By Scott Roblin

Medicine Hat’s wrestling scene looking for more female athletes

Mar 21, 2019 | 12:18 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – When it comes to the local wrestling scene, the vast majority of young athletes in Medicine Hat are male.

But a rising movement is taking place in the Medicine Hat clubs, in the hopes of getting more girls hooked on hitting the mat.

The Medicine Hat Hawks wrestling team is putting out the call for more girls to join up, regardless of experience with the sport before.

According to Hawks coaches, only a quarter to a third of all their athletes are female and they would like to get that number up.

One of the Hawks girls earning some success in her fourth year with the program is bantam wrestler Abby Bacon, who is coming off a silver medal at the recent Alberta Open Provincial competition at Medicine Hat High School.

Young minds, big ideas: Elementary students learn about urban planning with 'Box City'

19h ago

HERE'S WHAT TO KNOW

Summer pool hours extended and discounts applied as Big Marble Go Centre upgrades start

Apr 18, 2024

Medicine Hat company drawing in clients with witty signage

Apr 16, 2024

She didn’t consider herself a wrestling candidate growing up, until one of her coaches brought up the idea of trying out the sport.

“I used to play football and my coach was like, ‘Hey, you should try out wrestling,’” said Bacon. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, why not?’ So, yeah I’m here now.”

She’s part of a growing roster of young female wrestlers in the bantam division, joined by 12-year-old Kimberley Maine.

A bronze medallist over the weekend, Maine said the female wrestling community extends beyond the confines of clubs and spills out at events like provincials.

“I know there’s a lot of people here that are new that I haven’t seen, but now I’m really good friends with,” said Maine. “So, I feel like wrestling brings people closer.”

Maine decided to try out the sport three years ago as an outlet for her physical and competitive personality, something she said has been a big benefit to improving her athletic ability.

Whenever she lines up across from another female competitor, Maine said it drives her to become a better wrestler.

“No one really thinks that girls would want to do this sport,” said Maine. “But, for me it’s something the motivates me when I see more and more people joining.”

Along with the results from the Alberta Open Provincials, some of the Hawks best results over the last few years have come from female wrestlers.

Topping the list is Grade 10 student Bailee McNaughton, who took home bronze at the 2018 U17/U19 Canadian Championships.

Bacon said they’re out to prove that wrestling isn’t just for the boys, which she hopes will draw more locals to the mat.

“It actually really makes me happy because there’s not a lot of girls,” said Bacon. “Everyone is like, ‘Oh yeah, this is a boys sport and you can’t do this.’ And, seeing more girls come out… more girls are getting stronger and we’re actually stepping up. We’re not being scared of anything, we’re actually stronger than most people think.”