WE need more female coaches~

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May 27, 2013
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And it's not because of sexism, and it's not because of reparation. It's because a female coach better knows what female athletes go through than a male coach would.

There is definitely some truth to this. Every team that I’ve coached for I’ve been the lone female coach. I tend to be the one the girls come to when they need to talk about anything other than SB; sometimes even if it is SB-related they prefer to talk to me. They know I’ve been where they are right now, and have dealt with all the other distractions that come along with being a female athlete.
 
May 27, 2013
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Well there ya go...opinions are like noses. Everybody has one and some of them smell. Weak.

Not sure who you’re replying to but I‘m not against male coaches at all. Played for both male and female coaches and I enjoyed playing for both, but there is something to be said for having someone similar to yourself to be able to talk to. It’s not a knock against male coaches at all. I think during the HS and preteen years a female coach can be a huge benefit to a coaching staff to be there for a lot of the non-SB related things that come along with a female player.

Just try to put softball aside for a second and consider everything else.
 
Jun 8, 2016
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It is good for kids to play for all kinds of coaches. For example I had a bball coach who would chuck a ball at you when you messed up so I learned that when a coach gets mad at you to duck.
 
Oct 1, 2014
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Not sure who you’re replying to but I‘m not against male coaches at all. Played for both male and female coaches and I enjoyed playing for both, but there is something to be said for having someone similar to yourself to be able to talk to. It’s not a knock against male coaches at all. I think during the HS and preteen years a female coach can be a huge benefit to a coaching staff to be there for a lot of the non-SB related things that come along with a female player.

Just try to put softball aside for a second and consider everything else.
No Vertigo, I wasn't replying to you.
 
Feb 20, 2020
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I guess that means you were writing to me.

So I guess that means I should respond. Except I don’t have much to say beyond this: if we think that softball is a positive thing in our daughters’ lives, then we should want it to have as many positives in it as it can. Two of those positives can be understanding mentors and successful role models. Female coaches, being female themselves, have a better understanding of what their players are going through from both a physical and mental perspective than male coaches do. As men, we have limited real-time experience with a lot of what women go through, just as they have limited experience of what we go through. Having a coach who has more potential to understand them is a positive in their lives.

Likewise, having a woman call the shots on their game reinforces that they can and should themselves do it in the future, that the important decision-making positions of the sport are available for them as well.

Im sorry that opinion bright such a disdainful response from someone I respect, but like you said, opinions are personal and I hope sincere, even if they are disputed.
 
Nov 18, 2013
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DD has a young lady that is coaching her team. She just graduated from a D3 college. Was a great catcher and has a JUCO national championship ring. She is officially the coach of the team, but she is working with an older male/dad who is the "Team Manager". He handles the scheduling of tournaments, dealing with parents, fundraisers, dealing with parents, and all of the other time consuming things, and dealing with parents. She handles the field and the young ladies on the team LOVE her.

I think this a good model for teams to look at for bringing young women into the coaching of teams. These young women have budding careers, relationships, and unlike most of us old folks, a social life.

There is a lot of pressure on the coaches in youth sports. IMO, older males who have made it thru the starting of a career may be more equipped to handle the pressures. Does it make them more qualified to coach? Probably not, but I think that most of us know or understand that X's and O's is only a tiny part of running a team. Let's find ways to ease these young women into coaching a team. Maybe set them up for success instead of throwing them to the sharks and seeing if they can swim fast enough.

Side Note:
It amazes me sometimes when I think about how my feelings and opinions have changed since I've had a DD. The idea of what her world will look like when she gets there, motivates me to make to try it better today for her tomorrow.


The program my daughter played for and now coaches with is set up beautifully to help players recently out of college be successful. The program is operated by two former D1 coaches with over 20 years each experience at the D1 level. They’ve been around long enough to know how to deal with even the worst of the worst parents.

The coaches for the teams are all former college players, most recently graduated or still playing. The owners handle the parents. The coaches handle the players. Works great.

DD started working for them as an assistant coach and clinician when she was still playing for the program as a Sophomore in HS. She graduated college in 2019 and is in her third year as a 12U/14U HC. She’s also the pitching coach and trains the 50+ pitchers in the program from 12U to 18U.

In her first two years as HC EVERY player on both teams returned to the program the following year. Given the opportunity and support other recent college grads can be just as successful.
 
Oct 1, 2014
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I'm not a coach, I'm just the father of a daughter. And I think we need more female coaches. I think that women should be given first priority on any opening for girls'/women's teams.

And it's not because of sexism, and it's not because of reparation. It's because a female coach better knows what female athletes go through than a male coach would. And because we need every single role model we can get for young girls in this world. Truth be told, they need to see that women can be assholes and still be rewarded for it. They need to see that the same standards that exist for men exist for women, both for good and bad. It's not a secret that I dislike my daughter's HS coach immensely. I think she's a bad person and a bad coach. But I'd rather see her in the position than have a man replace her. Because all the girls on that team need to see a woman in a position of authority. And, with all due respect to all the men here who have spent countless hours putting in countless efforts to coach this game, once they get old enough to think about these things,
girls don't need to see their game and their teams run by men. Even men with the very best of intentions.
As I've stated before my DD's have had both male and female coaches that have ranged from absolutely horrible to absolutely fantastic. In fact, some of the best male softball coaches they had at a very early age are from your very own neighborhood (we still keep in touch). We had one of the worst experiences that anyone could have imagined with a female (hesitate to use the term "coach") at our HS. To use your own words she was a "bad person and a bad coach". I'm sure you've heard some of that story through the grapevine. After watching her run off every single kid that played on her club team within 2 years of her taking control (full disclosure - we did not accept an offer to play on her team which pissed her off even more) and then putting up with her toxic, negative approach at the HS level the kids learned a very important lesson that most adults were unwilling to address...that this is their game and their time and they stood up to her. There was no way she should have remained Head Coach, putting up with someone like that is unacceptable in my book, yet you say you'd rather have someone like that than have a man? I just don't get that. Anyway, long story but in the end they got a much more actively engaged, positive role model, female Coach. They had fun, started winning, went to the State Tourney, etc.. Both of my DD's went back (since they didn't get to be on campus due to Covid) and helped out as Assistant Coaches this past year. There is NO WAY that would have happened with the old "coach" if they even still had a team given the way she was driving kids from the game. By the way, in both of these positive examples (interestingly, NOT on the staff of the bad coach) there were female and male assistant coaches helping out. I should also add that during one of the greatest learning and skill development phases my DD's had they were under the tutelage of a Female Head Coach with mostly male assistant coaches. She could be scary to some but my kids knew how to deal with her approach and respected her.

So here's the thing Whip, I do find this position fundamentally flawed. By the way sorry that I came across so cryptic and disdainful, I could have and probably should have tried to use more tact.

Given the logic contained here - "Female coaches, being female themselves, have a better understanding of what their players are going through from both a physical and mental perspective than male coaches do. As men, we have limited real-time experience with a lot of what women go through, just as they have limited experience of what we go through. Having a coach who has more potential to understand them is a positive in their lives."

I'm left to ask, do you believe that this philosophy should go so far as to mandate that male athletes only play for male coaches? Is it not important that females learn how to deal with men and for that matter vice versa? The world has a lot of interactions in store for these kids to deal with all kinds of people of both genders (as well as transgender and Gender Non Binary identities). Taken a step further because that's what seems to be happening these days...should players of color only play for a coach of similar color? How about cultural or religious beliefs? Income levels or maybe political parties? Because you know, they'll understand each other better? The examples here could go on and on and I know it would surely offend some people. Diversity and Inclusivity is a good thing and most of our kids are probably better at accepting that than their parents.

I do agree with this - "Likewise, having a woman call the shots on their game reinforces that they can and should themselves do it in the future, that the important decision-making positions of the sport are available for them as well." Yes, it's great for our DD's to witness this and be encouraged if they decide to pursue such an opportunity for themselves.

Certainly, we need positive role models for our athletes (both male & female) and negative role models need to be weeded out much more swiftly than has happened in the past. The right person for the job is the right person for the job. If on a very individual basis someone has a kid who they know will be impacted in a bad way due to receiving coaching or instruction from someone of the opposite sex then handle that as an individual but to say that that a female automatically gets bonus points and the job offer over someone who is better - then no, I don't agree.
 

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