During the first weekend in May, the Friborg cantonal Swiss wrestling festival takes place in Frasses. Rarely in the industry, women share sawdust rounds with men. A small revolution in a still very masculine universe.
Same pants, same referees and same rounds of sawdust: in Frasses, on Saturday, Swiss wrestling was available for men and women. Men and women of all ages shared the celebration. A historic first in the canton of Fribourg, even if Swiss wrestling is often a family affair.
“My dad used to wrestle. I wanted to try,” says a young girl on the 7:30 p.m. radio station on RTS. “I started with my brother,” explains a second. “The first training was cool, so I said to myself that we had to start”, also explains a participant, all smiles. “What I like about wrestling is the respect and the fact of fighting,” finally develops a young wrestler.
The pants fight, still very traditional, still has a fairly strong tendency to separate the sexes and sideline women during major demonstrations. Inheriting well-established traditions, they have long had to organize their own competitions, apart from men’s tournaments.
The Swiss women’s elite presents
The party also welcomed the female elite from all over Switzerland. Coming from the Estavayer-le-Lac organizing club, Yolanda has been practicing Swiss wrestling for almost fifteen years. She is one of the best in her sport.
“I find that the boys are more spectacular,” she says. “They do more holds where it ends in the air. The girls, they have technique. Some even a lot. And they fight well. But we see that there is a difference when they struggle.”
Only 200 women registered
However, Swiss wrestling is becoming more feminized very slowly. There are fewer than 300 women and girls officially registered in a club compared to more than 6,000 men.
Gilles Guisolan, president of the organizing committee, explains that “it is important in our club, to introduce our sport, that they participate in this regional festival”.
Sunday, time for men
“One day, there will surely be 100 female wrestlers from French-speaking Switzerland at a wrestling party. But the journey must be done gently,” hopes Brigitte Foulk, member of the French-speaking Swiss Women’s Wrestling Association.
Sunday, time for the men. There will be around a hundred, mostly from French-speaking Switzerland, to fight in the sawdust for the title of best wrestler.
TV subject: Damien Mettraux, Nicolas Beer
Web adaptation: Julien Furrer
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