Why Women’s Wrestling Needs More Female Coaches

As women’s wrestling booms in popularity, it’s time to address the leadership gap.

In a few weeks, I’ll begin my last season as a collegiate wrestler. Eight years have passed since I first stepped on the mat. Since then, I’ve watched women’s wrestling boom in popularity. At the high school level, the number of high school girls participating has more than doubled in the last five years.¹ And earlier this year, the NCAA officially sanctioned women’s wrestling as its 91st sport.² Tournaments are expanding, rosters are filling, and teams that once had one or two girls now have entire starting lineups. This is a historic moment. 

But look at the corners of the mat. Who’s coaching these girls?

Still, overwhelmingly, men.

This mismatch should shock us. In a sport where the number of female athletes has skyrocketed, meaning coaching opportunities have multiplied, the proportion of female coaches has yet to catch up. A 2019 New York Times article recognizes that while Title IX improved access to collegiate women’s sports, the legislation left leadership unequal, with only half of coaching positions in collegiate women’s sports being filled by women.³ This disparity reveals where the infrastructure in women’s sports and especially women’s wrestling falls short. 

Some of the barriers are visible, such as nascent alumni networks, limited mentorship, and unequal hiring practices. A worldwide survey project known as FEMCoach⁴ published results that revealed most women coaches (78%) and men coaches (64%) acknowledge that coaching opportunities differ by gender. Even after securing a coaching position, a large majority of women coaches (80%) and over half of men coaches (54%) believe that women in coaching positions encounter mistrust.

Such mistreatments point towards the real culprit: longstanding cultural values surrounding sports that “lead some men to believe coaching belongs to them.”⁴ Indeed, many of my own teammates feel underqualified to coach, even after years of high-level competition. That’s not humility. It’s called imposter syndrome,⁵ an unsurprising result of time spent in a sport where norm is to see men in charge. Now, imagine a men’s wrestling team coached entirely by women. That would raise eyebrows. But for women, an all-male coaching staff is accepted as normal… This imbalance sends an unspoken message, one that is in desperate need of change.

Importantly, the issue at hand is more than just a problem of poor optics or representation. It’s a matter of safety. Young female athletes face elevated risks of mental health challenges, including disordered eating,⁶  which in turn is associated with higher injury rates.⁷ Thus, in a weight-class sport like wrestling where disordered eating is especially common and often invisible, placing women in leadership is essential. This is because female coaches tend to prioritize safety, positivity, and age-appropriate sports experience,”⁸ all of which support physical and psychosocial well-being.

Without women in coaching positions, we’re also losing retention and long-term investment in women’s wrestling. Coaches play a huge role in how likely youth athletes will be to continue in sports participation.⁹ Furthermore, athletes who are exposed to same-gender head coaches have higher self-efficacy toward coaching.¹⁰  In other words, visibility is power. When young women see themselves reflected in leadership, they’re more likely to envision futures in the sport. 

To be clear, this article is not a critique of the many excellent male coaches who’ve taught and mentored me. It’s a wake-up call. As we build the future of women’s wrestling, we can’t keep filling it with voices from the past. Some may argue that coaching is a meritocracy, where gender doesn’t matter and men are simply more qualified. But a meritocracy only works when the opportunities to prove merit are equally accessible. When female coaches are under-recruited and underpaid,¹¹ it’s not a meritocracy—it’s discrimination.

Others argue that the solution is simply to provide further education for all coaches about female physiology and psychology (of course, we should). But pretending that education alone replaces lived experience is a far reach. A sport that’s changing this fast especially needs leaders who understand firsthand the unique experiences, obstacles, and strengths of female athletes. Plus, gender aside, all young athletes should have the opportunity to notice female coaches in wrestling and acknowledge that women can hold positions of power.

We need to act from the top down and from the mat up.

At the top, athletic directors must be held accountable not just for winning seasons, but for building diverse coaching staffs. In support, alumni and donors can push for programs to create part-time and flexible pathways into coaching for women. These opportunities also need to include paying female coaches enough to stay in the sport. Parents have a role, too. Ask who’s coaching your daughters and what’s being done to diversify leadership. Advocate for programs to hire, train, and retain women coaches. Your voice carries significant weight in youth and high school programs.

We also need change from the grassroots level. To my fellow female wrestlers—especially my graduating class, you are exactly who this moment needs. You don’t need a gold medal to start coaching women’s wrestling. What you do need is experience, empathy, and a willingness to learn. Start small. Volunteer with a local team. Get certified. Shadow other coaches. Your mere presence can reshape the culture and show the next generation they belong. 

This past year, I started volunteering as an assistant coach at a co-ed Beat the Streets Junior League Wrestling Club, and I plan coach during my gap year before medical school as well. I coach not because I have decades of experience but because I know how much it matters for girls to see women in coaching positions. Personally, before spending the past three years with Emma Randall¹² as my head coach, I never would have considered coaching after graduation. It’s thanks to her presence that I began to see coaching as a real possibility for myself. 

We are living in a breakthrough moment for women’s wrestling. This generation has already pioneered the way for women to wrestle at the high school and collegiate level, but the story isn’t finished. If we want this growth to last, we have to build pathways forward. Every girl who laces up her shoes deserves to see not a finish line at graduation but a future to continue in her sport. And that future should look like her.

Citations

1. NFHS High School Sports Participation: Boys and Girls Wrestling make big gains in 2023-24. August 20, 2024. Accessed August 13, 2025. https://www.themat.com/news/2024/august/20/nfhs-high-school-sports-participation-boys-and-girls-wrestling-make-big-gains-in-2023-24

2. NCAA adds women’s wrestling as 91st championship. NCAA.org. January 17, 2025. Accessed August 13, 2025. https://www.ncaa.org/news/2025/1/17/media-center-ncaa-adds-womens-wrestling-as-91st-championship.aspx

3. Hutchins C, Curry E, Flaherty M. Opinion | Where Are All the Women Coaches? The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/31/opinion/Women-coaching-sports-title-ix.html. December 31, 2019. Accessed August 13, 2025.

4. Dias V, Calleja-Gonzalez J, López-Ros V, et al. Analysing gender disparities in youth sports coaching: an international survey (FEMCoach project). Front Psychol. 2025;16. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1560764

5. Defeating Impostor Syndrome as Female Coaches. LuchaFit. Accessed August 13, 2025. https://www.luchafit.com/articles/defeating-impostor-syndrome-as-female-coaches

6. Coelho GM de O, Gomes AI da S, Ribeiro BG, Soares E de A. Prevention of eating disorders in female athletes. Open Access J Sports Med. 2014;5:105-113. doi:10.2147/OAJSM.S36528

7. Rauh MJ, Nichols JF, Barrack MT. Relationships Among Injury and Disordered Eating, Menstrual Dysfunction, and Low Bone Mineral Density in High School Athletes: A Prospective Study. J Athl Train. NaN/NaN/NaN;45(3):243-252. doi:10.4085/1062-6050-45.3.243

8. McCleery J, Tereschenko I, Li L, Copeland N. Gender Differences in Coaching Behaviors Supportive of Positive Youth Sports Experience. Women Sport Phys Act J. 2023;31(2):63-72. doi:10.1123/wspaj.2022-0024

9. Wekesser MM, Harris BS, Langdon J, Wilson CH. Coaches’ impact on youth athletes’ intentions to continue sport participation: The mediational influence of the coach–athlete relationship. Int J Sports Sci Coach. 2021;16(3):490-499. doi:10.1177/1747954121991817

10. Are Women Coached by Women More Likely to Become Sport Coaches? Head Coach Gender and Female Collegiate Athletes’ Entry into the Coaching Profession in: Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal Volume 27 Issue 2 (2019). Accessed August 13, 2025. https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/wspaj/27/2/article-p85.xml

11. Beyond X’s & O’s. Women’s Sports Foundation. Accessed August 13, 2025. https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/articles_and_report/beyond-xs-os-report/

12. The NYC RTC names Emma Randall as Head Women’s Coach. April 28, 2021. Accessed August 14, 2025. https://www.themat.com/news/features/2021/april/28/emma-randall-named-womens-coach-for-nyc-rtc