Boy Wrestler Forfeits Match v/ Girl

[Elephant]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110218/ap_on_sp_ot/us_girl_wrestler_default


With violence against women a top social cause here in America, how could this even become a controversial issue? Wrestling is a violent sport. How does a woman's group even suggest this young man disrespected this girl because he does not believe he should wrestle her? What would they have said if he dislocated her shoulder or worse, broke her neck? These injuries are not uncommon in this sport.

Beat a woman and you go to jail!
Refuse to wrestle a girl and you are admonished for being sexist!

I applaud this young man for standing up to his beliefs.

I am slowly beginning to think this country is truly going down the tubes!

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

I applaud this young man. My high school team refused to play against another team in a jamboree because they had a female running back. 9 of us went out, shook hands and went into the locker room because we refused to hit a girl then the rest of our team followed.

Boys dont play girls sports with girls (no volleyball jokes lol), and girls should not try to play boys sports with boys. It sends a message that its ok to be physically violent with a woman and thats not a message we need to teach kids.

 

[Sarge]

Girls should not be allowed to wrestle,play football or participate in any other boys sports. Period.

Way to go kid. And welcome to the world of PC ism

 

[Rymanofthenorth]

Yup, it just sends the completely wrong message to allow girls to play boys sports with boys. but of course some moron will scream sexism , just read the comments uner the article.

 

[Alaskan]

I used to play co-ed softball. One time I slid into second with a girl covering but I didn't slide hard. Nevertheless she fell right into my lap. I gently helped her up. She wasn’t bothered, her teammates weren’t bothered but my own bench started to boo me.

On the other hand I once knocked a guy covering second into shallow left field. He later apologized to me for getting into my way.

 

[Sarge]

we had a girl who tried to play football on our team one year. she thought she was tough and everyone always laughed at her when she said she could play. it would piss her off to no end and she would talk about laying us out, trucking us, etc etc.

so first day we could put pads on and suddenly she's quiet but suddenly she's the tailback going against us on 1st D. she got the ball and before she took 2 steps we hit her from every single angle and just lit her up. didnt kill her or knock her out but we put some licks on her.

funny thing...she didnt come back the next day. makes me think if someone hemmed this girl up and embarrassed her enough she would do the same thing..

You bunch of bullies

 

[Elephant]

There are sports that can be co-ed, like softball, soccer (Rec leagues only) and various other sports that don't involve violence. This is a case where a young girl should never have been put in the position she was in the first place. How many of her victories came from a young man who was scared to perform his best because he was wrestling a girl? Obviously they were not like Mike!

The two women who were arguing this today talked about how disrespectful it was of this young man to not wrestle her. One was talking about her daughter playing soccer at the JV level of High school with the boys, not exactly violent, and the other was talking about her experience with Water Polo and her playing the men and performing well, two bastions of violence.

 

[Alaskan]

in MY defense...lol

i do play co-ed softball and if a girl is running down the line towards 3rd i will make sure to get out of her way even if i dont make the play or step in front of her if the ball is coming towards her.

Then Mike will ask her out. Sleep with her and then tell the whole internet about it the next morning.

Such a gentleman.

 

[Henry]

I have no problem with the kid forfeiting the match if he doesn't feel comfortable wrestling a girl. I also have no problem with girls competing with boys if they are able to do so.

This really isn't much of a story. The big news here is that the boy, while not personally wanting to wrestle with a girl, respects their wish to wrestle and the girls involved respect his wish to not wrestle them. Apparently not every little thing is a harbinger of the end of civilization as we know it.

Kids. Sometimes we don't give them enough credit, I think.

 

[Elephant]

I have no problem with the kid forfeiting the match if he doesn't feel comfortable wrestling a girl. I also have no problem with girls competing with boys if they are able to do so.

This really isn't much of a story. The big news here is that the boy, while not personally wanting to wrestle with a girl, respects their wish to wrestle and the girls involved respect his wish to not wrestle them. Apparently not every little thing is a harbinger of the end of civilization as we know it.

Kids. Sometimes we don't give them enough credit, I think.

So Henry, you believe that a girl should be permitted to fight a boy in say a boxing match? You are not concerned with the message being sent? That boy is going to beat a girl. That's ok with you?

 

[Henry]

Sure. If the girl is prepared to fight who am I to tell her no? I got my black belt in TKD when I was 16. I've fought plenty of girls in my time. I didn't hold back and didn't apologize and nobody ever asked me to. It's not that big a deal if they have training.

In this particular case I could see why a boy wouldn't be comfortable putting his hands on a girl the way wrestlers have to. And I completely respect his wish not to do so.

I just don't see why this has become national news. Everybody seems so hell-bent on being pissed except for the actual kids involved. What does it tell you when the mature ones are the teenagers?
Posted via BGO Mobile Device

 

[Elephant]

Sure. If the girl is prepared to fight who am I to tell her no? I got my black belt in TKD when I was 16. I've fought plenty of girls in my time. I didn't hold back and didn't apologize and nobody ever asked me to. It's not that big a deal if they have training.

In this particular case I could see why a boy wouldn't be comfortable putting his hands on a girl the way wrestlers have to. And I completely respect his wish not to do so.

I just don't see why this has become national news. Everybody seems so hell-bent on being pissed except for the actual kids involved. What does it tell you when the mature ones are the teenagers?
Posted via BGO Mobile Device

I see your point. What angered me was the women I heard yammering about this kid being a sexist. I find it to be indicative of the hypocrisy I see all too often in our society.

 

[Henry]

Oh I agree. People accusing this kid of being sexist fall under the 'everybody' I was talking about.
Posted via BGO Mobile Device

 

[Dreamingwolf]

I have two issues with this.

1. This guy should have been punished for not wrestling her, she was on his list he should have proved past her. If she was legit in the league, then he should have contested her. If she was an option in the league then its differerent, but if she was just like everyone else the match should have happended. Too bad if you dont like their parts, or whatever makes them different.

2. The destruction(or the faster destruction) of feminine sports. If we unisex sports we run the risk of consolidating them for cost benefit, and while there maybe some exceptional females who can contest against males in sport, the reality is they will be far and few between. This could lead to rule where we have sports where a female team is fielded by all males, and the same sport fielded by mostly males and one female.

We are talking about fairness here right, if females can field in male arenas then males can field in female arenas. When you talk about scholorships, professional occupations, and all that comes with sports you have to acknowledge there is a difference or there isnt a difference.

The WNBA could easily be populated by many men who the NBA doesnt have space for. If we(they) are talking fairness, maybe we(they) are not talking fairness.

 

[riggins44]

My son graduated high school last year and wrestled all 4 years. I saw girls wrestle at lower weights and even one heavy weight. The vast majority we're average at best.

An average girl wrestler stands a better chance of getting a 4 yr ride at a school with women's wrestling than an average male wrestler. I've seen it happen numerous times.

One problem I've seen is guys tend to get tentative wrestling a girl. It goes against everything they have been taught by their families and society. A number of times I've seen a kid reach around the back of girl and hesitate, since he knows he is about to grab something he shouldn't. His hesitation often allows the girl to escape.

A friend of mine, his son was heavy weight, was getting to wrestle a girl. His dad told him just forget you're wrestling a girl and think this is my oppononet. He won, but often a young kid can't make that mental switch.

With the various moves and grabs, if it weren't a sport then what these boys are having to do to girls would be sexual assault or abuse. Parents and society teaches boys you don't grab boobs or snatch or pick a girl up and slam her down. It wrestling it happens, so goes against everything we've taught them.

I know we have to be politically correct, but where does one's right end and another's begin? The time has come to use some common sense. Girls and boys shouldn't directly compete against each other in contact sports. There are sports like golf and tennis where you could have co-ed competition. Just not contact sports. I can see the potential for lawsuits.

A buddy of mine asked me yesterday what I would have recommended my son do if was in same situation. In the state championship tournament...I would have had to tell him go out there and forget you're wrestling a girl and treat her like a guy. The kid in article wouldn't wrestle due to religious beliefs, so I can't fault him.

 

[Boone]

I see this entirely different than most of you. I wouldn't say the boy is 'sexist' in this situation, but honestly most of you all sound as though you are

It's very similar to the females in combat issue in my mind. IF a female can legitimately compete in any activity, she should be allowed to. I haven't looked enough at this particular situation to know whether this young woman is totally unprepared to be in the wrestling ring with males or not. I've certainly known females who could probably hold their own against most males, but I have no way of knowing what the situation here is.

I'm not sure I buy the argument that the girl is at risk here - if she's that woefully matched against her male counterpart, I'd think the most likely conclusion would be a quick pinning. As for the boy refusing to wrestle her, I can't judge that. If he's refusing because he legitimately thinks he may hurt her, that's fine. If he's refusing because 'she's a girl' - well, that just seems a little over-reactive to me.

I am not arguing all females should be allowed to play in male sports - that's PC nonsense. But if a girl has the skills and toughness to play with the boys or make the team - she absolutely should be allowed to. My opinion.

 

[riggins44]

http://www.virginiawrestling.com/forums/topic.php?id=1383

This is being debated on many wrestling sites. One point I never thought about was from the coaches point of view. In the above thread one coach supported girls wrestling and another didn't.

The guy that didn't said he was worried about showing her a move, due to the risk of one day getting charged with inappropiate touching or something similar.

I'm not sexist, but have a problem with being PC. If you are going to allow girls to compete in sports like football and wreslting, then allow boys to play softball and volleyball. Which as one person said in VHSL rules the sports are listed as football and wrestling, but there is girls softball and girls volleyball. Make the playing field level for everyone and take gender completely out of the equation.

 

[Boone]

http://www.virginiawrestling.com/forums/topic.php?id=1383
If you are going to allow girls to compete in sports like football and wreslting, then allow boys to play softball and volleyball. Which as one person said in VHSL rules the sports are listed as football and wrestling, but there is girls softball and girls volleyball. Make the playing field level for everyone and take gender completely out of the equation.

From a 'level the playing field' POV, that might seem to make sense, but there's a big reason a single approach like that doesn't work. Allowing girls (again, those physically capable of participating safely) to play male sports does not alter the majority of participants ability to compete. Allowing males to play girls sports would. Besides - isn't it a fact that there are only two primary reasons females typically try to play with males, and those are that either the sport isn't available to females, or they are good enough that playing with their female counterparts isn't a challenge. Those are good justifications for females attempting to play with the boys. What are the good reasons males would seek to play with females? Spite? To dominate them? To prove a point? There's ZERO comparison between those two situations.

I really think the approach should be based on skill level. Make sports open to all youth regardless of gender as long as their skill level is appropriate. Why is that a problem?

 

[Burgundy Burner]

My view is much the same as Boone's. I have an athletic daughter who played four sports in HS and dominated most boys her age in basketball until about age 12-13. She had the height advantage and worked at honing her skills. Playing against the boys made her a better player.

So, you don't think girls can wrestle? Take a look at some of these girls. All of them are pins - yes, pins against guys. This only took a couple of minutes to search - there are a lot of pins by girls against guys on yt.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVuGU1n71cQ[/media]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPsgvlYZn4I[/media]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rl5ee_DGxI[/media]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9Q63vPzV1w[/media]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk-PAxRj7Co[/media]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xr3RH1kONVs[/media]

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xc7_jU01-SM[/media]

 

[riggins44]

There are girls that can wrestle and I've saw a couple that were very good. One went to Kempsville or Cox High in VA Beach. This girl was one of top ranked girls in her class in the nation. She wrestled against boys and was very good. She was the exception and not the rule.

Boone, I agree a level playing field should be based on skill. If you're qualified enough to make a team than I see no problem. In wrestling, I often saw girls on teams to help fill a roster spot versus really being skilled enough to make most teams.

Like I've said, common sense has to be applied. As an example, last year we went to a duals tournament at Hanover. In one match my son's weight class (189 lb) and the opposing team sent out this kid, probably a freshman, and you could see it was going to be no contest. So, our coach sent out a freshman from JV squad he brought along. He still won, but the coach didn't want to sent out my son, since it wouldn't have done either kid any good. There were times when my son was a freshman that the same courtesy was given.

I can see both sides, but having been involved in the sport for a few years I just don't think it is a good idea for the majority involved.