Sports Special Report: Where are the Female Coaches in sports today
In almost all professional sports at the moment, there is a distinct lack of female coaches. It is odd because even in women’s sports there are a huge number of male coaches leading teams instead of women. It seems the age old problems resurface of sexism
and women being seen as less capable than men to lead sports teams. However, studies have shown that women are just as capable as men and want to lead sports teams but are not given the chance. A lot of work needs to happen to see more women in management
positions in the next few years.
The story of women coaches starts in 1972 when the revolutionary Title IX bill was introduced in America. This piece of federal legislation made gender discrimination illegal in school sports and federally funded sports programmes. It was a huge step forward
for women because they were refused the big coaching positions before 1972 and could now push through and claim their rightful place among the big male coaches in sports. Well it did not happen that way. In the 1970s after the legislation was passed, 90% of
women’s sports teams were coached by women but today that number has fallen to 47% and some say even lower.
It is a big disparity for not only the college level sports teams but also the pros; in 1997 there were 7 head coaches of the WNBA out of a total 8 teams but today in the women’s professional basketball league there are 13 teams and 9 of them are coached
by men. Why did this happen, Title IX was supposed to change the industry and level the playing field. It seems the old problem of working women reared its ugly head here as well. It is a difficult dilemma to solve because on the one hand there is the fact
that women coaches are given the same opportunities as men but we still live in a world where working women are also supposed to be the primary care givers to children. For a professional sports coach that is a huge ask.
Coaching is a brutal discipline, unless the team under a coach’s charge wins a large proportion of the games it plays, the coach will be ousted and there is usually a huge line of potentials to take their place. Women’s professional sports teams demand the
same sort of high winning percentages from its female coaches and if they cannot deliver they are replaced; usually by a man. Coaching a sports team is a very stressful career and women who are also mothers have a very difficult time in raising their child
and coaching a team at the same time. Some women are able to do it but others cannot deal with having two full time jobs and if their partners are not able or willing to share the responsibilities then they usually choose their children over their careers.
The other threat to women coaches seems to be from men in the field. With extra funding and increased popularity of women’s sports, the salaries and benefits have increased and these jobs have now become increasingly lucrative in men’s eyes. Now women not
only have to compete against other women but now they have to fight off the rising threat of men who usually do not have an issue of raising children and taking maternity leave.
Yet another problem women face is the old boys club syndrome, 80% of college level sports directors are men and they would much rather hire one of the boys than pick a woman to do the job of head coach.
There are ways around these problems, with more women entering director level positions in universities; it will go some way to breaking up the old boy networks. Another is if schools and professional teams work on flexitime schedules to give female coaches
the ability to give equal time to their families and to their jobs. Solutions like this will have to be implemented to try and push more women to pursue what can be a very lucrative and rewarding career. It will also encourage more women to take up sports
and coaching positions in the future. Maybe one day the Premier League will see a female coach, but that day is far off just yet.
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