Women in Coaching: An asset to success

In pure transparency, this presentation more than the others in this course surprised me (kind of, I know we live in a patriarchal country). As an athlete, I've never had a male coach, so it never occurred to me that there would be an underrepresentation of women in collegiate coaching since that has never been something I've been exposed to. Although Title IX did, in fact, give women the same opportunities as men to play sports, it did not give them the same advantage. In my eyes, this presentation simply gave statistics to prove male privilege. For example, Ms. Barcomb pointed out that if a man is fired from a coaching position it is more likely than not that one of his buddies is going to get him a new gig coaching solely based on his man-ness. If a woman with the same serious offense, let's say cheating, tries to get a new coaching job, she will be blackballed in the coaching world and would struggle tremendously to get back on her feet. Male privilege. If a woman was to get fired up at a game and scream at the referees due to a bad call, people would call her emotional and out of control, yet if a man did the same thing, the crowd would join with them, cheering him on for his use of his very masculine anger. Male privilege. When Ms.Barcomb brought this up my first thought went to basketball games. I've watched and played in more basketball games than I can count, and the most exciting part in a heated game is watching a ref make a bad call and seeing the coaches flip out, and possibly get a technical foul. Are woman coaches more likely to get a technical than men? Considering Ms.Barcomb's argument I would think yes. For example, there have been numerous times where the same refs will coach a girls' varsity basketball game and boys varsity basketball game, but I have noticed that the refs have less of a fuse for OC than they do for Coach Shelton. Is that because she is a woman and he is a man? I don't know, but I thought it was definitely worth mentioning. All in all, it is evident that male coaches are at an advantage in the coaching world because they are male, and because society assumes they are better coaches and athletes because they are males. Yes, males are genetically more wired to play certain sports (such as football), move faster, lift heavier weight, but it does not women are not capable of doing the same job. Frankly, Title IX has not made as many strides as it should have. 

The woman in the video that Ms.Barcomb provided us to watch prior to class was eye-opening. Although more women more than ever are playing sports and playing them professionally, they are not nearly getting the same respect. A woman playing in the WNBA can be making less than 1/20 of what an NBA player is making due to the fact that men are not interested in a woman playing sports (unless they're in volleyball shorts of course). Even on the Gov's campus, men games have an exponentially bigger turnout than games for the girls, and it is not because the girl's teams suck (we are actually winning more than the boys in almost all sports year-round), it is because they are men. It is because of male privilege. Something that was absolutely appalling that numerous women coaches in the video discussed was the fact that woman coaches actually bring more success to teams. If having women coaches = money why aren't there more women coaches? Unfortunately, the board of directors of athletics into the Division 1 colleges is 89% male. Regardless of the fact that coaches like Pat Summit (RIP), are bringing home championship after championship, this overwhelmingly male board wants to stick with what they know, male coaches coaching women. 

I loved how Ms.Barcomb emphasized the necessity for women to coach women. This underrepresentation will only change if women see other women taking this career. More women coaches will produce more women coaches. It is evident that is not a question of ability, it is a question of defying the norm. Women are capable, an asset to success, they should be given the opportunity to become coaches.