Meet the female president of PSU Club Boxing

Some men see women as frail, but women partake in rough sports such as dirt bike racing, rugby, lacrosse, race car driving and especially boxing. Boxing is one of the sports that many people categorize as a “man’s sport.” Well those people are wrong. Because right here on campus, a group of women are competing on Penn State’s Club boxing team.

I had the honor to talk with the President of the Boxing club Taylor Varner. We talked about women and boxing and how in today’s society, women who do something are either shamed for it or just seen as a joke.

Taylor Varner

When you tell people you box, what are their reactions?

Other women find it to be cool. A student (male) in my class had glanced at my bag that says Penn State Boxing. This guy automatically thought it was my boyfriend’s bag. So I told him no! It’s my bag, I’m the one that boxes.

Taylor showing no mercy

What does it feel like being the President of the club? Training the club during practice, do you think the men take you seriously being a female leader?

I am the first female president to lead the boxing club, I love being president! Being a female president, there will be a person who won’t follow my direction or follow the practice procedure in general. Some males don’t feel like they can take instructions from a female. It’s not just me, also my teammates hold a role in which we push each other to become better.

How has boxing impacted your life?

I started boxing when I started college. My parents wanted me to be in a sorority, but I had planned to join club boxing. Boxing gives me a purpose besides just going to my classes, it made me into a healthier person. In my previous sport, swimming, I felt with the amount of exercise, I would be able to eat whatever I wanted. But coming to college that didn’t work, boxing has helped me to focus on my eating habits. It also made me focus better, relax easier and being anxious had lessened.”

I know you see those muscles popping

Do you think more females should engage in this sport?

Each women is different when making that decision. Women should be able to at least try it and get a feel if you like the sport or not. And then again some women don’t dare to join because of their confidence level. They may feel like they aren’t ready, or afraid of what people might think, to even thinking about fighting wrong.

What do you think of the phrase “You hit like a girl?”

It really depends on how a person says it. Some men phrase it poorly making it sound weak, a stigma. The Playtex tampon commercial that showed all the women playing a sport, and using the quote “fight like a girl” took the stigma away. We are in the 21st century, and men and women should see that nothing is impossible for anyone. But we still limit ourselves by what gender we are. This stigma can also go with women and their occupations. A guy had said the only reason I would really get a job in the engineering business is because I am a girl. That is not true. I am a hard working student who gets good grades, putting everything into anything I do. I was upset when one of my classmates said that 11% of females are majoring in engineering and proceeded to say that “boys are better than girls,” due to the amount of men surpassing the number of females in the major. A student who says that, is stubborn. To even reason with a person like this is just a waste of time.

I have joined club boxing and plan to start over and get back into it through Taylor and her team; but during a practice I have witnessed a student who decided not to take Taylor’s instructions on our warm up and the techniques for shadow boxing lesson. The student decided to do his own thing. But Taylor holds her own, she has worked hard to earn the title to be president of the team, you can tell just by looking at her that she is dedicated to her sport and she has the skill to take anyone on. Just like Taylor, her female teammates are also bad asses who don’t take crap from anyone, fighting into nationals, and taking “fight like a girl” to a whole new meaning.