High School Trailblazers: Coaching Preferences of Female Wrestlers

• In Event: Trailblazers With Aspirations and Grit: Studies of Adolescent Girls

Abstract

This study explores forty-six female wrestlers (mean age 15.9) in high school and their experiences in the sport over forty years after the passage of Title IX, which mandated equal rights for women in sports. The purpose of this article is to bring attention to the perceptions of effective coaching by female high school wrestlers, specifically given their unique positionality as trailblazers in a male dominated space.Findings indicate that female high school wrestlers value coaching styles that emphasize relationship building. Implications from this study can provide coaches with a better understanding of how to approach the increasing number of girls participating in male-dominated sports.

Authors

• Marilyn Castro, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Rebeca Mireles-Rios, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Jackie Valenzuela

• Kelsey O'Brien, University of California - Santa Barbara

• Isaac Manuel Jesus Castro, University of California - Santa Barbara