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Patience pays off for wrestling champion
MERI-JO BORZILLERI THE GAZETTE.
The Gazette. Colorado Springs,
Colo.: Oct 30, 2005. pg. SPORTS.
Sometimes, Iris Smith has learned, a wrestler needs to make a move to
become a champion. Other times, it's all about hanging on.
The compact Smith, 26, made persistence her trademark, and it paid off
with the 2005 world championship last month in Budapest, Hungary.
Smith won in an upset, beating five-time world champion Kyoko Hamaguchi
of Japan, 3-1, 1-1, 1-0 in the finals at 1581/2 pounds.
Until this year, Smith wasn't even the best on her team. She finished
fourth a year ago in the U.S. Olympic trials.
"It was a surprise," said Smith, sitting in the coaches' office at Fort
Carson. Smith is a soldier and member of the World Class Athlete
Program, in which athletes are paid to train for their sports as members of the
military. "I was pretty motivated. I was pumped. I felt like I was
ready."
Smith's career breakthrough was helped by new wrestling rules, but it
was also a long time coming. At 15, she started wrestling against boys on
her Albany, Ga., high school team. Smith's parents supported her. Her
principal did not.
"It's not ladylike for you to be wrestling," he told her.
Still, Smith loved wrestling. She missed prom for it. She missed
graduation for it.
At 18, she moved to Colorado Springs to train years before the women's
residency program began in 2002, the year after women's wrestling was
voted in as an Olympic sport. Smith cried saying goodbye to her mom at the
airport. Once here, she and two other female wrestlers struggled to
make ends meet.
Smith worked in a clothing store at Citadel Mall, and worked security
detail at a computer company to pay the bills.
"My life is around wrestling," she said.
Things got easier and harder once the sport got into the 2004 Olympics.
Smith joined the Army, which helped her financially, but she had to
give up her world team spot in 2001 because it conflicted with boot camp.
"I am a very patriotic person," she said.
Still, people "kind of forgot about her," women's coach Terry Steiner
said.
Other women came along and beat her out for the nation's top ranking in
her weight class.
"There's certain things she did that hurt herself maybe short term, but
set herself up long term," Steiner said.
Splashier Toccara Montgomery, known for her explosive moves while Smith
is known for her defense, won trials and wrestled in Athens, where women's
wrestling made its debut.
"It was a little depressing," said Smith, adding she never wanted to
quit the sport. "I guess I had given so much to wrestling, I couldn't stop
yet."
Smith, engaged to a former WCAP boxer, kept getting better. Montgomery,
out with an injury, did not make the 2005 world team. Smith did. Then Smith
did what Montgomery hadn't: won the world title.
"It didn't surprise me so much," said Steiner. "She had such a good
summer, a good camp. I knew she was capable of something."
Smith got pinned by Hamaguchi at a meet in May. But she fought her
close. Four months later, Smith turned the tables.
"I've been trying for this since I was 15 years old," Smith said. "It
was great satisfaction. I don't think I'll be completely there until I win
the gold medal at the Olympics."
Until then, world gold looks pretty good. The title also came with a
pink champion's belt. Pink is Smith's favorite color.
"They used to give tiaras," Smith said with a raised eyebrow.
Some things, Smith knows, are worth the wait.
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Female hopes to complete Red Knight wrestling season
Coaches, team hope to make mark
By Terry Brady
tbrady@news-press.com
Originally posted on November 26, 2005
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The North Fort Myers High School wrestling team is young but ambitious, inexperienced but excited, and has one wrestler out to achieve something never before reached in North's history.
That would be a girl wrestler completing the season.
Sophomore Tara Woodring, 15, had always heard stories of her father's glory days when he wrestled in high school. These stories inspired Woodring to gather the courage to approach North wrestling coach Frank Drake and ask to join the team.
In the past, North has had about five girls try out for the team, but none has ever gotten much more than a week in before quitting.
"It's painful, but I love it," Woodring said. "Coach told me no girl has ever made it this far before."
Woodring just completed her fifth week of practice and said she has no intention of quitting.
Chances are most, if not all, of Woodring's opponents this season will be boys, which is something she looks at in two ways.
"Strength will be the biggest obstacle," she said. "They (her opponents) will all have more upper body strength than me, but most guys might be like 'I never wrestled a girl before,' and I think that might cause them to approach the match differently, which will give me an advantage."
But Woodring's perceived disadvantage might be smaller than she thinks as Drake said he believes balance and determination are more important than strength in becoming a good wrester.
One of Woodring's bigger supporters is North science teacher Erin Porter. Porter, 26, gives Woodring both support and advice as Porter was a wrestler while she attended Cypress Lake High School.
"I think any girl who comes out for wrestling is awesome," Porter said. "It was one of the best things I did in high school."
Porter attends the team's practices to make sure Woodring has a wrestling partner. If she doesn't, Porter will change into her sweats and hit the mat.
"My neck was really sore the next day," Porter said of the day after a practice she participated in last week.
The team has 28 members, 14 on varsity and 14 on JV.
Drake said that because the team has about 10 freshmen, 12 sophomores, three juniors and three seniors, the best shot for a state championship probably will be in the future.
"We will do the best we can," Drake said. "If everyone finishes the season it will be a successful one."
Assistant coach Aaron Curls agreed.
"Down the road we will have an advantage as long as we can retain our wrestlers," Curls said. "It's a tough sport. There is no one to hide behind. It's a battle. It's one on one."
Curls knows this as he also wrestled during his days as a North student from 1990 to 1993.
One of the two team captains, senior Matt Graham, said the thing he liked most about wrestling is its individuality.
"If you don't prepare, you're the only one to take the blame. It's not like football where there are other guys to pick up the slack."
Graham said he dropped from 275 to 215 pounds in one year so he could perform better this season.
"I'm very excited about the season," Graham said.
Co-captain Mike Rivers said he felt the team was in good shape because it has a wrestler for each of the 14 weight classes, which gives the team a better opportunity to score more points.
Each match consists of three two-minute rounds. Individual points are awarded throughout the match for accomplishing various maneuvers such as takedowns, reversals, pinning combos, escapes and penalty points.
Team points are awarded depending on how each individual match is won.
Six points are awarded for a pin. Five points are awarded for what is called a technical fall, which is where one wrestler beats the other by 15 individual points. Four points are awarded if one is beaten anywhere between eight and 14 points, which is called a major decision. Three points are awarded if the wrestler wins by 7 or fewer individual points.
And 6 points are awarded if a wrestler is disqualified. Disqualification is called if a wrestler commits four illegal moves.
Drake described a match as being a "six-minute war."
"I don't think people understand how long six minutes is," Graham said.
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Sports Commentary by Kaiya West 12/01/2005
From football to volleyball, girls basketball to boys, girls golf to boys golf, and softball to baseball, the same issue separates them all.
The thought of a girl going out for the football team or a boy playing girls basketball instead of a like-gender sport is just unheard of.
Sure, there are a few outgoing young ladies that try their luck during the fall trying to tackle their fellow male classmates, but is this really the place for them?
According to some, a girl has no business out on the football field participating in a sport that is full of boys that want to be bigger and stronger than everyone else. A girl has no business being out on the wrestling mat where a guy tries to strategically take down his opponent. These sports tend to be so testosterone driven, they are no place for a female.
Perhaps it's time that some girls face the fact that in some things men are better and perform at a higher standard.
On the other hand, more power to those girls who have the drive and determination to run with the big boys. It takes courage to move out of the element and go against the grain.
Recently, a female basketball player that graduated from Chadron State College is throwing herself into the mix by being the first female high school boys basketball coach.
Lindsay Erwin, the Parkview Christian High School boys basketball coach, was a Lincoln East High School starter for her basketball team for three years. She is raising eyebrows across the state and many people question why a female would even be considered for this position.
When comparing girl's basketball to boys basketball, there is obviously a difference in the flow of the game. In a game that has the same rules, it is difficult to believe that there can be such drastic differences in how the game is actually played out.
Women are forced to play the true game of basketball. Fundamentals are key and a strong defense and balanced offense earns wins. Men's basketball has become so fast paced where height and speed separate the winners from the losers.
Sometimes it's not just the teammates of females, it's the fans, officials, and other coaches.
Imagine what this woman could go through during her first coaching season. Parents that think she doesn't know what she's doing, players that refuse to listen, even officials that ignore what she has to say during a game, simply because she's a woman.
Is this fair? I think not.
Sports are separated for a number of reasons; safety, skill, experience, even growth. The separation of female and male sports should be respected along with the participants and coaches of these athletic events.
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GUEST VIEWPOINT: Girls sports still not on equal footing
By ROSIE PUDISH 10/1/05
Many school districts in the Southern Tier send a negative and sexist message by charging admission only to boys sporting events, but not charging admission for girls events. Most, if not all, are also in violation of Title IX.
With few exceptions, most area schools charge admission for football, wrestling and boys basketball, but not for girls basketball or any sport that is traditionally female. What they are saying to our daughters is "boys are worth paying two bucks to see, but you silly little girls are not." Is that message one our schools should be perpetrating?
Most schools use the excuse that boys games draw more spectators than girls games to justify this practice. Schools create that situation by violating Title IX.
A Women's Sports Foundation Guide to Title IX in High School & College Sports is published by the Women's Sports Foundation and can be found online at www.womenssports foundation.org (select Issues & actions; Know your rights, Playing Fair.)
Under the component of Publicity, it states, "Publicity also includes cheerleaders, pep bands and assemblies. This area, in particular, is a problem with high school athletic programs. For example, in the Warren school district, one school had no cheerleaders appear at girls' athletic events, and another high school, cheerleaders only cheered at girls' home basketball games. At each school, cheerleaders provided support for both home and away football and boys basketball games. This was found to be a violation of Title IX." This is footnoted in the back to a Letter of Finding, from the Office for Civil Rights
In a later section of this publication, the following question appears: "Is it a violation of Title IX when cheerleaders, pep squads and/or bands are provided for men's athletic events but not for women's athletic events?" The clear and simple answer is: "Yes. Cheerleaders, bands and pep squads, etc. are considered publicity services. If they are provided for the men's program, they must also be provided for the women's program."
Few, if any, of the 25 schools in the Southern Tier Athletic Conference have cheerleaders, dance teams or pep bands at a girls basketball game; most have JV and varsity cheerleaders at all boys home and away games. Their Title IX violation means fewer spectators at a girls basketball game. Four cheerleading squads and their friends, parents and relatives can easily add 100 or more spectators to any boys' game. Cheerleaders, dance teams and pep bands also add entertainment to a game, increasing community and student attendance.
This research has raised a lot of red flags about area schools overall compliance with Title IX. Either the schools, STAC, Section 4 and New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA) knew about this and did nothing, or they didn't know. My search took about 15 minutes online — it's not rocket science.
Every school has a Title IX compliance officer and an athletic director. STAC, Section 4, and NYSPHSAA officials are supposed to be educated about Title IX. Can it be that not one of these officials knew about the equivalent publicity requirements of Title IX? Did they know and do nothing? Ignorance or apathy — either excuse is equally disturbing.
It's going to take some effort, as well as a change in attitudes, for schools to comply. Some people are stuck in the mindset that cheerleading squads should not be cheering at a girls game. That's absurd, sexist and immature; look at college athletics. At Binghamton University, they have cheerleaders, dance team, kick line and pep band for both the men's and women's games. Home court advantage is about playing on your familiar court and about crowd support. Most colleges don't send their cheerleaders or pep bands to away games.
It's way past time for all schools to stop sending the message that girls are second class athletes, not worth the price of admission. It's doubly insulting when the excuse for that sexist practice is based on numbers skewed by their own Title IX violation. Not charging admission may not be a direct violation of Title IX, but padding the crowd at a boys game with publicity not provided at a girls game is. STAC, Section 4 and NYSPHSSA should require compliance of all member schools, immediately. Parents and taxpayers should make some noise until they do.
Pudish is the parent of a Johnson City athlete and a resident of the Town of Dickinson.
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Board votes for sports gender policy
MICHA FRAZIER, Special to the Local News 10/1/05
WEST CHESTER - The West Chester Area School Board is one step closer to banning boys from playing girls sports, but board members said there are still questions they need answered to proceed.
The board voted 7 to 2 Monday night during their monthly school board meeting to approve the first reading of the policy proposed by board member Joseph Green, Jr., which states the district should prohibit males from competing in sports that gives them "an unfair competitive advantage" or "might present an increased risk of injury to the girls participating in the sport."
Board member James Smith made the motion to approve the first reading, which he said was only to keep it open for discussion.
"The purpose of me proposing the policy was to get it on the table and moving in a direction to creating some policy that deals with sports and gender," he said.
Smith said he supports the idea of keeping sports traditionally played by girls open only to girls.
Green originally proposed adding the policy during an October board subcommittee meeting. The policy was further discussed during a similar meeting last week.
Board member Terri Clark voted against the policy and said there was no need to rush into a decision that could potentially affect future schedules.
Clark said his concerns stem from language in the drafted policy stating the district would not play a team that had active males on a girls’ sport roster.
This would result in forfeiture, but it’s unclear what team would forfeit - West Chester or the opposing team.
Smith and Clark asked how forfeiting a game would affect the league standings - and West Chester specifically - in playoffs and championship games.
Green said competing schools would have to sign a contract to play against schools in the West Chester School District, stating that a team with an active male on the roster would be deemed a breach of contract and that team would take the forfeit.
"We will not enter into scheduling contracts (with districts) that will not have single-gender (teams)," Green said during the meeting.
He said having that language in the policy could potentially influence other districts to adopt similar policies.
Board member Gail Tomassini wanted to make a motion that would include banning females from playing male sports, which is not in the current policy.
There is currently a female wrestler on the Henderson High School team, Clark said during the meeting. However, several board members agreed that her motion would change the intent of the policy.
"If the issue is safety, then ..it should be safety on both sides," she said during the meeting.
The policy will go back to the pupil services committee, where it started. The second reading of the policy is scheduled for the January meeting.