Why would you take from women’s sports without giving them an equal opportunity? The NJSIAA plans to separate girls and boys wrestling in the upcoming 2025-2026 high school season. The separation will only hurt the sport as girls should have equal opportunities in competition, there are not enough official girls teams and the competition possibilities are vastly different.
Girls should have equal opportunities to compete at the highest level. Competition is healthy, and allowing the girls to compete allows them to be taken seriously. As Anya Alvarez shares in her article “Girls should not pay the price when boys don’t want to compete against them”, “in order for girls to be taken seriously as athletes, they must compete against boys, while simultaneously putting boys in a position that may make them uncomfortable.”
Girls want to be able to prove themselves against the boys and prove that women’s wrestling can succeed; however, without the opportunities, nothing can be done.
Despite the growing interest in the sport, many schools are not able to fill a roster for a team; therefore, their team is unofficial, which causes difficulties as the girls want to wrestle. According to Sports Illustrated, there are only 41 official high school girls wrestling teams in the state of New Jersey, however, there are 271 official high school boys wrestling teams. Not being able to fill out a roster for a team forces the team to be unofficial, so duals and matches are not able to happen, which damages the girls and their ability to compete
There are minimal opportunities for girls to compete in comparison to the boys, especially in the major tournaments, such as the state tournament. Provided by the NJSIAA, there are only four qualifying tournaments for girls wrestling for states and a total of 12 wrestlers that compete for the state title, however, boys have 32 district qualifiers and eight region qualifiers, which equate to a total of 32 wrestlers that have the opportunity to compete for the state title. Girls have minimal opportunity to make it to Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City for the state title, as there are only 12 spots available to make it, despite the boys having three times the number of wrestlers.
Some may argue that keeping boys and girls wrestling separate keeps the kids out of uncomfortable and possibly dangerous situations, however it is clear that anyone wants to compete at the highest level of competition. And healthy competition allows for everyone to succeed and grow as athletes. Boys and girls have different genetic strengths and weaknesses that allow them to succeed in different ways.
Don’t take from women’s sports without giving them equal opportunity. Until there is an equal advantage for girls wrestling, nothing should be taken away from them. Girls wrestling should continue to be allowed to compete against the boys, as it allows for equal opportunities and chances for all wrestlers. There should be no possibility of taking away an athlete’s chances without providing them equal opportunities that another athlete may have. The new NJSIAA policy only hurts the girls as it takes away their possibilities.
