When Kaelyn MacKay was 8 years old, her mom wanted her to learn about self-defense.
So she learned Brazilian jiu-jitsu, competing locally and working her way up. She did it for eight years, but then had the realization that jiu-jitsu isn’t an option in college.
As she started classes at McLean High School, MacKay considered wrestling. The competitions are similar, she said.
She debated joining the boys’ wrestling team her freshman year, but “my dad didn’t want me to join the boys’ team,” MacKay said.
Two years later, Fairfax County made girls’ varsity wrestling a new sports option. MacKay was eager to join and did, becoming part of a cohort of first-ever team members across the Northern Virginia suburb.
Now, MacKay and two other students who were part of the inaugural teams have been recruited to compete in college. She called the new sports opportunity “a golden ticket.”
“Girls should have the same chance as anybody else,” MacKay said. “Wrestling is a very inclusive sport. You can be any shape or size, so it’s very impactful for all girls. You don’t have to be a certain type of person to try wrestling, anybody can do it.”
MacKay will wrestle at Ithaca College, as will Oakton High graduate Kate Crockett.
Crockett started wrestling at the end of eighth grade and knew she wanted to continue in high school, expecting it would help with focus and time management. She anticipated the hourslong practices and ability relies on a team that would help shape her high school experience.
When Crockett initially joined Oakton’s wrestling team, many of the tournaments were co-ed. There were four girls total her first year, but this school year, with girls’ varsity its own category, there were 13.
Some girls, Crockett said, were hesitant to join the sport because they didn’t think they’d have a place.
The countywide change enabled Crockett to participate in more tournaments.
“Sometimes, people have a misconception about girls’ wrestling, thinking that it’s less challenging and less competitive and overall discredit the amount of work that a lot of the girls put in,” Crockett said. “Just because it’s smaller, that doesn’t mean it’s not as hard and that doesn’t mean that we don’t work as hard in order to accomplish our goals.”
Lewis High School graduate Ashley Lopez similarly considered wrestling as a way to navigate stress and establish a routine. Initially, “it was mostly like I would compete against boys,” she said.
There were about three girls on the team when she started, but Lopez said after the change, it’s becoming more appealing.
“The legacy we’re leaving behind is that girls can also wrestle,” Lopez said. “We can also do it, too. We work just as hard. We are all wrestlers in the sport.”
Lopez will be wrestling at Marymount University after connecting with the coach there during a recruitment camp.
Jason Planakis, head wrestling coach at Lewis High School, said there are an increasing number of girls-only tournaments and expanding collegiate opportunities.
The amount of time it took for girls’ wrestling to become its own varsity sport was frustrating, he said, but “that’s what it was, and we’re here now, so we’re all pretty excited that everybody has the opportunity.”
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