To the editor:
I’m voting Yes on Feb. 5, and I hope you will also.
As the father of two female wrestlers, I get to witness firsthand the growth in the number of females in this great sport. Nationally, female wrestling is one of the fastest-growing sports.
In Iowa the number of participants has quadrupled in 5 years. from 40 in 2013 to 164 in 2018. This year alone, we saw two firsts in girls wrestling: a girls dual meet and a Girls State Tournament.
With this growth and the number of girls out locally between the Junior Jay program and Middle School program, the future is bright for women’s wrestling. Our current facility is not adequate to accommodate girls to the Perry Wrestling team.
The current wrestling room is located west of the football field and has limited space for wrestlers when it comes to available mat space. More importantly is the ability to shower after practice to help control any types of skin issues.
Currently, there is a locker room with showers just for male athletes. The coaches have no shower facility and so must wait until all the athletes have left to shower. Any females must go home and shower or walk back to the school. There is nowhere for them to changein the current facility, so they must change at the school and then walk over.
It would be great to have a facility attached to the school with adequate locker rooms to alleviate these issues and potential liability concerns.
Wrestlers are a tough breed. They have made do for the past 50 years in Perry as the room has been constantly moved around to make work. It’s time we give them a permanent home in the high school and adequate facilities.
Vote Yes on Feb. 5.
Michael Peterson
Perry
