Celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day

Every year during the first week of February, National Girls and Women in Sports Day is held to acknowledge the accomplishments of female athletes, recognize the influence of sports participation for women and girls and honor the progress for equality for women in sports.

I’m noticing advancements in women’s sports each year, and it makes me hopeful for the future.

From girls wrestling to flag football, more sports are being added for girls starting at a young age.

Locally, high school girls wrestling continues to expand. This year, the sport was split into two divisions and we noticed more teams being able to compete in duals as they fill out their rosters.

The Creston team has 11 girls on the roster, eight of whom competed at regionals last week.

I’ve been to every girls wrestling regionals since it began in 2022-23 season. It’s come a long way since then.

We send four girls to state this season with East Union sending two. Last year, the two teams were combined with Lenox in the Highway 34 team. They sent a total of four between the three schools. The first year, we only sent one.

Not only are skills growing and rosters filling out, the sport is amassing more fans.

The state tournament is held at the Xtream Arena in Coralville, but I doubt the facility will be able to house the competition much longer.

Last year, the arena sold out of tickets on the first day, and you could tell the stands were absolutely packed.

This year should be better as the Class 2A will compete this morning and 1A in the evening tonight. This will help spread out fans as well.

In the collegiate era, opportunities for women are expanding as well.

In January, the NCAA Board of Governors voted unanimously to establish a pay structure for women competing in March Madness.

Starting in the 2025 season, a combined $15 million will be awarded to the teams, which makes up 26% of the women’s basketball media revenue deal. It will increase to $20 million for the 2026-27 fiscal year and reach $25 million starting with the 2027-28 fiscal year. The units earned will be paid out to the schools starting in 2026 on a rolling three-year basis.

The longer a school stays in the tournament, the more units the school’s conference receives. With a Final Four appearance, a team could bring its conference $1.26 million over the next three years. The revenue distribution plan for the women’s tournament is similar to the men’s.

Last year’s women’s national championship game drew in record attendance and also saw 18.7 million viewers tune in, becoming the most-watched women’s college basketball game ever with an 89% increase from the 2023 championship game. It also outdrew the men’s national championship game by 3 million viewers.

In terms of opportunities, women’s wrestling is moving toward becoming an NCAA championship sport, projected for winter 2026.

If approved by NCAA members, women’s wrestling will become the sixth sport to earn NCAA championship status through the Emerging Sports for Women program, established in 1994 based on a recommendation from the NCAA Gender Equity Task Force. It would join rowing (1996), ice hockey (2000), water polo (2000), bowling (2003) and beach volleyball (2015).

Smaller schools are also adding women’s wrestling to their lineup, giving high school athletes a chance to continue competing without having to choose an NCAA Division I school.

Sports provide so many wonderful skills and life lessons that can be utilized off the court or field.

We need both girls and boys to be able to experience working on a team, failing, trying again and all the other intrinsic parts of being on the athletic field.

Women’s sports are not going anywhere, in fact, they’re surging.

The rise of female athletes like Simone Biles, Ilona Maher and Caitlin Clark have helped give women’s sports center stage.

In 2025, women’s sports account for 20% of all sports coverage, up from less than 6% in 2019.

Many of us women were born with a love for competition; it’s up to us to help the next generation step into the spotlight.