Sixteen-year-old Liberty Rebiero paved the way for other female wrestlers at Harnett Central High.
News Page
The Dallas Morning News
WRESTLER OF THE WEEK
Name: Tashia Lewis
School: Arlington Sam Houston
Class: Junior
Weight: 110
Notable: Lewis was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at last week's
Texas Ladies Classic. Lewis (13-2) won all four matches to claim her weight
class championship.
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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
For more information, contact:
Kristen Galles
Equity Legal
703-683-4491
Nancy Solomon
California Women’s Law Center
213-637-9900
FEMALE WRESTLERS SUE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-DAVIS FOR TITLE IX
VIOLATIONS
FIRED WRESTLING COACH SUES FOR RETALIATION
Tomorrow, December 18, 2003, four former female wrestlers at UC-Davis
will file a class action lawsuit against the University for violations of
their civil rights under Title IX, the U.S. Constitution, and California
state law. The women allege that UC-Davis fails to provide equal athletic
participation and scholarship opportunities for its female students and
that the University exacerbated this failure by discontinuing the women’s
wrestling program in 2001. The female wrestlers seek reinstatement of
women’s wrestling and scholarship opportunities – with all the
benefits, advantages, and other privileges afforded to varsity athletes at
UC-Davis.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Kristen Galles stated, “Intercollegiate athletics
provide educational benefits not available in the classroom. These
women lost a very important part of their college experience when they lost
wrestling. They filed this lawsuit to get those opportunities back and
to make sure that future UC-Davis students will be able to enjoy them
also.”
Female wrestling has grown dramatically in the past decade. For the
first time, female wrestling will be a gold medal sport at next year’s Athens
Olympics. California female athletes are at the forefront of this
emerging sport, as the American team will likely include women who formerly
wrestled at UC-Davis. Women’s wrestling has grown so much in recent years that
the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) now sponsors a girls’ state
wrestling tournament. Many more California women and girls participate
in the sport through USAWrestling tournaments in California and around the
country. Yet, after UC-Davis’ elimination of women from its program,
no UC or Cal-State school offers wrestling for women.
Plaintiff Arezou Mansourian stated, “UC-Davis and the entire UC System
should support women’s wrestling. I can’t believe that just as women
and girls are increasing their interests in wrestling and just as we are
about to enter the Olympics, UC-Davis eliminated our program -- especially
when two of our female alumni will probably be on the Olympic team. I chose
UC-Davis because I wanted a chance to wrestle. I even turned down
admission to a joint bachelors-medical degree program so that I could wrestle. I
was devastated when UC-Davis told us we couldn’t wrestle any more simply
because we are female.”
Nancy Solomon, senior staff attorney at the California Women’s Law
Center and a Title IX expert, noted, “California’s women and girls are leading
the way in support of female wrestling. Since 1998, the number of high
school girls wrestling in California has doubled. Moreover, CIF now sponsors
a girls’ state wrestling tournament. We must ensure that these young
women are given opportunities to compete when they enter our public
universities.
This lawsuit should serve as a wake-up call to schools that there are
thousands of women and girls in this state who want the opportunity to
participate in sports and that it is time for schools to start meeting
their needs, not reducing their opportunities.”
The female wrestlers’ case follows that of former wrestling coach
Michael Burch, who filed a Title IX retaliation action, after he was fired for
supporting the female wrestlers in their attempts to reinstate the
program. Mr. Burch was fired despite earning coach of the year honors and
recording the best season in school history, with 10 dual meet wins and 4
qualifiers to the NCAA Division I nationals. Mr. Burch was also a respected
teacher in the religious studies program at the time of his termination.
Coach Burch stated, “I have always believed that athletics are an
important part of the educational experience for both men and women. I love the
sport of wrestling. Wrestling coaches all over the country should support
the women in this case to help expand opportunities for women and to help
save wrestling opportunities for men. It is the right thing to do and its
time has come.”
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Sixteen-year-old Liberty Rebiero paved the way for other female wrestlers at Harnett Central High. |
By Keisha Webb-Gibbs
staff writer
keishawebbgibbs@yahoo.com
June 10, 2003
James Brown sang that “it’s a man world, but it wouldn’t be nothing without a woman or a girl.”
Sixteen-year-old female wrestler Liberty Rebiero agrees.
Proud to be a young lady that always ‘goes against the grain,’ Rebiero shocked her entire family, peers at Harnett Central High School, and more importantly the boy’s wrestling team at her school, when she announced that she wanted to wrestle.
A Fuquay-Varina resident from the age of 5 years-old, Liberty set out to earn a tryout, join, and conquer the HCHS boy’s wrestling team.
“I think Harnett Central has been open 27 years, and I am the first girl to wrestle there,” Rebiero said.
An expected controversy at Harnett Central, Rebiero said that the initiation process onto the team was grueling.
“I told the boys on the team that I was trying out and they were dogging me and the coach said that I wouldn’t make it past the first day of practice,” Rebiero said.
“They were right a bit, cause I cried during practice and they didn’t think that I would come back the next day.”
Rebiero proved her future team wrong, and showed up for practice the next day. Her team then knew that she wasn’t going to quit wrestling.
Over time, the boys started treating Rebiero like any other boy joining their team- with fists and other rough treatment.
“They held me down and used their fists to push me down. It was great,” she said.
“But they continued to be hard on me to make me quit and they wouldn’t explain the moves to me. They would say, ‘do this.’”
Rebiero continued to take the verbal abuse and lack of cooperation from her teammates, but she kept at it.
“I grew up with four brothers and everyday was a fight or wrestling match,” she said.
“But soon I was wrestling and the team was winning.”
From October 2002 until present day, HCHS’s wrestling team, including Rebiero earned a wining record of 12-6 .
The “light-weight” moved up to be the “queen of the mat” wrestling at varsity in her weight class of 103 pounds.
For her courage, staying power, and all around sportsmanship, Rebiero earned her team’s Iron Trojan Award.
“I have three second place wins, one first place, and one fourth place win,” Rebiero said.
“I qualified to go to regionals and to the Big Eight Conference tournaments, where I beat one of Clayton High School’s varsity guys.”
It was at that tournament at Smithfield Selma High School that Rebiero was approached by coach Tim Michaels to join an all boys wrestling club in Clayton.
Michaels, Lance Huffman, Tim Baranska, and Scott Hadding, volunteered their time to supervise and coach the team of up to 28 boys and now, two girls.
Rebiero vouched for her HCHS friend and former cheerleader Courtney Martin.
“I think that Liberty has paved the way for other girls in women’s wrestling,” Martin said.
“Female wrestling at our school is a big controversy and Liberty has to put up with a lot of crap. But I plan on wrestling with Liberty in college,” Martin said.
Rebiero hopes to attend Menlo College in Atherton, Calif., after she graduates from HCHS in May 2004.
She plans to apply to Menlo College because they are one of few U.S. colleges and universities with a varsity female wrestling team.
“I want to be like Bior Guigni. She is a college wrestler and has lots of championship titles,” Rebiero said.
In the meantime, Rebiero and the Clayton Wrestling Club will compete at the U.S.A. National Wrestling Competition in July.
Rebiero and her team must raise $950 per team member to make the trip to North Dakota.
To sponsor Liberty Rebiero and her team at the U.S.A. National Wrestling Competition contact Penny Rebiero at 552-8839.
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Ohenewa Akuffo
Canada’s Female Wrestling Champ
By Jessica Moritz
 |
Wrestling – More than Entertainment
When it comes to wrestling, one tends to think of the World Wrestling Federation, and all of the glamour, entertainment, macho aggressiveness, and testosterone associated with it. But believe it or not, wrestling is a serious professional sport, popular with both men and women. Women’s freestyle wrestling, in particular, is a fast growing sport and there are already top female athletes. One of these remarkable women isOhenewa Akuffo, 24, of Brampton, Ontario.
Standing at 5 feet, 8 inches, and weighing in at 75kg, Ohenewa is this year’s Canadian National Champion. Ohenewa is determined to win a spot on the women’s team in the Canadian Olympic Trials, which will be held in Edmonton from December 12-14, 2003.
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Women’s Wrestling
Women’s wrestling is popular worldwide and has had world championships for over 10 years. It will make its debut as a medal sport in the 2004 Olympics. Unlike the wrestling one sees on television, amateur freestyle wrestling doesn’t get a lot of publicity because it isn’t an everyday sport. And though it doesn’t seem feminine, it most definitely is not a male only sport
The Breakthrough
Ohenewa’s big break happened in the Free Style National Championships, held in Saskatoon of May this year. Ohenewa defeated Christine Nordhagen, the six-time World Champion, and Pam Wilson, the 2002 National Champion, in the 72kg division. She defeated Nordhagen 8-1, with less than 60 seconds left in the match. It earned her a spot in the final round.
Pam Wilson had defeated Ohenewa in last year’s championship. This year,Ohenewa defeated Pam 3-0, making Ohenewa not only this year’s new Champion, but also the top candidate to make the Athens 2004 Olympic team. Because of this, she also earned a spot on the Canadian team for the Pan American games, which was held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in August of this year. She won the silver medal for the 72kg division.
Athens 2004
The 2004 summer Olympics will be Ohenewa’s first. Qualifying for and making the Olympic team is a lengthy process. Even though she was proud to beat both Pam Wilson and Christine Nordhagen, she only has to face one of them again in December to win a spot on the Olympic team. Ohenewa explains that there are seven members and each represents a different weight class on the national team, but only four weight classes will be allowed in the Olympic games. Not only is she more than determined to be one of those four members, but she’s already proven to be the top wrestler to make the Olympic trials. She’s optimistic that she’ll succeed.
Beginnings
Born in North York, Ontario, Ohenewa lived in Toronto until she was three, when her family decided to move to Accra Ghana, West Africa. Her family wanted her to have the opportunity to experience her native roots. Her family returned to Canada five years later. Ohenewa had always loved sports, including basketball and baseball, but she did not start wrestling until her first year at Ascension of the Lord High School in Mississauga. In fact, it was because of a friend that she even got onto the mat and wrestled with the boys in the first place.
When wrestling was first introduced to her high school, she couldn’t see herself doing it, but she was also the kind of person who loved new challenges and didn’t believe in giving up. Unlike team sports, wrestling presented Ohenewa with opportunities for personal growth. Instead of working with a team, she could spend time concentrating on her own performance. According to her, it’s “up to the individual athlete to bring something to the sport, to give the audience what they can see.” Ohenewa has learned that in wrestling there’s only action versus reaction.
While wrestling at Ascension, she further enhanced her skills by practicing at the Matman Wrestling Club. She later wrestled at St. Augustine Secondary School in Brampton where she finished high school.
At age 17, Ohenewa won the 1997 Senior National Championship. At the time she was the youngest female wrestler in Canada to be on a senior team, representing Canada at 75kgs. During her two years at McMaster University, she wrestled for both the varsity team and the club team, winning the OUS and CIS Championships, as well as the Junior National Championships.
Ohenewa is currently pursuing a business degree at York University, while training at the University of Guelph National Training Centre. She has since moved to Guelph, taking her courses electronically, to cut down on travel.
It’s All About Attitude
Ohenewa has a very positive outlook on life. She’s grateful for the gift of life and for what each day has in store for her. She thrives on adventure and challenge, and it’s through her training and love of wrestling that she’s able to handle life’s ups and downs. Ohenewa doesn’t believe in settling for less and she takes only the best and the most positive things from life. Generally, she takes life one day at a time - her immediate goals being the 2004 Olympics and obtaining her university degree.
Support an Athlete
Ohenewa’s family has been her financial and emotional support in both her wrestling and education. She is very much in need of sponsors to help with her training and living expenses in the upcoming Olympic trials, and for the event itself. Anyone who’s interested in sponsoring Ohenewa Akuffo can check out her website at www.ohenewa.ca for more information
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Is All This Attention Just Because I'm A Girl?
I am the first and the only female wrestler at my school. I get tons of attention from teachers and other students, but I feel guilty for being the center of attention just because I'm a girl. Can I do anything about this? I don't feel like I deserve all this attention.
— Jane, 16, NC
You are experiencing a very common feeling for the "first" of anything. Groundbreakers like you are important; they're innovators and allow others to follow. Before you, there was the first girl to attend a formerly all-male school, and even the first girl to play any sport at all. Without the "firsts," girls and women wouldn't be in the position they are today. That said, who wants to be first anyway? You are always thought of as "the girl wrestler," and it may seem like your entire identity is built on that. There are more aspects to you than just wrestling. Although you may love the sport and competing, you may also be a great cook, or an amazing singer, or a killer biology student.
The problem is, of course, that you are a first, and for now the only. You do deserve the attention, but this doesn't make it easy to accept. People are trying to be friendly and appreciative when they notice you for your accomplishment, so you don't want to offend them by being rude. But next time someone compliments you, you can thank them and then nicely point out that you don't always want to get noticed for this. Or you can change the subject and talk about other things going on in your life. Your friends can be especially helpful here by not bringing it up all the time, either. It should be easy to ask them to do that. Because of brave people like you, there will be another "first" soon enough, and you will soon be out of the spotlight. So try to enjoy it a little while you can, too.
— Kate Forest, MSW
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NCS approves girls wrestling meet
NCS blazes new trail, OKs girls wrestling meet
By Billy Ortiz, STAFF WRITER 12/17/03
WOMEN'S WRESTLING makes its debut as an official medal sport at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens in August, but Estella Pino is focused on Feb.27. It will be on that final Friday of the month when Pino -- a senior at San Leandro High and one of 16 athletes competing on the girls wrestling team -- will realize a dream made possible by the dedication of many women before her. Thanks to a 33-3 vote (there were three abstentions) in October, the North Coast Section will sanction its first girls wrestling championships. It marks the first time one of the 10 sections of the California Interscholastic Federation -- the governing body of high school athletics in the state -- has sanctioned a girls-only wrestling tournament. The news delighted Pino, the state's No.3 ranked girls 132-pounder. "I was really, really happy because that just means (girls) wrestling is starting to become bigger and bigger," Pino said. "When I first started (in sixth grade), I was the only girl on the team. Now we have a team of 16 girls. Each year it has grown and grown and grown." While the number of high school girls participating in wrestling isn't staggering, the overall increase over the past four years is mind-boggling. According to the 1999-2000 High School Athletics Participation Survey conducted by the National Federation of State High Schools Associations, 2,474 girls took up wrestling. In the 2002-03 survey, the number skyrocketed to 3,769, a whopping 52 percent increase. To its credit, NCS took notice. After years of informal talks, the section voted in favor of girls wrestling as a championship event. "We've looked at it and talked about adding it, but didn't feel at those points we could offer a championship," said NCS director of operations Gil Lemmon. "But we feel now it is time to go ahead and move in that direction," he went on. "We are hoping by sponsoring it, there will be more interest at the school level." It's already starting. A year ago, 63 girls participated at the Roger Briones Girls Wrestling Invitational. On Saturday, 125 girls took part in the tournament. Dave D'Antonio, who coaches the boys and girls wrestling teams at Bancroft Middle School, is pleased the girls are getting the recognition they deserve. "It's a step in the right direction," D'Antonio said of the NCS tournament. "(NCS is) viewing girls as athletes and as wrestlers, and giving them the opportunity the boys have had for years. Now that it is at a section level, the next step is the state level." Unfortunately, CIF does not offer girls wrestling as a separate tournament. And because NCS now offers boys and girls wrestling, Pino has no choice but to wrestle in the girls tournament where she won't be able to qualify for the state meet. It's a dilemma of minor concern to Pino, who sees the writing on the wall for a CIF-sanctioned state meet for girls. "With the girls having their own section, that will just make us want to push harder to have our own state tournament, an official state tournament," said Pino. In order for that to happen, at least five other sections in the state must jump on board. Pino is hopeful and optimistic it will happen sooner than later. "This will start a trend," Pino said confidently. "It is going to grow. It is getting bigger and bigger each year."
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Girl power Bulldogs have two female grapplers in their lineup
Wednesday, December 17, 2003
By MICHAEL GROSS
Staff Writer
Coming into the winter sports season, Bridgeton High School junior Lanesha Adams was going to try out for cheerleading, but then received some interesting advice.
"One of the wrestlers came up to me and said, 'all girls can cheer, they all can't wrestle,'" said Adams. "He told me to come try out and see if I liked it. So, I did go and enjoyed it."
This season Adams will join freshman Natassia Clark as one of two female wrestlers on the Bulldogs wrestling team. This marks the first time in 72-year-old wrestling coach Mickey Lloyd's long tenure that he will be coaching females on the high school level.
"There's always 15-20 girls in the state of New Jersey that wrestle," said Lloyd. "Girl wrestlers are a growing thing. I think it should be fun to coach these girls this season."
One would think joining a male-dominated sport would not be an easy task for any female. So far, however, it's been smooth sailing for Adams and Clark. The team has accepted them and they are enjoying the experience.
"At first I was a little intimidated," said Adams. "The guys are very supportive. They did welcome me on the team.
"I actually hear a lot of positive comments from people. At first when they found out I wrestle, a lot of people in the school wanted to know when my matches are. They say they want to come out and watch me. I'm almost scared to tell them because I don't really want all those people there."
Adams and Clark got their first real taste of wrestling this past week at a couple of scrimmages. They found the reaction of the male competitors somewhat predictable, but in some cases positive.
"They usually say, 'oh it's a girl,"' said Clark. "Some people get worse and say, 'they're going to touch you,' or something dumb like that. Most people though say they are proud of me for being a female wrestler."
Added Adams: "These guys, when they come in the locker room (for weigh-ins) and see it's a girl, they are amazed. They are basically like, it's a girl."
Adams will likely wrestle at 112 pounds., while Clark is unsure what weight she'll be wrestling at. In the first scrimmage Adams was pleasantly surprised with how she handled the wrestlers in her weight class.
"I think I can do well this year," said Adams. "At the scrimmage I did really well. I pinned a couple people. It was fun."
Although the season hasn't started yet, Adams and Clark have already come a long way in proving people wrong. They've shown females can wrestle and succeed. That is something Adams wants to continue doing.
"Last Saturday the boys I wrestled were saying she isn't going to beat me and stuff like that," said Adams. "I had to wrestle this boy that I had a whole bunch of muscles and I beat him. Everybody was so surprised. Nobody was expecting it. Hopefully, I can surprise a lot of people this season."
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