Name School District Athletics ADD SCHOOL LOGO See

[Name] School District Athletics ADD SCHOOL LOGO *See Notes section below slide for additional ideas School Board Proposal to Approve a Girls Wrestling Team at [School Name] DATE

History of Girls Wrestling Fastest Growing Sport Nationally: Ø 29 Consecutive seasons of growth Ø 28, 000 participants in 2019 -2020 season Ø 22 State Associations have sanctioned girls wrestling, some for over 20 years ØWomen’s wrestling has been in the World Championships since 1989 and in the Olympics since 2004 College Opportunities: Ø There are over 75 Collegiate Teams nationally Ø PA currently has 5 Collegiate Teams Ø Wrestling ranks 2 nd across sports in the number of first-generation college students it produces Ø Many scholarship opportunities

History of Girls Wrestling Pennsylvania: Ø Ø Ø 239 girls wrestle on 139 boys teams in PA 100% growth rate the past 5 years 289 girls on junior high teams Over 370 elementary girls participated in regional qualifiers Non-sanctioned state tournament for girls has been held since 1999 and hosted by PA USA Wrestling since 2012 Ø To consider sanctioning, the PIAA requires 100 member schools to sponsor a sport If it will bolster your argument, add numbers from your district. [School District]: Ø [School District] has had girls on our boys teams since … Ø Ø Ø [School District] had … girls on our boys team during the 2019 -2020 season We have … girls in our youth, junior high, and high school programs We have had a girl place … at the state tournament We have had … girls make the US national team We have hosted a JV tournament where girls have competed since …

Why Add Girls Wrestling at [School Name] These are some of the most important factors to mention. For bullet points, please see notes section below slide. Ø Tie it to the school mission statement Ø Provides additional outlet for students to connect, engage, and belong to the school community Ø Increases winter sport participation opportunities for girls Ø Provides girls an opportunity to take advantage of post-secondary opportunities Ø Highly cost effective for schools to add compared to other sports Ø We believe that this will be a fully sanctioned PIAA Sport in the next few years. We want to be on the forefront of this initiative

Why Add Girls Wrestling at [School Name] These are some of the other additional factors that we shared. Incorporate and address the most salient factors to your district from this list, or additional factors that are important to your district. For bullet points, please see notes section below slide. Closes the gap between Elem/JH and College/Senior Level Increases sustainability of boys wrestling programs Diversify athletic department Allows girls to wrestle girls Decreases safety and liability concerns in a combat sport Addresses the issue of boys from Diocese schools wrestling girls and provides girls from those schools the opportunity to compete Increases local, state, and national level positive attention to school as well as boys wrestling program Increases strength of wrestling program, Athletic Department, and school community

Where is the PIAA On Girls Wresting Ø “PIAA has been working directly with grass roots efforts to support member schools looking to start girls’ wrestling programs. ” Ø Will look to sanction sport when 100 teams form

Logistics Make statement on the main areas of logistics that your Board will want to know. This can include areas such as cost, competitions, and coaching structure. You can also separate this out into individual slides. See next 8 slides for options. Ø Our addition of a girls team will be cost neutral to the District Ø As we do with [name of other sports], our Head Coach will preside over the boys and girls team Ø Practices will occur in the same facility at the same time

How will it work? • Coaches: Ø Current Varsity Coach, …, will split time between both the boys and girls teams. Ø One female assistant coach will be hired for the girls team • Practice: Ø Both the boys and girls team will practice at the same time. • Competition: Ø We are currently looking at five to sevents. Some of these will occur at events the boys team will be attending or occur on different days. These five to seven competitions will be exclusively for girls.

Coaching and Practices Comment on practices and coaching structure. Ø As we do with [name of other sports], our Head Coach will preside over the boys and girls team Ø Practices will occur in the same facility at the same time

Training for Coaches If there might be concerns about males coaching females in a contact sport we can tell them there are plenty of training opportunities and best practices policies that will be followed Ø Ø Ø The majority of female wrestlers across the country are coached by male coaches PIAA and district policies for coaching would apply Other resources available to our coaches: Ø Ø NWCA Risk Management Course NWCA Leadership Training Program USA Wrestling Girls HS Development Committee Power. Point Sanction. PA Coach Information Session Webinar

Competitions Ø Local girls only tournaments Ø Boys JV Tournaments Ø Out of state competitions Ø State Ø Dual Ø We wide regional events meets with other formed teams expect to have X number of competitions available for the girls

Will girls come out for the team? Ø Research dictates that girls will wrestle once they know they are going to wrestle other girls Ø States and schools that have added girls wrestling have seen growth as high as 400% Ø We did an interest survey and we have seen XXXX number of girls express interest Ø Wrestling is a very inclusive sport that is open to individuals of all sizes and abilities

Finances Ø The practice facilities and competition mats are the same as those used today with the current wrestling program. Ø When competitions are at the same site, both teams will travel together Ø Cost of transportation and tournament entry fees Ø Singlets will come out of the regular wrestling budget Ø Cost of the Female Assistant Coach Ø The Booster Club will support both programs as they currently do, such as warm-ups, etc.

Budget Ø Coaching: Ø Transportation: Ø Uniforms: Ø Other:

Funding Sources Ø Ø Ø Booster Club Support Additional Fundraisers Hosting Competition Events Finding a volunteer coach Local Team Sponsor

The Faces Behind the Numbers If you have girls in your elementary, junior high, or high school program, whether now or in the past, name and highlight some of them here. Share pictures and stories.

QUESTIONS? If you/someone in your school has Adobe Illustrator and wants to customize these logo colors so that they match school colors, click on the file below and you’ll be able to edit accordingly.