The Virginia High School League (VHSL) is the group in charge of regulating Virginia’s competitive high school sports and academic teams. Founded in 1913, they aim to encourage athletic and academic competition among schools and foster a community of dedicated athletes and scholars in Virginia- but recently, they’ve been failing at supporting that mission, and students are calling them out.
After a scandal involving Hayfield High School’s football team and the illegal transfers of students to play under their new head coach, VHSL came under fire for their lack of action surrounding the incident, aiming to protect FCPS officials instead of bringing them to justice. An article from the ‘Fairfax Times’ detailed a similar situation that occurred surrounding the Edison High basketball coach just last month, with the head coach illegally recruiting from other schools in the area and beyond. Although the Edison coach was then fired, these incidents have left a stain on the reputation of Virginia’s Football and Basketball programs – and, most recently, VHSL’s shortcomings have affected girls wrestling.
After years of pushback from female wrestlers being forced to play on men’s teams, VHSL instituted girls-only wrestling teams to begin competing in the 2024-25 season. The season went according to plan – female wrestlers from across the state competed in meets, and the entirety of the Robinson girls wrestling team made it to district finals in February. Three of those Robinson wrestlers won their matches, and multiple Robinson wrestlers were headed to state finals in late February.
The team was excited – their first season was a success. They gathered together a dedicated team of female wrestlers, trained for countless hours, and participated in meets and tournaments that were both Robinson and county-wide firsts for womens wrestling.
Yet, in the midst of the celebration for their accomplishments, no one knew that 266 female athletes who won awards and accolades for womens wrestling, wouldn’t receive medals, trophies, or a podium to signify their accomplishments.
After a district qualifier meet for female wrestlers on February 1st, coaches in Zone 2 – one of four zones, or groupings, of schools in which Virginia’s female wrestlers can compete – were informed that their wrestlers would not be receiving medals for any of their wins, and that no teams would receive trophies. The same was then confirmed to be true for the other three zones of women’s wrestling.
After a group of outraged coaches and competitors alike asked VHSL officials why these athletes weren’t to be granted medals for their wins, they were told that girls wrestling was an ‘emerging sport’ and that it wasn’t allowed for female wrestlers to receive medals. The Virginia High School League also strictly prohibited the distribution of blank medals – already purchased by an outside sponsor, Virginia Challenge Wrestling – and made for the athletes to receive at the event. The league prohibited athletes from receiving any accolades for their performance and achievements, which is already controversial in it of itself- however, after a user on Instagram, going under the handle @holdvhslaccountable, looked through preexisting VHSL rules and regulations, they discovered that there is no restriction on new sports to receive medals. Podiums, trophies, medals, and other awards are all permitted- even for new and ‘emerging’ sports- by VHSL decree.
Further, the existence of ‘emerging sports’ is not limited to girls wrestling. Boys volleyball was introduced as another new sport to VHSL competition just this year, and players in all divisions received medals and awards for their work. There was no mention of ‘emerging sports’ when congratulating athletes for their accomplishments, and no indication that withholding medals was even an option that had been considered for these male athletes.
I conferenced with Mike McCall, the media and public relations director of the Virginia High School League, while investigating their lack-of-explanation surrounding the incident. McCall explicitly stated that “we [VHSL] do not distribute medals for district or zone qualifiers,” and that the rumors that VHSL had denied girls wrestlers medals were false- they simply did not offer them. When asked about the blank medals that were offered to the wrestlers, he stated that he wasn’t aware of any blank medals purchased by the school or offered to the athletes, regardless of the multiple sources present at the event saying that VHSL officials denied them the blank medals.
On February 26th, an update was made regarding the situation- according to Chris Robinson, a VHSL representative, a proposal to the VHSL board of directors was made to move girls wrestling from an ‘emerging sport’ to a fully sanctioned sport in May- however, this doesn’t entirely rectify the situation.
The denial of any and all relation to the incident and the immediate move to push girls wrestling to fully sanctioned sport is, to many, suspicious, with many parents, students, and community members agreeing that VHSL’s actions are made to act as a cover-up for their actions. However, even if you choose to take VHSL officials at their word, they still have a lot to answer for in regards to women’s wrestling and their handling of sport in general.
Although it’s clear VHSL has been making strides towards equality, they are nowhere near perfect. VHSL has been failing Virginia’s student-athletes for years, but the situation surrounding girls wrestling has been particularly egregious, and that doesn’t strictly involve awards and trophies. VHSL scheduled state competitions for women’s wrestlers on a Thursday, requiring athletes to miss up to three days of school for competition and travel. Men’s wrestling finals were slated to occur on a Saturday. Although state competitions are frequently during the week, VHSL could have easily placed womens’ wrestling state finals on the Saturday of, or the Saturday before, the male wrestlers competition, allowing athletes both the time to focus on their studies and be involved in sport.
Further, girls wrestling was districted with no regard to athletic competition- VHSL split every girls wrestling team in the state into four, drastically uneven districts, with some districts having upwards of 120 schools, and others having less than 25 schools districted to their area. It gives an unfair advantage to those competing in smaller districts, and VHSL has made no attempts to rectify the situation or provide an explanation to those in larger districts, who have to face more opponents on the road to state finals and beyond.
The Virginia High School League has denied any wrongdoing surrounding the medal situation – but they aren’t off the hook, and female wrestlers are aiming to hold them accountable, with more updates periodically being released to the @holdvhslaccountable Instagram account.
As the future of women’s sports progresses, so have the injustices pertaining to female athletes. It’s no longer banning women from playing, or sidelining girls’ sports as secondary to their male counterparts – but these small acts of inequality are still unjust. VHSL has made progress in righting these wrongs, but only time will tell if their reforms to girls wrestling are effective – or if it’s simply another example of VHSL letting down its student-athletes.
