Girls wrestling as a sport has been struggling to gain traction for a while now, as the sport itself has remained fairly small. Only in recent years has a girls district wrestling team been introduced to Mead High School and St. Vrain Valley Schools. This has caused Mead to see a major increase in the number of girls registering, going from six to roughly 21 athletes on the team as of the 2023-2024 season.
The very first wrestling season for girls in SVVSD was during the winter of 2020, with another full season immediately following. Then a brief eight-week season right in the middle of COVID. Despite the hesitation of Boulder County due to COVID restrictions, the sanctioning of an official girls team was made legal by the state of Colorado.
Coach Rachel Salaz reflects on how quickly the process went in creating the team.
“It was a Tuesday that they had the meeting, [and] I found out I got the job with no interview,” she said.
She was offered the job with the simple question: “Hey, want to be a coach?”.
Salaz added that although this was great news, they were still trying to collect gear and uniforms for the girls as the practice was starting.
She said that “It’s taken us a couple of years to get everything that we needed. This season is the first or second that we had our bags and warm-ups.”
Journals and weekly reflections, assigned by Coach Rachel Salaz and Rich Salaz have been part of the success as the team has achieved new improvements. They wanted each player to write about their practices and competitions, with specific sections that would help athletes reflect on practice and areas of improvement.
Typically, at the beginning of the week, the team and both coaches come together and share their reflections from the previous competition, including the areas they felt they’d improved on and what they need to continue to work on. This also allows each of the athletes to share what they’ve observed of their team mates and give each other feedback and constructive criticism — this being crucial for team building and individual growth.
As a collective, the Mead girls wrestling team has offered an opportunity for athletes district wide to compete and improve athletically, while also providing a safe and clean environment for women to be both “beautiful and tough” as Coach Rachel famously says.
