Tomboys

Most girls use to cheer for the boys, but now they have moved onto the court, into the weight room and finally in the ultimate, intimate contact sport onto the mat. Fifteen year old Patrice is competing with for the lightweight wrestling title at her high school. “I have a passion for wrestling,” says Patrice. “No one is gonna stop me from competing for the title.”

But in the real game, competition with boys can be brutal. Girls have more opportunity but they still battle for equal position often having to prove they are even tougher than their teammates to be taken seriously by coaches and male athletes. Patrice remembers crying in the bathroom before one wrestling match after being taunted and teased by boys on the opposing team. Other girls are treated differently by coaches who call them “team sweethearts” rather than “team players.”

Experts say adolescent girls who commonly struggle with a shaken identity can collapse under that kind of pressure despite great athletic potential. They can find power in a parent, especially Dad. Psychologists advise fathers to encourage their daughters as much as their sons and defend their ability to compete mentally and physically with male athletes.

What Parents Should Know

Sports could be as important for your daughter as they are for your son. Studies show adolescent girls who play sports have better than average self-esteem, body image, and grades. They are also less likely to use drugs and have sex. Some research shows that as many as 80 percent of Fortune 500 female executives played sports as young girls and considered themselves tomboys.

The Women Sports Foundation reports that female athletes are less likely to engage in sex during adolescents, have sex less often if they are sexually active and have fewer sexual partners than their non-athletic girl friends. Girl athletes are also more likely to use contraceptives.

Seventeen year old Ashley Martin, a kicker for her high school football team and this year‘s homecoming queen, is trying to win a college scholarship for kicking. “Why would I want to put in all this hard work and practice and then go out and use drugs or risk getting pregnant,” says Ashley. And, Ashley has proven girls can play against the boys and still maintain their femininity. “I get sweaty on the field,” says Ashley. “But, then I come home, wash up, put on a pretty dress and smell good again.”