Our Viewpoint: Close the gape

At the Ted Kato Memorial wrestling tournament on Saturday, the girls stole the show. The number of girl wrestlers competing has increased each year, and the competition is getting tough.

Sandpoint High School attends the Ted Kato, and one parent told The Ledger on Saturday that the athletes don't get a lot of support. We were handing out free stickers to competitors and visitors and had made stickers featuring both male and female stickers. The Sandpoint mom expressed how much a little sticker made the girls' team feel seen.

The gender gap in athletics is narrowing, but there is still room to improve. We have seen women fight for equal pay and rights at the national level, and standouts such as Kaitlin Clark made college women's basketball one of the biggest draws last season.

However, it's still disappointing to see some of the crowd differences at the local level. We often see at high school events that spectators come for the boys games and leave for the girls. The action is just as intense in the girls games. Saturday night as Hot Springs took on Charlo, it was a packed house as the girls were on the court first and the teams traded leads throughout the 32 minutes. It was great energy, and the players and coaches could feel the love as well.

Girls wrestling is still gaining in popularity, but every athlete needs our support. Go cheer on the teams and stay to watch all the teams compete. Part of the beauty of living in rural Montana is knowing the kids on the court or the field and getting to congratulate them when you see them at the post office or the grocery store.

— Annie Wooden