Lindsey Fine: One of the fastest-growing sports nationwide *nat pop* is taking over Central New York…
Anna Cummings: Wrestling is definitely for everyone and anyone.
Fine: Girls’ wrestling has become increasingly popular and the Baldwinsville youth wrestling club is trying to make the sport more accessible to young girls… Throughout the month of March, its practices were “girls only”
Cummings: I think it’s important to get the growth of the girls a lot of girls are intimidated to go out
and do stuff in front of the boys not just in wrestling but a lot of things in general, so to have their own space, it’s a safe spot for them to come in and give it a try”
Fine: As a volunteer, Anna Cummings dedicates her time to helping young girls get opportunities in wrestling she didn’t have growing up… *nat pop*
Anna Cummings: I went through high school wrestling the boys, so I understand the challenges that come with that and then I went to college and wrestled on an all-girls team, we’d go to tournaments and there just wasn’t always people that felt that I belonged out there, so it was kind of always me proving myself.
Fine: For Cummings, being a girl a wrestler hasn’t been easy, but she says it’s taught her important life lessons and there’s one pee-wee wrestler who says while she knows it’ll be difficult, she’s up for the challenge.
Reporter: so how does it feel being girl wrestler?
Savannah: “a lot of pressure.”
Fine: Even though being a girl in a boy-dominated sport comes with obstacles, the girls we
spoke with say wrestling is for everyone.
Savannah: Mainly it’s targeted as a boys sport and like a lot of girls feel like it’s harder to do and
that’s why some girls don’t do it
Mallory: I think anybody can do any sport they really want to do because there’s really no sport
that’s specifically for boys
Fine: At the end of the day, the training, hard work and intensity is all for one reason—fun.
Mia: I do like wrestling because it’s fun and competitive.
Isla: It’s just really fun.
Savannah: it’s just fun
Fine: Lindsey Fine, NCC News
