WE need more female coaches~

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Dec 15, 2018
817
93
CT
Our HS offers 14 varsity boys sports - 3 are coached by women. And 16 varsity girls sports (including cheer and dance) - 12 are coached by women, including the varsity softball coach. So, pretty dead even split, which I was happy to see.
 
Oct 26, 2019
1,393
113

Interesting read aboutTitle IX and its unintended consequences. The article claims one of them is the reduction of women coaches. Apparently before title IX 90% of collegiate women’s sports were coached by women and that number has declined dramatically since the inception of title nine.
 
Last edited:
Apr 28, 2014
2,322
113
I think the sport absolutely needs more female coaches. At 12s DD had a female coach who was a recent college grad and wasn't ready for the job. Sad as she has so much to offer.
First year of 18s DD had a female coach who was absolutely amazing. Helped her so much!
 
Jul 29, 2013
6,799
113
North Carolina
Our organizations 18U national team I just helped with Fall ball has a 27 year old female HC. She’s so scattered brained, crazy, and goes off the rails in a heartbeat......but man she was so much fun to coach with, I had a blast!!

She was great with the girls, knows the game, definitely knows when to be serious and cut out the BS, and was an All American catcher in college! The president of our org asked me to help her, specifically to help keep her in check. Now I just have to decide if I’m going to do it again in the Spring?
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,056
113
I'm not sure how old the author is, but the data set she presents only goes to 2012. My personal experience is that I'm seeing more female coaches every year. I see college teams in my area that are coached completely by females. I'm increasingly seeing youth teams coached by females, and even older ball teams coached by female college assistants. However, when I run into that, I see twenty-something ex-players trying to coach older teenagers. There's often a serious experience gap between them and much older "dad" coaches who not only grew up playing ball, but have been coaching kids for well over a decade.

The popularity of women's softball exploded in the last 20 years. Title IX expanded the playing opportunities for women, but there evidently weren't enough qualified female coaches to meet demand. Hence, males stepped into those roles. The first stop for an ex-college player is typically as a low paid or volunteer college assistant. It takes time for those players to work their way up, but I see it happening around me. Further, as those experienced ex-players become mothers of players, you'll see more and more of them coaching and running older youth teams. It's not something that really needs much prodding...it's happening.
 

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
Interesting to see an age trend regarding scenarios.

Young females right out of college.
Perhaps lacking coaching/people skills.
Vs.
Then older men who are coaching.

Wonder how objectively we could look at this simply by asking how many
young men right out of college coach. Then recognizing
they have the same
Learning curve to coaching.
(which means this would be a product of age not gendor)

Also KNOW with certainty their are adults trying to coach that have learning curves.

Coaching is more than the sport itself.
It takes facilitation and communication skills also!
 
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Mar 28, 2014
1,081
113
It's a catch 22 IMO. Most of the girls coming out of college have the time to coach but as mentioned before, are not prepared to coach and usually fail and then quit. The girls that are older and more able to handle coaching are more apt to be "over it" and don't have the time or desire to coach.

My DD has been coached by women for the last 4 years. 2 were a little older and very good. One was young and inexperienced and it showed. She no longer coaches. I have noticed a new batch of women coaches advertising for tryouts. Noticed a LOT of them are very recent graduates. Like 2020 graduates. Boy are they in for a surprise. It's not the on field stuff that gets them, it's the off field stuff. They are never prepared to properly handle the off field stuff.
 
Apr 20, 2018
4,612
113
SoCal
Just because you played the game at a high level does not make one a good coach. Men applied for HC positions because $$$ became part of the equation. Men like money. What is the average salary for HC at D-1? I don't know but I am sure it has gone up considerably over the past 20 years.
Coaching at HS or TB team is a passion earning less than minimum wage.
 

radness

Possibilities & Opportunities!
Dec 13, 2019
7,270
113
It's a catch 22 IMO. Most of the girls coming out of college have the time to coach but as mentioned before, are not prepared to coach and usually fail and then quit. The girls that are older and more able to handle coaching are more apt to be "over it" and don't have the time or desire to coach.

My DD has been coached by women for the last 4 years. 2 were a little older and very good. One was young and inexperienced and it showed. She no longer coaches. I have noticed a new batch of women coaches advertising for tryouts. Noticed a LOT of them are very recent graduates. Like 2020 graduates. Boy are they in for a surprise. It's not the on field stuff that gets them, it's the off field stuff. They are never prepared to properly handle the off field stuff.
Organizational skills dealing with people may be the teachings of lifes classrooms!
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,056
113
It's a catch 22 IMO. Most of the girls coming out of college have the time to coach but as mentioned before, are not prepared to coach and usually fail and then quit. The girls that are older and more able to handle coaching are more apt to be "over it" and don't have the time or desire to coach.

My DD has been coached by women for the last 4 years. 2 were a little older and very good. One was young and inexperienced and it showed. She no longer coaches. I have noticed a new batch of women coaches advertising for tryouts. Noticed a LOT of them are very recent graduates. Like 2020 graduates. Boy are they in for a surprise. It's not the on field stuff that gets them, it's the off field stuff. They are never prepared to properly handle the off field stuff.

Yeah...they probably will fail at first trying to coach a competitive team right out of the gate as a 23 yo. However, many will be back in a few years as that mom coaching her kid's T-ball team, and will move up from there...just like the dads.
 

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