A new era in sports

T
he past calendar year has presented some interesting movements within sports that have traditionally belonged to one gender or the other, at least in Wyoming.
Last spring, Avery Chick became the first male to participate in Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) volleyball as he played on the U16 team when the opportunity arose. He wasn’t able to play in every tournament, but there were some — especially in South Dakota — which allowed him to take the court, though he was limited to back row playing only.
This winter, the Newcastle/Upton wrestling squad has two females competing for the first time that I can remember. 
In the last school year, 2,400 girls across the nation played high school football, and not just as kickers, which is the logical position they might play. 
This got me thinking. 
There are the obvious arguments against opposite genders playing or competing against each other in these three sports. 
In high school wrestling, the first is that when girls take the mat, it puts their male opponent in a difficult position of having to get up close and personal with the “fairer” sex. Especially in a region of the country where young men are often raised to be gentlemen and to be protective and respectful of women, it may make them uncomfortable to put forth the same physical effort they would against a male opponent when they face off against a girl.
In football, the prominent argument against females playing varsity contests against young men is the very real possibility of them sustaining injuries. Many, but certainly not all, of the young women playing high school football take on the role of a kicker who is very protected from physical contact. However, girls are also playing other positions such as quarterback, receivers and even on the line. 
Similar arguments arise when it comes to young men playing volleyball against females. Boys generally are able to jump higher and hit harder, though I’ve stood on the corner of the volleyball court and have been in line for some pretty hard hits from girls for sure!
At any rate, the possibility of injury to the girls on the opposite side of the net when a boy gets on top of a set is real. This is why Chick was limited to back row play only when he was allowed to take the court.
In order to provide an equal playing field, the optimal situation would be to provide options for men’s volleyball, women’s football and women’s wrestling programs in high school. I totally understand kids wanting to play these sports that aren’t offered for their gender. 
Unfortunately, in schools the size of Newcastle, our athletes are already spread pretty thin through the sports we currently offer at Newcastle High School, so introducing three new options would possibly decimate all the teams, making it tough to compete at all. 
The good news is that the more young people who are taking the opportunity to participate in these sports is that more options are becoming available for them to play. 
Currently, there is a group of young men who are attempting to put together a couple of volleyball teams so they can compete against each other, and I’m sure other schools around the area are experiencing the same situation, so, hopefully, a club schedule could be set up for these guys.
As far as wrestling goes, the tournament in Moorcroft coming up this weekend is offering a girls’ division in which our two young ladies will have the opportunity to compete. 
Hopefully, there will be more options that open up for these young people to play the sport they love.