1st Inaugural Girls' State Wrestling Tournament (Summer)

 Friday was the inaugural Girls State Wrestling Championship for Virginia.

Over 400 girls participated!

Lucy was our participant. She's somewhere in this section (blending into the background like she prefers!).

I scheduled a sub and took the day to go up, coach, and support her. It was a couple hours away in Northern Virginia.

It was a great tournament. The air was welcoming, the sportmanship between wrestlers was evident, and the skill levels were varied enough that there were learning opportunities for everyone.

Boys and girls are built differently. The rules for wrestling favor the male composition (less body fat, more upper body strength). On average, boys start early, have an advantage, and there are more of them present on any team. 

Don't take that as a knock on female wrestlers. There are women wrestlers who could rip off my head and spit down my neck. When I coached Middle School Wrestling, the first time I heard a young boy said "I'm wrestling a girl" I told him he'd better treat her with respect and something like: "Some girls come to try out the sport and quit, but the ones who stick around can become beasts. They're used to being underestimated and will take it out on you." 

Some ladies out to experience the sport of wrestling and the deserve respect for it. It takes courage to try a sport in general, but more so when you feel like you're out of place or in the minority. 

The ladies who stay (like Lucy) demonstrate the tenacity that wrestling requires made it through the season and ended up here, at the Championship. 

I won't narrate the whole tournament here. I will point out one quick thing here: One of the area's females have an advantage over males is flexibility. There were so many situations I was afraid someone was going to get hurt only for them to pop up like nothing happened! Half-Nelsons were far less effective than cradles. As more ladies wrestle, the athletes will discover the styles of wrestling that best suits their set of strengths. It'll be interesting to see them develop over time.

Lucy was a 2nd year wrestler. She was more timid about wrestling actual matches last year, but she went through many this year. Before the tournament, she went to Albemarle High School to train with their wrestler and the female from Charlottesville High School who made it through the season. Honestly, it was a great experience for building camaraderie throughout the local wrestling community.

Lucy went 2 and 2 at the Championship. She alternated wins and losses. Both of her losses were competitive. She was down by a single shot in the round she was eliminated in. The other girls stance was strange and you could tell Lucy was scared about shooting (while Rico and I yelled ourselves hoarse). After the match, I told her I would rather see her lose 5-2 because she missed the shot than 3-2, because she didn't take it. Either way would be a loss, but it was better to take the shot and miss than wonder "what if I'd just..." 

It wasn't meant as criticism, either. It's a life lesson. Failure happens. Sometimes it will happen when you try your best and do everything right. It might not, though. It will always happen if you're too afraid to make the attempt. Sports can be good teachers of that lesson. 

Overall, I thought Lucy had done fantastic and told her so many a time. 

It was a long day and a wonderful note to end the season on. Rico, Brian and, I were all there. Lucy's mom came and cheered her on, as well. We left proud and Lucy felt accomplished. Lucy's mom bought us all hats from the Championship that I made sure to wear at school the following week for Lucy to see.

There are several girls who want to wrestle next year, so I hope Girls' States is an even bigger event next year.