Women’s Sports and Coaching

 Women’s sports have been growing and growing throughout the years, so shouldn’t that mean there is an increase in women’s coaches as well? Well, as we follow this journey of women’s rights and equality we have found that this is not true. In the 1990s, the majority of coaches for women’s NCAA sports were women. Today, only 42% of coaches for women’s NCAA sports are women. A mere 11% of NCAA athletic directors are women. 3% of men’s NCAA sports coaches are women. Title IX has advanced women’s sports, providing equal opportunities for players. It has increased female player participation, but it has failed to increase female coach participation. 

The situation is tedious and difficult to solve without ruffling any feathers, particularly of men who do not want to see women in coaching positions. One video Ms. Barcomb showed us proposed that each university should have a quota of females they need to hire in the athletic department, and they should publish these statistics so they are held accountable. This would increase the amount of positions available to women, however the issue with this is that when an athletic director is looking to hire someone, whether they are a woman or man will play a large factor into whether or not they are hired. Less emphasis will be put on how well that individual can actually do the job. Universities will feel pressure to meet this quota, possibly resulting in an over-qualified man losing a job to an under qualified woman. Looking at the schools whose percentages of women in the athletic department are in the mere teens most likely are not pushing for more women to be hired. Therefore, they more than likely would not enjoy being told they had to meet a quota and thus make the job very difficult for women. This could entail unideal hours, poor salaries, and unaccommodating maternity leave guidelines. Therefore, I think that holding universities to a quota would not be the best solution. Now, what is the best solution? That is a question that I do not have an answer to. I think slowly incorporating women more and more into coaching roles somehow would be the best solution so the transition is gradual and less likely to ruffle feathers. 

Why is it so important for women to be involved in coaching? Well, seeing women in these roles is bound to inspire young girls to get involved, contributing to the increase of female participation in sports. This is something we have been fighting for for years. All genders have something to bring to the world of sports and thus all should be represented, so let's make that change together.