As the school day comes to a close and students prepare themselves for an afternoon of practices or games on one of the high school’s various sports teams, one detail often goes unnoticed: many of these teams blur the lines of traditional gender-separated sports.
The high school presents student-athletes with some teams who have co-ed environments, for instance, football, wrestling and rugby – among others. Such settings help promote respect and inclusivity despite gender boundaries in sports.
Rugby head coach Jarrod Dyke leads practice for both the girls and boys teams. Before COVID, the rugby team at the high school was fully co-ed, but with a surge in female participation, two teams emerged. However, while the teams themselves compete in a gender-specific setting, their practices are co-ed. According to Dyke, a big emphasis is placed on mutual respect between the two teams.
“It’s just a simple respect thing. You would not want to disrespect anyone if it was your brother or sister, so treat each other as such,” Dyke said.
Regardless of having separated teams, Dyke said the community environment is one big group. According to Dyke, the two teams demonstrate support for each other through bonding events and cheering at each other’s games.
“[Conjoined teams] just makes up for a better environment overall because the tighter we get, even as a bigger group, the better it is,” Dyke said.
Dyke said the goal of the rugby teams is ultimately to create an environment where the level of respect is the same, if not higher, than gender-specific teams in an effort to quell biases.
“You still have to treat each other with respect and how you want to be treated, and it’s also still about making sure that everyone feels like that’s a safe space for them as well,” Dyke said.
Wrestling head coach Brandon Bruttomesso has been working with the team for three years. According to Bruttomesso, wrestling is currently the fastest-growing Division 1 sport. At the high school level, there has been an influx of female participation on the team. In this season, the wrestling team currently has three female athletes.
Bruttomesso said that inclusivity is highly enforced regardless of skill level or gender.
“I really put a big emphasis on inclusivity in my room, regardless of skill level. If you want to be a wrestler, if you want to work hard, or you want to show up and do what I’m asking you to do, you’re more than welcome to come in,” Bruttomesso said. “If there’s ever an instance where somebody makes anybody feel uncomfortable regardless, whether it’s because of their gender or because of their race, religion, sexuality, whatever, I am very adamant about immediately putting a stop to it.”
Dyke said that having co-ed practices leads to opportunities for inclusive communities to emerge where athletes can learn values that he hopes will stick with them beyond high school.
“I think we do a good job of fostering a good environment for people to come grow [and] learn, and just be better people,” Dyke said.
Bruttomesso said inclusivity and support for female wrestlers is visible on the high school team, as well as at the travel matches. He said there is a mutual acknowledgment of discipline between both female and male wrestlers, which in turn generates respect.
“There’s a general baseline respect for anybody that steps into the room because everybody understands the hard work, the dedication [and] the discipline that it takes and the guts that it takes to walk in the room, whether you’re a guy or a girl,” Bruttomesso said.
One of Bruttomesso’s approaches to coaching a co-ed team is treating all athletes equally, regardless of gender.
“For the most part, the approach is the same. I just try to treat everybody as a wrestler rather than a female wrestler or a male wrestler,” Bruttomesso said.
Deshawn Richardson has been the head coach of the freshman football team for five years. As a Warrior alumnus, Richardson said there has always been an opportunity for girls to join the team, but only recently has that possibility been realized.
This year, the first female in recent history joined the football program. Richardson said this female athlete served as an example of a student-athlete pushing gender barriers.
“For her to do what she did this year, it shows anyone can do it. There’s always been interest, you know? Having her this year was a realization: girls can do this,” Richardson said.
Richardson said that students with an interest in sports dominated by the opposite gender should reach out and try something new.
“Just do it. Go for it. If you have the interest, go for it, try it,” Richardson said. “You never know if it might be for you.”