All-girls wrestling club launches in Philipsburg

PHILIPSBURG — Central Pennsylvania’s first All-Girls Wrestling Club, GiRL POWR, will launch in Philipsburg this December.  

Open to girls in fourth grade and up, GiRL POWR is being established by Brad Pataky, the current head wrestling coach at Philipsburg-Osceola High School, which is where the club sessions will take place. However, the club is not affiliated with the school, nor is it limited to girls in the Philipsburg-Osceola school district.

“Geographically, we have had interest from girls all over Pennsylvania, and even outside of Pennsylvania,” Pataky said. “I have parents reaching out to me from Harrisburg, from the Philadelphia area, even from Maryland.”

According to Pataky, the impetus for the club’s creation came from a trip to a national wrestling tournament this summer, where he was approached by parents who were looking for a place to send their girls to train. He felt that Philipsburg’s central location made it the perfect spot to pursue an all-girls wrestling club.

“Prior to this, girls from central Pennsylvania had to travel across the state to Philadelphia or Pittsburgh to find anything similar,” he said. If they were not able to travel, the only other option was to wrestle with boys. That has several drawbacks, including the fact that boys often train in different styles of wrestling than freestyle, which is the style females use in national and international competition, such as the Olympics. 

Pataky sees this club as an opportunity for more girls in Pennsylvania to be exposed to the sport and to gain wrestling experience.
“Pennsylvania is really behind the curve as far as girls’ wrestling goes,” said Pataky. “In a lot of states, particularly out west, there are high school girls’ teams who compete against each other. States like Arizona and California have state tournaments and that sort of thing.

‘Pennsylvania  is one of the best states in the country for boys wrestling; there’s no reason we can’t have that same success with girls someday.”

But for now, he said, “We’re really in the beta stage of this. I would love to someday be able to develop into a club that offers an opportunity for girls to compete against other clubs, but for now, at least we can give girls an opportunity to experience and learn about the sport. All girls programs have to start somewhere.

“We are so fortunate to have a great central location to do this, and fortunate to have a great school allowing us to use their facilities for this. We’re really blessed,” said Pataky.

The club sessions will take place on two Saturdays each month in December, January and February. The cost is $60 for all sessions, or $20 per individual session.

For more information, visit the P-O Mountie Wrestling Facebook page or email Pataky at bpataky@pomounties.org.