Live from the Stanford Wrestling Coaches and Leaders Clinic, this episode is a real, in-the-room conversation about what it actually takes to grow girls wrestling. Moderator Ellen Tillman leads a panel with Alex Glaudé, Wendy Lien, and Becky Clark, digging into the barriers that keep girls out, the reasons they leave, and what it takes to get more women into coaching and leadership.
We discuss the fear of being the only girl in the room, the conversations nobody has about weight and body image, what changes when girls actually see a female coach, and the practical stuff: team rituals, all-girls practices, interest meetings, that keeps girls in the sport once they've started.
A note on the audio: this was recorded live in front of an audience, so you'll hear some audience questions and comments mixed in, and the sound quality shifts here and there. We kept it in because the conversation is worth it.
More on the panelists:
Ellen Tillman - Executive Director and Founder of Beyond the Podium. Women’s Varsity Head Coach at American High School and a middle school coach with Fremont Warrior Wrestling Club. Purdue University Graduate with a B.S. in Youth, Adult, and Family Services, where she also served as manager of the wrestling team. Her professional experience includes Teach For America, Beat the Streets Bay Area, the Parent-Teacher Association at the site, city, and district levels, and various roles within her local school district. Across her work in education, athletics, and youth development.
Becky Clark - founder and head coach of Grit N Grace Academy in Watsonville, California. 2nd at the 2002 California Girls State Wrestling Championships (63kg) before wrestling collegiately at Menlo College. She earned Women’s College Wrestling All-American honors in 2004 (67kg) and 2005 finishing 3rd (72kg). Assistant wrestling coach at Watsonville High School.
Alexandria Glaudé - Assistant Women's Wrestling Coach at Menlo College. 2025 US World Team Member at 72kg, 6x US National Team Member, 2x Collegiate National Champion, 2x US Open Champion, Pan American Champion, U23 World Bronze Medalist
