Coaching Is For Boys
Entertainment: Sports
So, the Olympics are over and the second-guessing has begun. Every time a U.S. athlete or team fails to meet expectations (i.e. win gold medals), the hacks at home start wondering what went wrong. How could they fail to prove U.S. superiority in all things human? How can they live with the shame? It's generally a ridiculous exercise. However, this time around, at least one important issue was brought up by a sports pundit. In his discussion of the decision to leave Cammi Granato off the U.S. women's hockey team, John Buccigross of espn.com mentions the subject of males coaching female sports. While the underrepresentation of African-American males in the coaching ranks is always a hot topic, the fact that most women's sports are coached by men is largely ignored by anyone not associated with the Women's Sports Foundation or similar feminist organizations.
The difference becomes ridiculously apparent upon a mere glance at the top of women's sports: Olympic teams and professional leagues. Of the major women's Olympic team sports, only one is currently coached by a woman: Anne Donovan will be the head coach of the U.S.A. Women's National Basketball Team through the next Summer Olympics. Softball, which is being dropped from the Olympics, is led by Mike Candrea, who also coaches the University of Arizona softball team. The head coach of the U.S. National Women's Soccer Team is Greg Ryan. And, as Buccigross noted, the U.S. National Women's Hockey Team has males in both major leadership roles: head coach Ben Smith and executive director of U.S. Hockey David Ogrean.
In the world of professional women's sports, the WNBA is the only league of national note. Donovan is again one of the few women serving as a head coach. In fact, of the fourteen current teams, only four are coached by women. This is a small step backwards from last year, when five of the 13 teams were coached by women. None of the current female head coaches hold the dual title of head coach and general manager, although Donovan has the added title of "director of player personnel" for the Seattle Storm. Four of the male head coaches are also the GMs of their teams: Van Chancellor of the Houston Comets, John Whisenant of the Sacramento Monarchs, Dan Hughes of the San Antonio Silver Stars, and Dave Cowens of the expansion Chicago Sky. Two of the male head coaches had absolutely no head coaching experience prior to landing their current jobs: Bill Laimbeer of the Detroit Shock (who is also credited with being in charge of all player acquisitions) and Muggsy Bogues of the Charlotte Sting are former NBA players who were immediately handed the reigns of their franchises. In fact, Boggues had no coaching experience at all. He had been working in the real estate business until being hired as the head coach. All of the female coaches had head coaching experience at the college or professional levels prior to being hired for their current jobs.
Is the landscape as tilted against women in the college and prep ranks? You bet. Prior to the passage of Title IX, there were few women's sports teams. However, 90% of those that existed were coached by women. Of course, the jobs were not well-respected and the pay (if any) was low. Since Title IX, women's teams have gained in numbers and prestige. At the same time both the coaching salaries and the number of males coaching have steadily increased. In 1995, 40% of female teams at the college level were coached by men. By the year 2000, 80% the coaches at the college and high school level were male. In college alone, men make up roughly 60% of the head coaches of women's teams. Things aren't getting any better, either, as since 2000, 90% of new coaching jobs have gone to men. By contrast, only 2% of men's sports were coached by women--a number that has remained constant for years. Those teams were also primarily dual male-female teams, like golf and swimming, that shared a coach.
Why is this? Many blame the fact that women don't want to be away from their families as much as coaching demands. If that's true, I say the blame lies more in the fact that women are expected to be with their families. If someone has to be home with a sick child, the mother is told by society that it should be her. In fact, as long as she's not poor or a member of a minority, she's told that being away from a healthy child is proof that she's a bad mother. (By contrast, poor women are told that if they don't leave their children in substandard daycare--which is all they can afford--and work for minimum wage, they're horrible mothers who are teaching their children to avoid responsibility.) When the assumptions about which parent "should" care for a sick child or take a child to an appointment disappear, then these well-worn "reasons" women avoid demanding careers will also disappear.
Of course, there are those who would say that women don't have it that bad after all. Several years ago, Jim Lampley did a piece on HBO's Real Sports about the dearth of female coaches in women's sports. He actually claimed that it was the fault of Title IX. See, Title IX meant that men were entitled to those jobs lest they be "discriminated" against. Funny how the mainstream sportscaster suddenly finds a use for Title IX when it helps men. Usually they're too busy blaming it for the lack of men's wrestling teams. On the other side of things, some even claim that teams coached by men are kept from winning national championships by the evil Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee. Geno Auriemma has had it tough, I guess. He only has five national championships!
So, the Olympics are over and the second-guessing has begun. Every time a U.S. athlete or team fails to meet expectations (i.e. win gold medals), the hacks at home start wondering what went wrong. How could they fail to prove U.S. superiority in all things human? How can they live with the shame? It's generally a ridiculous exercise. However, this time around, at least one important issue was brought up by a sports pundit. In his discussion of the decision to leave Cammi Granato off the U.S. women's hockey team, John Buccigross of espn.com mentions the subject of males coaching female sports. While the underrepresentation of African-American males in the coaching ranks is always a hot topic, the fact that most women's sports are coached by men is largely ignored by anyone not associated with the Women's Sports Foundation or similar feminist organizations.
The difference becomes ridiculously apparent upon a mere glance at the top of women's sports: Olympic teams and professional leagues. Of the major women's Olympic team sports, only one is currently coached by a woman: Anne Donovan will be the head coach of the U.S.A. Women's National Basketball Team through the next Summer Olympics. Softball, which is being dropped from the Olympics, is led by Mike Candrea, who also coaches the University of Arizona softball team. The head coach of the U.S. National Women's Soccer Team is Greg Ryan. And, as Buccigross noted, the U.S. National Women's Hockey Team has males in both major leadership roles: head coach Ben Smith and executive director of U.S. Hockey David Ogrean.
In the world of professional women's sports, the WNBA is the only league of national note. Donovan is again one of the few women serving as a head coach. In fact, of the fourteen current teams, only four are coached by women. This is a small step backwards from last year, when five of the 13 teams were coached by women. None of the current female head coaches hold the dual title of head coach and general manager, although Donovan has the added title of "director of player personnel" for the Seattle Storm. Four of the male head coaches are also the GMs of their teams: Van Chancellor of the Houston Comets, John Whisenant of the Sacramento Monarchs, Dan Hughes of the San Antonio Silver Stars, and Dave Cowens of the expansion Chicago Sky. Two of the male head coaches had absolutely no head coaching experience prior to landing their current jobs: Bill Laimbeer of the Detroit Shock (who is also credited with being in charge of all player acquisitions) and Muggsy Bogues of the Charlotte Sting are former NBA players who were immediately handed the reigns of their franchises. In fact, Boggues had no coaching experience at all. He had been working in the real estate business until being hired as the head coach. All of the female coaches had head coaching experience at the college or professional levels prior to being hired for their current jobs.
Is the landscape as tilted against women in the college and prep ranks? You bet. Prior to the passage of Title IX, there were few women's sports teams. However, 90% of those that existed were coached by women. Of course, the jobs were not well-respected and the pay (if any) was low. Since Title IX, women's teams have gained in numbers and prestige. At the same time both the coaching salaries and the number of males coaching have steadily increased. In 1995, 40% of female teams at the college level were coached by men. By the year 2000, 80% the coaches at the college and high school level were male. In college alone, men make up roughly 60% of the head coaches of women's teams. Things aren't getting any better, either, as since 2000, 90% of new coaching jobs have gone to men. By contrast, only 2% of men's sports were coached by women--a number that has remained constant for years. Those teams were also primarily dual male-female teams, like golf and swimming, that shared a coach.
Why is this? Many blame the fact that women don't want to be away from their families as much as coaching demands. If that's true, I say the blame lies more in the fact that women are expected to be with their families. If someone has to be home with a sick child, the mother is told by society that it should be her. In fact, as long as she's not poor or a member of a minority, she's told that being away from a healthy child is proof that she's a bad mother. (By contrast, poor women are told that if they don't leave their children in substandard daycare--which is all they can afford--and work for minimum wage, they're horrible mothers who are teaching their children to avoid responsibility.) When the assumptions about which parent "should" care for a sick child or take a child to an appointment disappear, then these well-worn "reasons" women avoid demanding careers will also disappear.
Of course, there are those who would say that women don't have it that bad after all. Several years ago, Jim Lampley did a piece on HBO's Real Sports about the dearth of female coaches in women's sports. He actually claimed that it was the fault of Title IX. See, Title IX meant that men were entitled to those jobs lest they be "discriminated" against. Funny how the mainstream sportscaster suddenly finds a use for Title IX when it helps men. Usually they're too busy blaming it for the lack of men's wrestling teams. On the other side of things, some even claim that teams coached by men are kept from winning national championships by the evil Women's NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Committee. Geno Auriemma has had it tough, I guess. He only has five national championships!
posted by Chomskyite | 2:19 PM
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