claire women started rugby, giving them their own opportunity for gender equality, junior rugby player Allana Wood said.
"We (play rugby) to empower all of the women who haven't had the opportunity to play a physical sport," she said. "This is something that was unavailable for us to play 20 years ago."
Those girls are fragile
At a very young age, Forman said our society reaffirms certain societal norms. For instance, a boy is awarded if he beats up somebody who teased him, but if a girl does that she is told not to fight back, Forman said.
"Girls are not rewarded for being tough in this society," she said.
Is the reason women don't go out to compete in traditionally men's sports because they aren't physically tough enough? Biology confirms that, yes, there are in fact differences in body type that make certain sports harder for women to play than men. The center of gravity of women for tackling in football and differences in muscle mass are examples.
However, Forman said it is a fact that 95 percent of both men and women cannot play football. On that basis, Reynolds said, "You can have a 5-foot-11-inch female who lifts weights and a 5-foot-three-inch male who is unathletic and the girl would beat him." Athleticism is still relative to a case-by-case basis, she said.
Diehl said growing up with three brothers gave her something extra that didn't have anything to do with biology: drive. She said if she was facing her sister in a swim race, she would want to beat her, but if she was facing her brother she would try much harder to beat him.
"If I had a passion to play football or if people were saying 'You can't play, you're not big enough or strong enough,' that would push me to go in and prove them wrong," Diehl said.
Similarly, wrestling coach Don Parker said the two women who wrestled on his team in his 29 years of coaching had a drive to compete. In wrestling tournaments across the nation that included other women wrestlers, the women would take it upon themselves to travel and compete with those other women.
"There is a stigma that men are stronger and faster, but in some cases women are stronger and faster if they are physically determined," Wood said.
Forman agreed, citing distance running and endurance swimming as sports where women exceed men in some instances.
"To say that women don't have the strength, flexibility, and ingenuity to (wrestle) is absurd," she said. "I would argue that gymnastics, and sports like that, are very much based on strength."
But the strength and muscularity gymnasts and swimmers develop often are hidden, Forman said.
"We don't want women to excel (in masculine sports)," she said. "We prefer women to go out for sports that reaffirm their femininity."
Loney said golf is one of the few sports where women can compete against men without physicality coming into play. While men usually can hit the ball farther, the difference in tees evens it out, she said.
"I'd never be afraid to take a guy on in the game of golf," she said. In fact, Loney said, she sometimes plays golfers from the men's team as motivation.
What Wood often hears women say in response to a sport like rugby is, "I'm not strong enough, I can't do it," she said.
"It's not a matter of being aggressive enough, it's a matter of having confidence in being able to do it."
Flipping the gender card
While rare, men who compete in women's sports bring to the surface very similar issues to those of women in men's sports.
"If a male decides to become a figure skater, we immediately discuss his sexuality," Forman said. "It's absurd, there's no reason to do that except that we like to keep masculinity and femininity as separate as we can."
The most common female-dominated sport men go out for is field hockey, Forman said. At the high school level, the media coverage field hockey receives immediately is related to sexuality because of the skirts the women wear, Forman added. Therefore, if a man goes out for field hockey and wears a skirt, his masculinity is attacked.
There have been cases of synchronized swimming as well, Forman said. And again, it's a sport that people call sexuality into question for.
"Try the next time when you're swimming just to bring your leg out of the water … there's nothing harder in the entire world," Forman said.
Wood demands that we, as a society, ask ourselves various questions.
"Why can't women play rugby? Why can't a man play women's softball if he wants to? It's just, as with any other setting, that there are always going to be people judging," she said.
Just as the women on the Eau Claire rugby team have been harassed about their sexuality, Reynolds said some men have to endure the same. When men are on the dance team or in cheerleading, they are surrounded by what our society deems to be "ideal women." Yet, the men in these activities often are labeled gay, Reynolds said.
"We're so trapped in these gender mores that really constrain the possibilities for both sexes," Forman said.
Harassing circumstances
Even though Katie Hnida was the first woman to score points in a Div. I college football game, she also became one-of-six women at Colorado University to be harassed by members of the football team, according to the National Organization for Women.
Because of this case, and several others, some of the women athletes of Eau Claire would be very hesitant to attempt a male-dominated sport.
As freshman defender Allison Smith of the women's soccer team said on the subject, "I'd be very uncomfortable and nervous. Teammates, coaches and other girls would make me feel very uncomfortable, and harassment is a big part of it."
Also, the idea that you may get along with your team, but not those you're competing against is scary, Wood said.
U.S. Department of Education Secretary Richard W. Riley said in a journal article that Title IX has made extensive progress in the past 25 years; however, we still can make lengths toward harassment cases and operating expenditures.
Reflecting on women in the military, Forman said a previously all-male institution with women assimilated into it is not a pretty picture.
"For a woman to have the guts to go out for a men's sport, to try to be taken seriously and put up with the harassment she would endure is truly exceptional," she said.
On the other hand, Parker said, outside of the men being a little uncomfortable at first, there weren't any harassment issues.
Likewise, Loney said her matches against members of the men's golf team have been comfortable.
However Wood and Reynolds have had their run-ins with harassment on the rugby team.
"It hurts me when people assume rugby players are big lesbians ... do they say it because it's male-centered because of being physical, or are they intimidated?" Wood said.
Similarly, Reynolds has encountered Harassing comments as a rugby player.
"Sexuality is called into question because people feel the need to categorize and label something that is different," she said.
Moreover, when women athletes drive themselves past these instances of harassment it truly shows their strength, Forman said.
"It takes a particularly gutsy woman who can defend her femininity and her prowess … a really strong woman
who can go out for a men's sport," Forman said.
Light at the end of the tunnel
While progress still can be made in integrating women into athletics, many believe there will be a day when gender and athletics won't be an issue.
Women in pole vaulting only have been around since 2000, and the women's marathon came in around 1984. Forman said a delay of this sort is blasphemous.
"Men have been doing these for so long … and 100 years from now, we can really compare more when women have had more opportunities," she said.
Diehl said she easily can foresee a day when women run as fast as men in track or compete in basketball and football. However, she said, it won't likely be in our lifetime.
"If women were allowed to grow as men do from an early age, they could compete," Reynolds said, adding the social structure isn't likely to change for at least another 100 years.
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U.S. Olympic Education Center women’s team at Northern Michigan seeks major achievements this year
10/26/2005
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
In 2005, the U.S. Olympic Education Center (USEOC) at Northern Michigan Univ. created a women’s university freestyle wrestling program. Based upon a similar program in men’s Greco-Roman wrestling, as well as a number of other Olympic sports, the USOEC set high goals for its women’s team on the national and international level. The women are full-time college students who are also training and competing in women’s freestyle wrestling.
Going into its second season, expectations are high for the USOEC women’s wrestling team. Head Coach Shannyn Gillespie has most of his team back from last season, has added a very strong recruiting class, and now has an assistant coach on board to help build for the future.
“This is our second year,” said Gillespie. “Our goals and expectations are similar to last year. We are striving for excellence. We are trying to get our athletes on all the U.S. World Teams, at the Senior, University and Junior levels. The next goal is for those athletes to win a medal at those World Championships.”
The top star on last year’s USOEC team was junior Mary Kelly, who placed second at the World Team Trials at 112.25 pounds to earn a spot on Women’s Team USA. Kelly moved up a division from where she was previously nationally ranked at 105.5 pounds.
“Mary Kelly was a great talent before she came here, but we like to think we helped enhance her performance,” said Gillespie. “She had her highest placing at the World Team Trials. It moved her one inch closer, one inch at a time, to her goals.”
Kelly is one of seven USOEC wrestlers who earned Senior National Team rankings in the top six in their division, but she was the only one in the top three who is recognized as a national team member.
The other returning wrestlers who earned 2005-06 national team rankings are junior Randi Miller (No. 4 at 72 kg/158.5 lbs.), junior Sharon Jacobsen (No. 5 at 55 kg/121 lbs.), freshman Brandy Rosenbrock (No. 5 at 130 lbs./59 kg), sophomore K’uu Johnson (No. 5 at 67 kg/147.5 lbs.), junior Amy Borgnini (No. 6 at 55 kg/158.5 lbs.) and grad student Donell Bradley (No. 6 at 72 kg/158.5 lbs.)
“They are now our veterans,” said Gillespie. “For Amy Borgnini, it was her first time at the World Team Trials. For some of the others, it was their highest placement on the Senior level. They are like-minded individuals in a like-minded national training center. The veterans also bring a lot to the table for our new recruits.”
The USOEC has high goals on the international level, and in USA Wrestling’s Senior level competitions. However, as these athletes are also college age, many of them were very successful on the age-group levels last year, in both the University division and the FILA Junior division.
Kelly competed on the World University Games team for the United States, and won a bronze medal. Danielle Hedin won the FILA Junior Nationals for the second straight year at 121 pounds, and claimed a silver medal for the USA at the Junior World Championships. Numerous other USOEC athletes earned placements in age-group events.
“Mary Kelly won a University bronze medal, and had an opportunity to wrestle the Olympic champion. She won our first University World medal. Dany Hedin was our first Junior World medalist. They show that you can train here and reach your goals. Our program is in its infancy. It will get better in leaps and bounds,” said Gillespie.
The incoming freshman class is very talented and offers a glimpse of the future for this program. One of the incoming freshmen also earned a Senior National Team ranking last year, Maine phenom Deanna Rix who holds a No. 6 position at 59 kg/130 lbs.
Rix was named the ASICS High School Wrestler of the Year last year, after winning three career Junior National titles. She was one of four USOEC freshmen who were named to TheMat.com/ASICS First Team last year, joined by Nicole Darrow of Massachusetts at 121 pounds, Stefenie Shaw of Connecticut at 138.75 pounds and Melissa Simmons of Washington at 147.5 pounds. A USOEC freshman who was on the ASICS Second Team was Amberle Montgomery of Washington at 130 pounds. At last year’s Junior Nationals in Fargo, N.D., Rix and Simmons were champions, while Shaw and Montgomery were runners-up.
“We had a good recruiting class. I am happy and excited about them,” said Gillespie. “Junior-level experience and talent is Junior-level experience and talent. Now it is time for them to step up to the Senior level. As some showed at the Sunkist Kids International, our younger wrestlers are stepping up to the plate. If they come in here with a high talent level, it makes it more efficient getting them to the next level.”
The team also added a veteran wrestler, grad student Jenna Pavlik, who was fifth in the 2001 World Championships on the Senior level at 72 kg/158.5 lbs. for the United States but has not competed in recent seasons.
The entire program dealt with a major tragedy this fall when Toni Copeland, a high school senior from New York who had joined the program and was finishing up at Marquette High School, drowned in a swimming accident in September. Copeland was already ranked on the Senior level, and was the first high school wrestler admitted into the program. It was a very difficult thing for the team to deal with.
“It was a tough experience; it is never easy,” said Gillespie. “I felt like now we have to deal with this and regroup. For some of the young athletes, this was the first time they have experienced something like this. Many of them knew Toni for many years. The wrestling world is a small community. You see these athletes in the sport time in and time out. We are still dealing with it. We have learned it is a blessing to be alive. And we remember the good times we had with Toni, and share our sympathy and condolence with her friends and family.”
The USOEC wrestles a Senior national schedule, going to the major international events such as the Sunkist Kids Open, the New York AC Open and the Dave Schultz Memorial International. In addition, the athletes compete at the U.S. Senior Nationals, as well as the Body Bar Women’s Nationals on the University and FILA Junior levels. The team will also participate in events featuring the top college teams in both Canada and the United States. Also on the schedule this year is an international tour to Bulgaria for competition and training.
Joining Gillespie on the coaching staff this year is new assistant coach Tony DeAnda, a veteran freestyle wrestler who has great skills and enthusiasm. DeAnda’s addition to the program will help provide additional coaching resources to the athletes on the team, and expand the ability to recruit quality athletes in the future.
“Now we can spread the duties out,” said Gillespie of the addition of DeAnda to the program. “We devote most of our time to the athletes. But we also have recruiting to do, office work and other duties. We can better concentrate on the athletes with both of us here. If we are going to catch Japan and China, we need more coaching support. We see that the younger athletes around the world are getting better sooner. We have to support women’s wrestling at that level sooner rather than later.”
Gillespie sees the program at Northern Michigan serving as a feeder system to the U.S. Olympic Training Center (USOTC) program in Colorado Springs, Colo. and providing the athletes that will make a difference on future U.S. World and Olympic teams.
“The opportunity to have this training center is critical,” said Gillespie. “National Coach Terry Steiner and the women at the USOTC have shown that we can win. Now we can do it at all of the levels. Our performances will go higher with more opportunities and resources.”
USOEC women’s wrestling program at Northern Michigan
(with state, year in school)
105 – Liz Short (IL, jr.)
105 – Sadie Kaneda (HI, soph.)
112 – Mary Kelly (IL, jr.)
112 - Debbi Sakai (HI, jr.)
121 – Sharon Jacobsen (CA, jr.)
121 - Danielle Hedin (HI, soph.)
121 - Amy B orgnini (IN, jr.)
121 - Nicole Darrow (MA, fr.)
121 - Sandy Do (CA, fr.)
130 – Brandy Rosenbrock (MI, fr.)
130 - Deanna Rix (ME, fr.)
130 - Amberle Montgomery (WA, fr.)
130 - Kierstin Hyatt (CA, grad)
130 - Hope Schenck (LA, fr.)
138 – Stefenie Shaw (CT, fr.)
147 – K’uu Johnson (HI, soph.)
147 - Melissa Simmons (WA, fr.)
158 – Randi Miller (TX, jr.)
158 - Donell Bradley (HI, grad)
158 – Jenna Pavlik (DE, grad.)
Head Coach – Shannyn Gillespie
Assistant Coach – Tony DeAnda
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Former wrestler Nordhagen and cyclist Dubnicoff earn coaching apprenticeship
Tue Oct 25,12:13 PM ET
OTTAWA (CP) - Former wrestling champion Christine Nordhagen and former world cycling champion Tanya Dubnicoff have been selected for the Coaching Association of Canada's Women in Coaching National Team Apprenticeship Program.
The program provides opportunities for female coaches to work with their national teams leading up to and during major international events such as the Olympics.
"My passion is sport and now that I'm moving into the coaching world, the NTAP gives me opportunities to live a dream and to continue with what I'm passionate about," Nordhagen, a six-time world champion, said in a release. "I've been coaching with the junior national team and now I will have chances to move into the senior level and learn from the best coaches in Canada."
The former teacher is currently the assistant coach of the University of Calgary's women's wrestling team.
Dubnicoff is currently head coach at the National Cycling Centre at the Olympic Oval in Calgary.
"(The apprenticeship program) will give me financial aid to travel to competitions and to meet other coaches and assist in national team camps and projects," she said. "It will give me the edge I need to further my career as a cycling coach."
Also selected to the two-year program were artistic gymnastics coach Elena Davydova of Oshawa, Ont., who won an Olympic gold medal competing for the former Soviet Union, softball coach Marie-Claude Lapointe of Greenfield Park, Que., and cross country ski coach Lisa Patterson of Thunder Bay, Ont.
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10/27/2005
Gary Abbott/USA Wrestling
The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced its decisions on a number of requests for changes in the program of the Summer Olympic Games during meetings in Lausanne, Switzerland, October 27.
Among the requests denied was a proposal by FILA, the international wrestling federation, to increase the number of women’s weight classes in the Olympic Games from four to seven.
In a press release, the IOC made the following announcement:
“Requests by International Federations NOT accepted by the EB for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing
FILA - Wrestling
Request: inclusion of three additional weight categories of women’s wrestling, leading to a total of seven categories. The Federation was encouraged to find a solution within its existing quota.”
Wrestling currently has seven weight classes in the Olympics in men’s freestyle and men’s Greco-Roman wrestling and four weight classes in women’s freestyle wrestling, for a total of 21 weight classes.
In the World Championships, there are seven weight classes for women wrestlers. The four weight classes that were contested in the 2004 Olympic Games were 48 kg, 55 kg, 63 kg and 72 kg. The three weight classes that are in the World Championships but not the Olympic Games are 51 kg, 59 kg and 67 kg.
Men’s wrestling changed from 10 weight classes per style (20 total medal events) in the 1996 Olympic Games to eight weight classes per style (16 total medal events) in the 2000 Olympics to seven weight classes per style (14 medals for men, but a total of 21 medals including women) at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Wrestling’s request for an increase in participants and medals was one of nine requests for increases that were denied. Other sports that had requests denied for changes were boxing, basketball, gymnastics, aquatics, softball, tennis, weightlifting and taekwondo. Including in this decision was the denial of the request for the addition of women’s boxing to the Olympic Games.
The IOC did accept a number of proposals from other sports, which included three new medal events and an expansion of the number of women athletes in a three sports. In addition, the IOC will increase the number of female athletes in the Olympic Games by approximately 80 athletes, without adding additional athletes to the total of 10,500 competitors in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
The new events added to the Olympics included:
Swimming – Open water swimming 10km event for men
Swimming – Open water swimming 10kg event for women
Athletics – women’s 3,000m steeplechase
Sports that will see an increase in participants were:
Soccer – female teams increased from 10 to 12
Field hockey – female teams increased from 10 to 12
Team handball – female teams increased from 10 to 12
Table tennis will see a change of format from doubles events to a team event.
There were a number of new sports that sought inclusion in the Olympic Games that were denied by not meeting the 2/3 vote necessary for inclusion. According to a report from the Sport Telegraph, those sports that were turned down included rugby sevens, golf, squash, karate and roller sports.
The complete IOC announcement can be found at:
http://olympic.org/uk/news/olympic_news/full_story_uk.asp?id=1520