“As a girl, most people already don’t take you seriously, therefore you have to work much harder just to catch up with the guys and prove that you are serious about your sport.” This is the biggest challenge according to Kiarra Churchill about being a girl on the Hamilton Southeastern Wrestling team. Being a girl on a team with guys is a lot of pressure to always put your best effort in. “You feel out of place. It often takes a while to feel comfortable and open up to the guys, but now they always treat me like a wrestler, and not just a girl.” As high schoolers, being on a coed sports team helps teenagers better communicate and develop stronger social skills with their peers. When boys and girls come together to compete in a sport, they learn how to work as a team, cooperate, and support each other. These skills can be used in other aspects of their lives, including academics and careers. Being on a coed team gives equal opportunities for men and women to compete at the highest level of their sport. Kiarra explains how “Wrestling is a unique sport because it positively changes your mindset. It teaches discipline and requires sacrifice and hard work. Overall, it has made me a better person on and off the mat.” Teams with mixed genders cultivate more of a variety of skills among teammates, they allow players to develop a new perspective of the sport and become better people on and off the mat, as Kiarra states. Kiarra’s favorite part about being an HSE athlete is the people. “Since being a wrestler takes commitment, dedication, and hard work, I take pride in participating in a sport that the majority would not do. As a team, everyone pushes each other to improve, which is why we are so close and treat each other like a family.” The head Wrestling coach, Coach Brobst states, “We’ve been lucky to have the support of the school and the Athletic Directors here at HSE to make our team grow from 1 girl 4 years ago to 3, to last year 9, and this year 12.” Many schools near us have started growing their Wrestling teams and adding more girls. Coach Brobst hopes we can get to 20+ girls on our team next year and is excited to see how our team and the teams around us will continue to grow.