Do Freestyle Women Wrestlers Need To Find Balance In Sex Appeal And Respect?

December 10, 2023,

The growth of female freestyle wrestling is phenomenal. The word is definitely out on that one.

Even if you are a casual fan, you probably knew that.

But probably not much else.

Can you name three female freestyle wrestlers who are achieving incredible results? We’ll open this up broadly. High school, college or the Olympics. Who?

Now, this test is not for family friends, coaches or teammates. The choir, so to speak.

It is for the general public.

In our eyes, this is the challenge that high school and collegiate female freestyle wrestling is having.

In terms of notoriety, it is almost as though they are doing things in the dark. Yes, the choir knows what they are doing but few others. Growth is wonderful but it only goes so far if few in the general public know who you are and what you are doing. Before people care about what you are doing, they have to care about you.

Make sense?

Real life example.

FCI attended a massive women’s freestyle wrestling event in Rocklin, California. One of our associates struck up a conversation with a coach and the coach pointed to a wrestler and stated how good she was and we should watch her.

So, we did.

Was she good?

Better than good actually. She was great.

Did we write a story about her? No, because even if we did, we sense our audience wouldn’t read it because even though, to the choir, she is a big star, to a general audience, virtually no one knows who she is.

Why is this significant?

Many reasons, but let’s face it, primarily money.

Some would say, in terms of endorsements, it is not fair to compare female sports to the boys because the males get more TV and media coverage. The question is why?

Star power.

Even if you are a casual college football fan, we suspect, unlike our quiz above, you can name three stars. Pick your position. And you know what, even at the collegiate level, with the legal power of NIL (Name, Image, Likeness), college football players are getting huge financial deals.

Let’s look at a few examples.

As reported by www.on3.com, an exceptional source for college sports information, Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders earned $4.4 million, Arch Manning $2.8 mil, USC quarterback Caleb Williams $2.8 mil, Colorado cornerback Travis Hunter $2.1 mil, Oregon quarterback Bo Nix $1.6 mil and so it goes. We think you get the point.

Notoriety with a general audience is super important.

Part of the challenge for women’s freestyle wrestling to become more lucrative, in our opinion, having covered them for years, is their own thinking regarding self-promotion. Here is our theory.

Women’s wrestling, for decades, has been so sexualized that it was not balanced. Once young women in high schools and colleges began to wrestle, they wanted to make it crystal clear that they wanted attention for their wrestling and not their beauty or sexiness. Understood. The question is, in terms of gaining fame, notoriety and NIL money, is it balanced?

Another true story.

We contracted out with a well-known collegiate female freestyle wrestler to write a story.

She agreed.

Then we asked her if she would pose for Macy’s and she did not return our email.

Keeping things the way they are, the best opportunity for a freestyle wrestler to make money after gradution is to go inside a professional MMA cage, punch, kick, bleed and punish, to make money.

That doesn’t sound like a great future to us.

Somehow the industry needs to go beyond the choir for self-promotion and since others are doing it, we’re confident they can to.

Let’s walk over to the bookstore.

NIL For ALL: A 30-Minute Guide to NIL Paperback – Large Print, February 17, 2023

By Mark R. Koesterer (Author), Elizabeth Silane Haughton Esq. (Author)

“Name Image Likeness (NIL) is for everyone. This book is designed to help student athletes, families, coaches and administrators understand the basic concepts behind understanding NIL and building an NIL brand. In 30 minutes or less, learn about the Five Pillars of NIL education. This book will make NIL relatable and attainable.”

Sounds like a good read, especially if you are a student female freestyle wrestler. It may be a way to open up yourself to new ideas that can greatly benefit you.

Another one.

This book in philosophy, speaks to what we are thinking and we advocate that young female freestyle wrestlers think about.

Andrea-Raffin-Shutterstock.com_Editorial use fciwomenswrestling.com femcompetititor.com grapplingstars.com,

Brag Better: Master the Art of Fearless Self-Promotion Hardcover – June 16, 2020

By Meredith Fineman (Author)

“This effortless and unapologetic approach to self-promotion will manage your anxiety and allow you to champion yourself.

Does talking about your accomplishments feel scary or icky because you’re worried people will think you’re “obnoxious”?

Does it feel more natural to “put your head down and do the work”?

Are you tired of watching the loudest people in your industry get disproportionate praise and rewards?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above, you might be self-sabotaging. You need to learn to Brag Better. Meredith Fineman has built a career working with “The Qualified Quiet”: smart people who struggle to talk about themselves and thus go underestimated or unrecognized. Now, she shares the surefire and anxiety-proof strategies that have helped her clients effectively communicate their achievements and skillsets to others.

Bragging Better doesn’t require false bravado, talking over people, or pretending to be more qualified than you are. Instead, Fineman advocates finding quiet confidence in your opinions, abilities, and background, and then turning up the volume. In this book, you will learn the career-changing tools she’s developed over the past decade that make bragging feel easy, including:

Get remembered by focusing your personal brand and voice on key adjectives (like “effective, subtle, and edgy”)
Practice explaining what you do in simple, sticky terms to earn respect and recognition from the public and people at work.
Eliminate words that undermine your work and find better ones–like your bio saying you’re “trying” or “attempting” to do something instead that you ARE doing it.

If you’re ready to begin Bragging Better–to telling the truth about your accomplishments with grace and confidence–this book is for you.”

A little over the top? Maybe. But we like to over sell than undersell, which we feel the female freestylers are doing.

Get your name and brand out there. Build your Social Media. Work hard on the mats but absolutely think beyond them. There is a whole big financial world out there and your fellow athletes from other ports are cashing in on it.

Why be the starving college student when you don’t have to be.

Find ways to promote yourself.

Then the new stars in today’s female freestyle wrestling industry will get noticed way beyond the choir.