Opposite sex coaches and athletes

What the...??? Response has been low to your e-mailed questionaire...give me a break and go out and do some real reporting. Talk to these coaches face to face...some may still not give you much, but you'll have much better luck that way. Basics.

 

Dude, relax

 

Sometimes e-mailing a coach is the best way to get ahold of him/her, and it's pretty much SOP during football season for some, given their time and our hours, but with something like this, it's good to hit the pavement, especially if you have the time.

 

You can always go to practice. You have to talk to people face to face.

 

Men coaching girls and women coaching boys are two completely different stories. It's too big, too many issues.

First, I would convince the ME to just let you do men coaching girls. You can do the reverse down the line at some point.

Since you're not having much luck with the current coaches, how about a local college coach who coaches women but may have climbed the ranks at the high school level. Then I would look to speak to girls who are currently, or have previously been coached by men. If you have to, tell the story from their perspective, and sprinkle quotes from the coaches.

It's an interesting topic. I know one successful male coach who told me basically that it's not really easy being surrounded by women all the time. He was just being honest. What I took from it was that he needed and desperately missed male companionship, the "male" perspective, etc.

 

Find a team that has been coached by a woman for a long time that this year is being coached by a man, or vice versa. See if there's been any changes that can be pinned to gender, even if it's just how the players feel.

If nothing else, try to find an interesting anecdote that illustrates the point of the story -- a coach who has to console a crying kid without crossing the line, a kid who has to explain to his parents that his/her coach being opposite sex isn't a big deal, something like that.

I don't envy you, because men coaching women/girls is pretty common, and women coaching men/boys is extremely rare, especially if you take teams with both genders (track, swimming) out of the equation.

Finally, see if the ME has something in mind with this story. Better to find out now than in an angry phone call or in-person dressing down because you went in a completely different direction than was expected.

 

When I was in junior high one of the assistant coaches on my basketball team was a former women's college basketball player. It never bothered me in the least. She was pretty active in the practices too. Yelled a lot and made us run.

 

I've done a version of this story as well. You should also talk to the women coaching girls teams in your area. Ask them if they had male coaches when they were growing up. It's a good bet that they did. Men used to completely dominate coaching at all levels. When I did my story (6 or 7 years ago), the majority of varsity coaches in girls sports, were still men, but those numbers were changing. Dig into the origins a bit. Women's sports have grown tremendously since Title IX was passed and as more and more girls play sports, more of them are growing up to be coaches.

In a coverage area that small, you should be talking to just about every coach of a girls' varsity sport, whether they be male or female. You should be asking if the men if there are any special difficulties, or if there are any policies they use specifically because they are coaching girls. Do they avoid most physical contact? Do they go out of their way to have a female assistant to deal with some of the issues mustang brought up?

Also, talk to some of the athletes. Would any of the girls prefer a female coach? Do they even care?

It's not a new story, but it can be an interesting one. What made mine work is I had strong relationships with a number of the coaches, male and female, but it is also a matter of talking to them live, in person if possible, so they understand you are asking how it works rather than looking for some scandal.

Also, is there a local women's college program with a male coach nearby? That could also be somebody to speak with.

 

Lots of good suggestions here.

Another angle to take: Why are there so few women coaching girls' varsity sports teams? Not sure how true it is in your area, Spike, but it's true where I've been.

One reason some coaches have told me: Pregnancy/maternity leave/young children.

Coaching requires a ton of extra time, especially as a varsity head coach. When kids come along, that extra time vanishes fast. And while "we've come a long way, baby" in many areas, it's still prevalent in our society for women to cut back more than men on the job demands when parenthood arrives. I'm not saying this is right, but that's what happens in many cases.

Good luck with the story.

 

Raising a family has taken out most of the women coaches in my coverage area...it's almost a given...you'll find a varsity women's coach shortly out of college, but once the family starts they just don't have the time and of course priorities change drastically. I say hurray for those choices...family first...just the reality of it.

Sometimes these women will come back to it when they're kids are raised and out of the house...they come back often as "retired" volunteer assistants. Now, that I go through my mental list...we cover 10 high schools and I can only must one active female coach who I know has kids at home (and often on the sideline...lol)

 

Why don't dads quit their teaching/coaching jobs to raise their kids?

 

On a similar note,
the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a story about fathers coaching daughters.
The art is pretty neat ...