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Wrestlers file gender bias suit against UCD athletics

By James Hart/Enterprise staff writer May 11, 2001

Allegations of sexual discrimination have flown in the face of the UC Davis athletic department and, it appears, the outcome will produce no winners.

Two female students - a third may be added - are in the process of filing a lawsuit against the university claiming they were unfairly cut from the UCD wrestling team for being "too much of a liability."

According to the complaintants, junior Chris Ng and freshman Arezou Mansourian, the university informed them in October, 2000 that they would no longer be recognized as members of the UCD wrestling team. Both Ng and Mansourian continued to practice with the team until January when Mansourian, who suffered a back injury, was denied treatment from the UCD training staff, an accommodation afforded to all varsity athletes.

At that point, Ng and Mansourian met with UCD athletic director Greg Warzecka to inquire about their present and future status as athletes at the university. Separately, Ng and Mansourian both contend that Warzecka told them the university would no longer be liable for females who were not contributing members to the team - neither has ever competed in an inter-collegiate match - and that they were never actually members of the UCD wrestling program.

Warzecka firmly denies the allegations, citing a major miscommunication between the two parties. Wednesday, he sent a letter saying as much to head wrestling coach Mike Burch and requested that Burch add the women's names to the wrestling roster. Thursday, the university bypassed Burch and reinstated the women itself.

"I believe that in this case, somewhere along the line, everything has gotten all screwed up," Warzecka said Thursday afternoon, following the women's reinstatement.

"We decided to move forward as a university decision because that's what the women wanted, to be back on the roster."

Regardless of their reinstatement, Ng and Mansourian intend to go ahead with their lawsuit and have scheduled a meeting today with their attorney.

"To me, I feel like (Warzecka) has taken a year of wrestling from me," said Ng, who's also filed a complaint April 24 with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights. "I don't fell like everything's justified. I don't feel like I've gotten justice."

Essentially, what's at issue is who cut the women from the 2000-2001 roster.

While Ng and Mansourian claim it was university officials who removed them from the team, the UCD athletic department says otherwise. According to associate athletic director Pam Gill-Fisher, it was Burch who excluded the two women from this season's roster, not the UCD athletic department.

Burch tells a different story, one that points to Warzecka. According to Burch, Warzecka told him prior to the start of the wrestling season that the women were not to be included on the roster. Burch also contends that Gill-Fisher had given him the same order before the 1999-2000 season, but he refused. This year, however, Burch complied, citing his ongoing contract negotiations as the reason.

"They made it clear that I had to take women off my roster," claimed Burch, who is nearing the end of his sixth, one-year contract at UCD and has yet to reach an agreement on a seventh. "They came back more (this year) and strong-armed me. The roster I turned in was the roster they asked of me."

Gill-Fisher insists that simply wasn't the case.

"He can say what he wants," Gill-Fisher said Thursday. "We don't create these (rosters).

"I don't think this campus has discriminated against anybody," she continued. "In the 27 years I've been here working with Title IX issues, this institution has made incredible accommodations (for women). I'd put our record up against anyone's."

Burch doesn't deny Gill-Fisher's effort in the advancement of women's athletics. In fact, he applauds it. But he does challenge the UCD athletic department's commitment to low-profile sports, including wrestling, and believes Ng and Mansourian are the "sacrificial lambs."

Several members of the wrestling team have also questioned UCD's commitment to the so-called "non-ball" sports. At last Saturday's "Aggie Auction," members of the wrestling team passed out flyers alleging, among other things, the universities' failure to adequately fund theirs and other low-profile sports such as swimming and water polo. They also shed light on the issue of sexual discrimination.

"It's one of the most important parts of our agenda because women were unfairly kicked off the team," UCD senior wrestler Mike Maben said. "For the last 10 years they've had a place on the team. They work as hard, if not harder than us."

Maben's reference to the history of women's wrestling at UCD is what makes this issue so baffling. While most universities have never even shown a hint of a women's wrestling program, UCD cracked that gender barrier back in 1991, four years before Burch arrived.

Furthermore, it's a consensus among Maben, Ng, Mansourian and Sam Reinis, another female wrestler, that Burch, who created a separate women's division in the annual Aggie Open, is a leader when it comes to promoting the sport of female wrestling. In fact, Mansourian goes as far as saying 90 percent of the reason she came to UCD is because of Burch and his commitment to women's wrestling.

"I've never met a man more dedicated to the promotion of women's wrestling," backed Reinis, a senior, who took to coaching Ng and Mansourian after injuries took her away from the sport this past season. She also intends on joining the lawsuit against the university.

"Beyond being my coach, he's been my friend," continued Reinis. "I know if Burch felt he had to cut us, he wouldn't hide it, especially not me. He's never been anything but straight with me."

Though Ng says she is against suing for money, she feels it's necessary in this case in order to get her point across, thus she will seek damages. Burch readily admits the situation has put a strain on his relationship with the university, particularly Warzecka, but remains hopeful they can reconcile and reach a contract agreement. As for the university, it stands by its contention that the situation could have been avoided if not for a breakdown in communication.

"What I think happened is a misunderstanding," said Gill-Fisher. "Once they are given the ability to participate, I think we can remedy this quickly."

- Reach James Hart at jhart@davisenterprise.net

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Grapplers with grace UCD female wrestlers gain acceptance in a `man's' sport

By James Hart/Enterprise staff writer

2/2001

She's a self-described prima donna who calls herself the next Gabrielle Reese.

She studies fermentation science at UC Davis, drives fast on the highway and maintains a certain edge that leaves one wondering where exactly she is coming from.

But whether or not she's ahead of her time or on par with the part-time professional volleyball player/part-time super model, Abielle Schwarzberg knows exactly where she's been and is convinced she knows exactly where she's going.

Competitive, agile, athletic Ï these are the traits that have helped her become one of the nation's premier competitors in her sport. Smart, elegant, sexy Ï these are the traits she exudes when she's not competing. And to her they are essential.

Essential because Abielle Schwarzberg is very much a female competing in very much a male-dominated world Ï amateur wrestling. And she's not the only one. Schwarzberg is one of four women wrestling for UCD, which also includes Nancy Chiang, Chris Ng and Sam Reinis. All faced, in varying degrees, the challenge of trying to gain entrance into what has been typically viewed as a ``men's only'' fraternity.

Ng, for example, who grew up in Portland, cannot recall how many times school officials told her women could not wrestle. She first tried to compete her sophomore year in high school. By her senior year, Ng had the privilege of watching the boys wrestle while she practiced by herself and learned maneuvers by reading a book.

Reinis had an easier path. After failing to earn a role in a high school play, she found wrestling and by her senior year was named captain. Now a junior at UCD, Reinis suffers from chronic shoulder separation, a wrestling-induced injury, and can no longer compete. Instead, she focuses her attention on coaching the other female wrestlers.

But it is Schwarzberg who has achieved the most competitive success.

Growing up in suburban Detroit, Schwarzberg played volleyball, swam, dove, nothing out of the ordinary. It wasn't until her senior year when she began conditioning for the upcoming softball season that she discovered wrestling. When she realized the sport provided a great workout, Schwarzberg began competing. When she found virtual overnight success, placing second in the U.S Women's Freestyle Championships after only one year of competition, Schwarzberg was hooked.

``I was second in the country and I just started,'' she said recently while nibbling on a Mexican salad at Dos Coyotes. ``I realized I could make something of this, make a name for myself.''

In search of better coaching and more funding, Schwarzberg moved from Detroit to Tempe, Ariz., where she hoped to find the support needed to promote her wrestling career. For a while, she found it under the guise of her corporate sponsor, Sunkist. A year later, frustrated with her sponsor's and coaches' lack of commitment, she moved to Bakersfield, another stay that offered more promise than was delivered.

Eventually she moved to Marin to live with extended family where Schwarzberg discovered what she calls, ``the good life,'' at least until a major car accident. Reluctant to talk about it, all Schwarzberg will say is the accident cost her two years of her life.

Now, at the age of 23, Schwarzberg is poised to show the world why she is ahead of her time, and not just on a wrestling mat.

``I love wrestling but I'm into other things,'' she said. ``Like fermentation science. I want to be able to put a bottle of wine that I made down in front of someone and have them drink it. I want people all over the world to taste something I created.

``It's like that movie Any Given Sunday,'' she continued, describing the Oliver Stone film which depicts Al Pacino as a football coach whose life is centered around the playing field. ``That's sad. There is so much more out there. And what do they do when football is over.''

Lately, she has been forced to place wrestling on the back-burner. Because women wrestlers have a harder time getting support from local clubs, Schwarzberg said she must work in order to pay for her training and travel expenses. A year ago, she again placed second at 149 pounds in the U.S. Women's Freestyle Championships. But the lack of funds have kept her from competing recently, which has resulted in her falling to No. 7 in the national rankings.

According to Gary Abbott, director of communications for USA Wrestling, the top three wrestlers in each weight division for both men and women receive a monthly stipend. Schwarzberg will get a chance to again crack the top three this April at the national tournament in Las Vegas. But Abbott does admit women have had a tougher time when it comes to gaining local support.

``It hasn't been an easy road for early pioneers like Abielle,'' Abbott said. ``It will be a lot easier for the girls that are in high school and younger right now.''

While women's wrestling is not yet an Olympic sport, Abbott said he is hopeful the sport will be recognized by the International Olympic Committee by the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. When it is recognized, he expects support for women's wrestling to explode.

So does Schwarzberg, which is part of the reason she insists on bringing her femininity to the wrestling mat.

``I want to provide something graceful in a sport that is not considered graceful,'' she explained. ``Elegant, agile and sexy, it's the future of women in sport and there is money to be made.

``I watched the ESPYs (ESPN's sports awards show) the other night and the USA Women's Soccer Team couldn't walk in heels. I want to change that.''

Fast forward two years after graduation from UCD and where will Abielle Schwarzberg be? Making wine in Napa Valley or living abroad, perhaps? She's not ready to make a commitment. Like any fine wine, she has patience. But she does realize her day in the spotlight is quickly approaching. Certain that wrestling will be in her future, Schwarzberg has her sites set on Athens in 2004.

``I want to be the best of the best and be honored for that,'' she said. ``I expect to win and look good doing it.''

Cheers to that.

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RHIANNA WILSON

Derek J. Moore

Personal: Rhianna, 17, is a senior at Montgomery High School. She lives in
Santa Rosa with her father, Bruce; her mother, Doris; and 13-year-old
sister, Amber, an eighth-grader at Slater Middle School. An older brother,
20-year-old Damon, lives outside the home and attends UC Berkeley.

Wrestlemania: Rhianna, who has weaknesses for clothes shopping and ice
cream, recently wrapped up her fourth season as a Viking wrestler. She was
the only girl on a team of about 30 guys and one of only a few girls who
wrestle for high schools in Sonoma County. Rhianna found out just how hard
it can be to find acceptance in a male-dominated sport when a rival school's
wrestler forfeited his match against her. That happened three years in a row
during meets with the same school.
``It made me feel good,'' Rhianna said, ``like I was scaring them off. Being
on the team with the guys, they always tell me, `I don't know what I would
do if I had to wrestle a girl.' I always feel for the guys, especially the
ones I beat.''

She took third place at a wrestling meet in February that featured female
athletes from around the state. The meet was the first of its kind for
female wrestlers and wasn't certified, but proved to Rhianna that she can
compete with anyone.

On weight and training: To keep herself in shape for her matches in the
131-pound weight class, Rhianna exercised hard, watched what she ate and
tried to fend off the temptation for bubblegum ice cream -- not an easy
thing to do when you work at Clo's Ice Creamery, as she does four days a
week. Just like the guys, Rhianna ran three miles a day three times a week
and sweated it out in a gym that had the heater turned on. She changed in a
separate locker room but turned down her coach's offer to buy her a
specially designed uniform for girls because it didn't come with the team
logo.

``When I joined, there were two other girls that tried it with me but they
ended up quitting,'' she recalled. ``Once they left, every day it was
nerve-wracking going into practice, even though the guys respected me. But
inside I was nervous.''

A brother's inspiration: Rhianna's brother was a Viking wrestler and helped
her make the adjustment. ``Other girls would give it a try and the guys were
always mean to them, but my first year my brother was on the team so he made
sure I was OK. By my second year, they (her team members) became like
brothers to me and respected me.''

She already knew many of the moves and was aware of the sacrifices she'd
have to make. She lost 15 pounds her freshman year during training and at
times grew weary of all the running. She said her mother didn't care much
when Rhianna didn't eat in order to maintain her weight. ``Parents don't
like to see their kids starve themselves, but besides that, my mom was proud
of me,'' she said. Rhianna considers herself a role model to girls who would
like to wrestle but don't because of the hurdles they face. ``I see myself
as a role model in the sense that they can see it can be done,'' she said.

Off the mat: Outside of wrestling, Rhianna enjoys working at Clo's and
earning money to buy clothes at American Eagle, her favorite store. She
doesn't have a driver's license because she finds driving a bit scary,
although she enjoys going for rides with friends to the beach or around
Santa Rosa's back roads. She was born and raised in Santa Rosa and envisions
coming back here one day after earning a teaching credential.

Future plans: Since second grade Rhianna has wanted to be an elementary
teacher. She's held onto that dream even though it gets harder every day to
live on a teacher's salary in a place like Santa Rosa. She's unfazed. ``My
parents tell me I'll never be rich being a teacher, but I think I'll be
happy being a teacher,'' she said. Alas, her wrestling career appears to be
over and she has no plans to try out for the World Wrestling Federation.
``Nope, just a little schoolteacher,'' she said of her future.

-- By Derek J. Moore