These last
two Minnesota high school wrestling seasons have seen some impressive and
important changes. This weekend’s state tournament at Xcel Energy Center includes
girls competition for the second year, and a number of females are now
mainstays as assistant wresting coaches, as noted in this recent John’s Journal
story: https://www.mshsl.org/about/news/johns-journal/johns-journal-female-wrestling-coaches-fill-important-positions.
The next
logical step is seeing female wrestling officials. That may not be far off,
based on the experiences of the only two women certified as wrestling officials
by the MSHSL.
Cami Snobl,
who lives in Tracy, and Jill Czeck of Lakeville have not officiated at a state
tournament but they are pioneers in the field. Both are serving as mat-side table
workers at state this year, positions that include running the scoreboard, the
clock and tracking each match on paper.
“I love our sport and every aspect
of it, and so the more we can get women out there the better,” said Snobl, a 1991
Tracy-Milroy graduate who became an MSHSL official several years ago and also works
as assignment secretary with the Southern Minnesota
Wrestling Officials Association.
“I had four kids at home so there
wasn't the time (to officiate),” she said. “Then when they graduated I just
said, ‘OK, I'm going to start getting ready and get on the mat.’ So 2018 was my
actual first year on the whistle. It was great, super fun.”
Both Snobl and Czeck grew up with
wrestling. Cami officiated youth wrestling all through her high school years
and was a student manager.
“I was a cheerleader one year and I
couldn't sit like a lady on the edge of the mat; I was doing more coaching than
cheering. The next year I went in the room and was a manager.”
Czeck, a 1999 New Prague graduate,
was a statistician for the high school wrestling team. She read the wrestling
rulebook and was well-versed on everything.
“I left the sport when I went to
college and had a family,” she said. “Then people started streaming matches and
I started watching with my young sons. And I would get so mad when the score
was wrong. So I just wanted to work the table because I thought, ‘Those
wrestlers work so hard, let's keep them wrestling.’ ”
While working a table at the 2020
MSHSL state tournament, Jill sat next to a male who said, ‘You need to be out
there. Girls wrestling is coming up.’ And I said, ‘Hey, I can be on the
whistle.’ I never wrestled but I know the rules. And here I am, this is my job.”
Before becoming certified by the
MSHSL, Jill officiated some youth tournaments.
“I had fun,” she said. “And it was
hard. Then Cami called me during the summer and said, ‘Are you going to do it?
Did you sign up?’ She said, ‘If you're signed up, there's an all-girls
tournament in Hastings the first week in December. We're taking you there. They
want all female refs there.’
“Well, Cami and I ended up being the
only two. But I had so much fun at that first girls tournament in Hastings. I
actually got an email from a mom thanking me.”
Jill worked 15 or so wrestling
events this season on the sub-varsity level. Cami, who is dealing with health
issues, has not done any officiating this season but is optimistic about
returning to the whistle and varsity matches.
Neither Snobl nor Czeck want to be
in the spotlight, but they know they are on the leading edge of something
special … for the sport and for women.
“I feel like this is someplace where
I can contribute,” Cami said. “And hopefully me being out there and being
visible promotes wrestling. We need more officials all across the board. But we
need to get more females out there on the whistle, too. It sets a great example
for young women as well as the young men out there and it just keeps promoting the
sport.”
The number of high schools offering
opportunities for female wrestlers has doubled this season, as has the number of
girls (96) qualifying for the state tournament.
“Just to see the growth in one year,
and to see the individual wrestlers and the growth they've had in one year, it's
been phenomenal,” Snobl said.
“We get to be the sisters in the brotherhood.
Wrestling, this is a family. Then you get into officiating as another
brotherhood within that wrestling family, and it's just so strong. It has been
amazing in that we get support not only from other officials but also from the
coaches. It's so exciting seeing that growth.”
--MSHSL media specialist John Millea has been the leading voice of
Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn
and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts.
Contact John at jmillea@mshsl.org
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