March Madness 2012

30 comments:

Aimee said...

We have recently discussed the major differences in the amount of sports coverage between male and female athletes. As March Madness is coming to an end, one area we have yet to discuss is the amount of female coaches who are currently coaching. Dr. Rosenthal recommended I take a look at the article, Women continue to shatter stereotypes as athletes. So how come they can't
catch a break as coaches? By Kate Fagan and Luke Cyphers. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=theGlassWall

Fagan & Cypers (2012) bring up the point that in 2000, the NCAA added “1,774 women’s head coaching jobs. Men have filled 1,220 of the openings”. This is an astonishing number, considering 58% of college students are females. The article discussed how men will apply and receive coaching jobs for women’s sports teams but rarely do women coach men, nevermind females.

The discussion this week is two-fold.

Question 1: Kian, Vincent and Mondello list six dominant themes that have emerged from their data. He was always on my mind (comparison of female players to male players, who were perceived to be more superior) & She Must have Played With Boys to Get That Good (suggests the best method for girls to improve their game is to play with boys or older men) are two of the six dominant themes. Out of the six themes, what theme do you think holds the most impact for Connell’s theory on gender order?

Question 2: What qualities do you think make a good coach?

I will update with a follow up question in regards to why women are denied opportunities to coach men on Wednesday, stay tuned.

Brad said...

I find the whole discussion upsetting. I coached my daughter in town youth leagues and in AAU basketball, also coached girls varsity at my school. If we could have found a female coach I would not have coached. In the fifteen years I coached, I gave up a lot of time that I could have spent with my family that I can’t get back. In town leagues, AAU and in my school, female coaches would be snapped up if they showed interest. We run ads before every season at my school and it is hard to find anyone willing to give up the time to coach. The six themes all have some validity. In my view, the idea that athletic fathers are newsworthy put forth by Klan, Vincent, and Mondello has the most impact. Cultural expectations for each gender have been relatively slow to change. Our culture has taught women not to see themselves in the role of coach so they are not applying. Historically, coaches are more often male and viewed as a father figure.
These questions are good Aimee. What makes a good coach is also food for thought. I really don’t like what I see from many other coaches. I have an issue with the coaches that use intimidation to influence their players. The best coaches have a very special relationship with their players. Players have to believe in their coach on many levels. Coaches take on an incredible amount of responsibility and get little recognition for all their work. Competitive situations bring out a great deal about the true personality of a coach, hard to hide given all the time spent with players. There are many teams that spend more waking time together than with their families during a season. I think women are less willing to give up precious time with their families to coach. Men have been expected to put work ahead of family in the past. Thinking about female coaches, I keep thinking about Pat Summit. She has always gotten a lot of media coverage, for good reason. It seems to me that being a woman has enhanced her ability to connect with the women from Tennessee. I found it incredibly emotional this past week when she likely coached her last game.
Brad

Dan said...

Connell’s theory that men occupy the positions of power most closely relates to “she must have played with boys to get that good.” These two ideas correlate well because the female athletes have played with male athletes to get better (Kian, Vincent, &Mondello, 2008). This tells the reader that the only way the female athlete got better was to play with more stronger and faster athletes, which in this case are male basketball players. So in conclusion, this supports Connell’s theory on gender order with the female athletes explaining that men are superior to women in that they are physically more powerful than women and play a better game of basketball.

I think a good coach is someone who can inspire their athletes to work to the best of their ability. A good coach must be able to take what is given to them (their players) and do what is best to benefit them or the team depending on the sport. A good coach must also be strict when it comes to practice and conduct on and off the field.

Rachel Lassey said...

The two themes of “he was always on my mind” and “she must’ve played with the boys in order to get that good” are very dominant. Females are constantly compared to males if they are successful in sport (Kian, Vincent, & Mondello 2008). The truth is that initially females take that as a compliment. It was not until reading some of these articles in this course where I have taken a step back and thought wow that is really a back handed compliment. This past year for my basketball unit we separated the girls from the boys to work on skills and getting into games. Unfortunately, the majority of boys in the class were ready faster to play a game compared to the girls. The girls that could compete with the boys we let play with them. In a way I am looking at all my other girls and saying they aren’t good enough, and I feel badly for that. Some girls have no interest in basketball so they could care less who they play with, but the ones that are trying must not feel equal ☹.

The question of what makes a good coach is so difficult to answer. I just finished coaching my first season as head coach this year, and I have a lot of work to do. I am still not sure exactly what I expect from myself and from my athletes. There are so many things that I stand by, but there are other things that make me re-evaluate myself. A good coach is able to make his/her team better team by the end of the season. They are able to teach them new strategies and skills. I also believe that they are able to make the experience enjoyable and beneficial.

On a side note to discuss how there are so many more male coaches than females…I can vouch for how men treat female coaches, and why some female coaches may lose interest or hesitate to coach. This year I faced having to deal with parents. Two male parents met with me at different times and almost ruined the entire experience for me. As a new coach I did not realize what I did and did not have to listen to, so I just let them talk. Big mistake. One male parent told me that I needed to think about who I am representing and how I speak, act, and dress. It took me everything in my might to not tell the man off, but I kept it classy. I told the man that I know exactly who I am representing and think I am doing a fine job of that. Mind you the most skin I ever showed was my arms. I had another male parent be furious with the choice of language that he heard I used on occasion. Never did I ever swear at my girls, but you bet your butt I would use certain swears to motivate my team. Some people may disagree with that, and that is fine, but my style is my style. I know that if I was a male I would have never ever been treated like that. I would never be looked down upon for swearing or never have gotten my character judged. I know male coaches receive plenty of criticism, but these men saw a young female and tried everything in their power to scare and threaten me. Luckily, my athletic director supported me completely. I of course was a mess about what had transpired especially once these men went to the AD to try to get me out. I even questioned whether this was worth it. After sleeping on it a bit I realized that there was no way in heck I would let these men bully me into giving up something I love. There are some women that just don’t want to deal with confrontation or ridicule and leave the position or don’t even start it. I now understand that I need to have a much tougher skin from now on. Lucky for men, most male coaches never have to be belittled this way or experience the feeling of being in defense mode.

Laura H said...

I believe that the theme "He was always on my mind" best correlates with Connell's theory on gender order. We live in a patriarchal society where men tend to come first and women are an afterthought. I feel that women are constantly being compared to men in the world of sports. According to Kian, Vincent, and Mondello, ESPN was cited comparing Courtney Paris to a number of talented male basketball players. ESPN was attempting to give Ms. Paris high praise, but in actuality was putting her in an inferior position to the male "greats." Likewise it would totally go against American nature to compare a male basketball player to talented female WBNA players (Kian, Vincent, Mondello, 2008). It would be even more absurd for a man to watch a women's game according to some of my male colleagues and husband! Last night I watched the Baylor versus Notre Dame finals game while I submitted grades. My husband came in and saw what was on and decided he was going to go upstairs to watch something better on t.v. I told him that it was going to be an exciting game and that he should stay and watch. He looked at me like I was crazy and said that the women's games were slower and more boring than the men's games. I was furious! I thought what he said was interesting since he never once watched the girls play before. He just made an assumption. By the way, the game was fast, aggressive, and exciting. During the same game last night, the commentators took time out of the introduction to the women on Baylor's team to highlight the football player who turned all american in the fall. Apparently he was there rooting on the women, but the commentator couldn't help but spend a few minutes discussing the football player. Again, this would never happen during the men's finals.
While I was at the dentist office the other day, I decided to thumb through ESPN magazine to see if they had any articles on March Madness. I saw a few articles on the men's teams, but none on the girls. I came across an article where two NBA stars were discussing their aggression on the court and how it impacted their relationships with opponents off the court. One gentleman said that "aggressiveness was natural in basketball because it was a man's game." I don't recall who made the comment, but it goes to show that "traditional notions of masculinity" is still out there going strong. I have come across it in my classroom numerous times, as well. Being a female PE teacher at the high school level, I have had a difficult time with some of the young men in my classes. The young teenage boys automatically assume because I am a woman I do not know sports nor do I know how to referee. I have been talked down to and compared to my male coworker on numerous occasions. My coworker has no background in PE, never played high school or college sports, nor coached any sports in general. It makes me really angry because I have a degree in teaching PE, I have played soccer since age 6, ran cross country, and track and field at the high school level, coached XC and track and field at the high school level, and rowed division I crew, yet because I am a woman, young teenage boys think I know nothing of the world of sport. It is extremely frustrating, but it shows that the gender norm is still prevalent and although women have come a long way in sport since Title IX, there is a long road ahead. When men try to say that women are treated equally to men in the sport's world, it angers me because they know nothing of how it feels to be discriminated against for having female anatomy.

Laura H said...

To answer the second question, I believe a good coach first and foremost has a great understanding of the dynamics of the sport and knows how to get athletes to play their best game honing in on their strengths and downplaying their weaknesses. A good coach listens to her athletes and studies her teams interpersonal connections. She helps to develop a strong sense of team where each individual contributes to make the whole stronger. A good coach knows how to teach technique and strategy in order for players to win.

Sean Jackson said...

Connell’s theory of gender power relations is based on the notion that there is a gender order consisting of multiple masculinities and femininities operating in a gendered hierarchy of structured power relations. (Connell, 1990, 2005; Donaldson, 1993). The theme that holds the most impact for Connell’s theory on gender order is First Football, Then Men’s Basketball, and Then Everything Else. Both football and basketball reinforces male demonstrations of heterosexuality, aggression, and assertiveness among men.

The qualities that make a good coach are: passionate about their craft, dedication, attention to detail, realistic expectations, intelligent, knowledgeable, and understanding that unique individual qualities creates team chemistry.

mrosenthal said...

I agree with Sean’s comment that the theme that most resonates with me and with the recent March Madness coverage that I saw (I also watched the women’s semi final and finals as Laura reported) is “football first then men’s basketball, then everything else.” When I watched the pregame of the Baylor vs. Notre Dame pregame, I also saw Trey Wingo interview Robert Griffin III who was the Baylor quarterback and Heisman Winner this year. Trey Wingo is also an alum of Baylor University. During that interview they were talking about Baylor’s 6’8” Brittney Griner and her basketball skills. Robert Griffin III had to point out that while it is obvious to anyone who has followed college basketball this year, that Brittney can dunk, there is no way that she could dunk over him. I thought this was interesting and it fits perfectly into the idea of hegemonic masculinity. That there is no woman, not one woman, that could possibly beat RGIII at any athletic contest.
On a related but different point, I heard a student in my undergraduate version of our class, say that Griner is almost a man. Her appearance, demeanor, and voice seem to make people uncomfortable because she displays a type of femininity we are not used to seeing. I would like to talk about this further- with a lot of sensitivity to the fact that we –as students and scholars- should not be making conjectures about another person’s gender identity as if they were some sort of zoo animal.

CJ said...

I believe the theme that mostly supports Connell’s theory about gender order is First football, then men’s basketball and then everything else. I agree with Sean’s statement that this is due to the aggression and assertiveness of men and how it correlates to these two sports. In “the everything else” category falls Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey. This too is being advertised greatly on the Men’s side. I have seen ESPN commercials promoting the Men’s Frozen Four in Tampa this weekend. I have not heard anything about the Women’s Frozen Four of hockey. To my dismay, the Women’s Championship was held back on March 18th according to NCAA.com. Congratulations to the Minnesota Golden Gophers who were crowned champions. I am disappointed in myself for not taking the initiative on finding out about the Women’s Championship as well as the ESPN’s of the world for not getting the word out. I did watch the highlights on NCAA.com and those athletes are the top-shelf of their sport.

Earl said...

Connell’s theory about gender order is First football, then men’s basketball and then everything else seems to answer Amie’s 1st question the best (Kian, Vincent, &Mondello, 2008). Connell’s hierarchy order was greatly evidenced where it was only found in 3 out of 508 articles to speak of women’s basketball. It was clear they put the women’s sport in the third paragraph after mentioning the men’s programs. It was interesting to read the statistic that females were consistently compared to men but no males were ever compared to women, “no male athlete was explicitly compared with a female player in any of the 388 articles focusing on men’s basketball” (Kian, Vincent, & Mondello, 2008). Society is dominated by masculinity and the media is dominated by pleasing society.

Britney Griner is a very talented basketball player. I’m not sure I would make any assumptions beyond that. From what I can see she has a skill set that helps her succeed. How she talks and who she is entirely her business. Britney Griner succeeded and is a National Champion and each of us would benefit to learn from her example.

Aimee said...

I have enjoyed reading everyone’s posts so far. Brad, I think your point about how your system would hire a coach immediately if they are applied could be valid. I think each school system has different ways of looking how they hire coaches and how they can make sure their coaches are diverse.

Rachel & Laura, I also enjoyed how you both were able to share stories about your own coaching ante teaching experiences and the difficulties about being a female coach/teacher. I have also had difficulties in coaching, where a male head coach took the opinion of a “volunteer” coach over myself. The funny part is, I coached the “volunteer” and have 12 competitive collegiate seasons, and 4 years of coaching over him as well as the head coach. It is definitly hard to want to stick with it, when you have experiences like these.


After reading the article on Fagan and Cyphers it is understandable about why more women do not apply for coaching positions. They mentioned how it is not as easy for women as it is men to get up and move to a new location. Maybe if these women coaches are married and have children and their husbands make more money, they don’t think this would be a realistic situation. Or perhaps they are thinking of their children first and not wanting to have to make them move to a new school.

The homophobia aspect is a real aspect that is definitely affecting female coaches. Fagan and Cypers (2012) said, “An absence of role models not only keeps girls from growing up to become coaches, but it also creates obstacles for those who want to try.” (p. 7). Maybe it is difficult for females and males to be coached by a female at the collegiate level if they have never had a female coach before. I was surprised to learn about coaches who lost recruits or hired a male assistant just to avoid being labeled the “gay team”.

So the second set of questions this week includes:
1. The trend in women coaching is “one and done”, Why do you think women are not given second chances in the coaching world?

2. What do you think is the biggest reason why women are not given the opportunity to coach men? Or “even” women?

Rachel Lassey said...

Brittney Griner has been the focus of NCAA highlights. I watched 2 minutes of the news I cannot remember if it was ESPN or not, but the first thing I saw was an older woman say that Griner “plays like a man and that is meant as a compliment.” It is unfortunate that even a woman doesn’t hesitate to make a comment like that. I am currently doing some of my research on ESPNW. I am assuming the majority of you do not even know there is an ESPN website dedicated towards women. The regular ESPN websites are probably disappointing in female coverage, but ESPNW has a ton of coverage. You can also like the ESPNW on facebook and you will see that Brittney Griner has taken over the page. I will be honest that I didn’t watch a single second of March Madness, but I am happy to report that the one thing I did hear about was Griner. She is definitely helping women’s basketball get more coverage.

Earl said...

Just to finish off with Amie’s first set of questions good coaches teach value. They encompass an ability to emphasize integrity and compassion for a sport. They recognize teachable moments and support their athletes’ growth through sport. A good coach embodies qualities of a leader. A good coach needs to teach kids to recognize what’s happening and make the correct choice even if they see someone already making the wrong one.

I think we can all agree that society has gender differences and those differences are evident in the representation of sport. To be honest we can all have disagreements to how things are. In my case I was upset when I couldn’t spend time with my daughters when they were first born. My wife had 3-4 months and I was forced to use personal days. There are differences in men and women the obvious being they actual have the babies. My wife and I work in the yard together and my question is this: If I can lift a 200 pound log and move it out of the way, am I less or more qualified to teach or coach someone to move a 200 pound log out of the way? I guess I’m tired of agreeing with everyone and I think at some point can there be a revelation of what is, is for a reason. I hope this answers both questions.

rbap said...

I think that the best theme to back up Connell’s theory is “she must have played with the boys to get that good” (Kian, Vincent, Mondello, 2008). I never even thought about this concept. Unintentionally, I have complemented a female athlete by using a famous male athlete’s name but, I never realized it was inappropriate. After reading (Kian, Vincent, Mondello, 2008) I do agree that male athletes should not be used to compliment female athletes. I have a limited amount of knowledge on professional female athletes because there is very little coverage on female athletes. The lack of media coverage could also be why other people reference males and not females.

A good coach is a teacher of their sport. They continuously give feedback throughout the whole practice or game. They admit to their mistakes and accept all responsibilities that go along with coaching. After each practice and game they evaluate every player on the team to make sure the right person is in the proper position. They plan out their practices to ensure that all the skills, concepts, and schemes are covered. They let their players know how much they care about their effort. They rarely use the word win. One of my best teams had a poor record. They make the players (who don’t play much) feel important, which strengthens the TEAM. Win or lose they review film to evaluate what went right and what went wrong. Most importantly they relate lessons that are learned on the field or court to life.

Kenny Horan said...

I was very intrigued by Aimee's second set of questions, particularly the one that asks why female coaches are not given the opportunity to coach men. This is an interesting topic that I had not given much thought until now. I think it sort of correlates with what Dr. Rosenthal said about hegemonic masculinity and what Robert Griffin III said in his interview during coverage of the NCAA Women's semifinal. I think that most male athletes that play "masculine" sports feel this way as well, even if they do not realize it. Most athletes have that same mindset, just like RGIII inferred that there's no possible way that any woman could beat him in something by basically saying yes Brittney Griner can dunk, but dunk over ME?! Heisman winning football player Robert Griffin III? No WAY! I think most athletes think from that same masculinity standpoint, and I think it would be the same if the topic was a female coach. As unfortunate and far from accurate as it is, most athletes would react with that sort of response-- the "oh, how could a woman possibly coach my basketball team?", when in reality I'm sure there are a lot of men's college basketball programs that would be well served to consider someone like Pat Summitt or Kim Mulkey (coached her team to a 40-0 record this year, that is just absurd) a huge upgrade over their current coach. Will this ever change, and what will it take from this seemingly general viewpoint of masculine athletes to change?

I was also interested in Rick's comment about complementing a female athlete by using a comparison to a male athlete. I'm sure that at some point I've done this as well without even realizing it. After reading the section of the "Masculine Hegemonic Hoops..." article titled "she must have played with the boys to get that good" (Kian, Modello, Vincent 2008), it sort of brings that viewpoint to a new light. Complementing female athletes by comparing to male athletes isn't the only way I notice this, though. This is something that I've noticed for years: players being compared to players of like races. Anyone that has watched any sort of NBA or NFL Draft coverage for more than 10 minutes should know exactly what I'm talking about. ESPN will run a tape of a player coming into the draft, the panel of "experts" will review his skill set, talk about his strengths and weaknesses, and often times compare him to a player that has or is currently playing in the league. The thing that I have always noticed is players getting compared to other players of alike races. For example, when JJ Redick was coming out of Duke into the NBA draft, the draft experts on ESPN would always say things like "this guy shoots like Mark Price, or Chris Mullin, or Larry Bird, or Kyle Korver, or (insert any white player that can shoot)" Why wasn't his jump shot ever compared to Ray Allen's or Reggie Miller's. Recent NFL draft coverage has our aforementioned friend RGIII compared to only other black quarterbacks. He can hurt defenses by running or throwing, much like Cam Newton or Michael Vick, they say. Why isn't he ever compared to Aaron Rodgers from that standpoint? Aaron Rodgers kills defenses because of his ability to be able to throw and also make defenses respect his ability to run if he needs to. This is just an observation that I've noticed over my many years watching sports coverage and it's never really talked about-- maybe it's not really a big deal, maybe it doesn't even warrant mentioning, but it's something that I noticed and I felt that it was quite relevant to this topic.

Laura H said...

At the high school level I was hired right away to coach girls cross country and track and field because the AD felt that the girls needed a women to help them through any "issues" that may come up. I'm not sure if I would have been hired as the head varsity boys football, baseball or boys or girls basketball coach, because these are traditionally led by male coaches. I was the head cross country coach, but the assistant track and field coach. The head coach was a man who had been there since I ran in the '90s. Fortunately I did not have any issues with parents or coworkers, while coaching. I have to say that I currently hesitate to apply for any positions that would put me in front of the male firing squad at my new school. There could be an AD position available at my school next year that technically I am the most qualified for in the building. I fear that if I apply for the job, I might get it and be judged for everything little thing that I may do incorrectly simply because I am a woman. I feel that I would be criticized way more than a man, simply because the norm is that women know less than men in the sporting world at my school.
I think that women are given less opportunities to coach because there is a common unsubstantial notion that women are less knowledgeable in sports and have less ability to "lead" a team to victory. Women coaches are under the microscope way more than men, and when things don't go well for their teams, it is used as an "I told you so." I also think since the world of collegiate sports is mostly a network of men, it is easier for a male coach to get fired for not winning and get hired by another college/university because they know "someone." I think it is harder for women coaches to network and build these relationships because there are less women in charge that could help get them hired. I hate to say that the NCAA network is a "good ole boys club," but it seems to be the case. I think a combination of men's disbelief in women's ability to lead men in sports and the "good ole boy" mentality can also explain why women are not hired to coach men's teams. Why hire a women and mess up a good thing. It's the same reason why boys don't allow girls into their clubhouse. It's their territory!

Jared P said...

Hi Aimee, in response to your first question on the 6 dominant themes from "Masculine Hegemonic Hoops: An Analysis of Media Coverage of March Madness," I found the theme First Football, Then Men’s Basketball, and Then Everything Else, to have the most impact for Connell's theory on gender order. In this theme, the authors discuss how both college football as well as men's basketball, dominate in terms of both revenue and sports media coverage today.

The all male sport of college football is at the head of the table in terms of media. As authors Kian, Vincent, and Mondello point out, a sport like football exhibits strong masculine behaviors, due to the level of aggression needed to play the sport, which makes it the most attractive to watch from a male viewership perspective. Where as men's basketball is the highest revenue earner for the NCAA, currently holding a 6 billion dollar contract with CBS for the rights to air the NCAA men's tournament games. This dominance in both revenue and media coverage of men's sports clearly show the higher rank of men over women in terms of gender order. Women were barely even important enough to be mentioned in this theme, with the word "women" only appearing 3, yes 3 times in this entire section of the article.

Jared P said...

As for the second question on what qualities are needed to make a good coach, I think rather than just creating a list of good coaching qualities, I would like to instead first discuss a piece of the ESPN article, " The Glass Wall," which as Aimee mentioned talks about the enormous discrepancy between the number of men and women head coaches in NCAA sports today. As the article suggests, part of the problem for this huge gap is the fact that many highly qualified women coaching candidates have families, and despite the career opportunity to be a NCAA head coach, cannot make the job commitment, especially when it comes to relocation. This to me limits the female candidacy pool, and therefore leads to many more job opportunities for their male counterparts, who seem to have a much easier time in putting their careers before their families.

So getting back to Aimee's original question on the qualities of a good coach, I would have to say that "dedication" is certainly one of, if not the highest ranking quality there is for a coach, especially for a female who is a working mother. The time allotted to recruiting alone is a job in itself, never-mind the actual practice time, film room, media press conferences, travel to/from games and tournaments etc.. I think if a coach cannot make the dedication to their job first, and put family second, then they will not have a long tenure in today's NCAA sports.

Sean Jackson said...

The “glass wall” is a reality in the coaching profession. Women do not have an equal opportunity at highly regarded coaching jobs. Interestingly in the article Fagan and Cyphers wrote about just getting women to apply for potential coaching positions is difficult. Colleen Hacker, a professor at Pacific Lutheran and a team psychologist for the U.S. women’s soccer team, cites a study from the 1980’s that found female candidates believed they needed to meet 9 of 10 requirements on a job posting to even apply. “For men, it was 5 of 10.” Fagan and Cypers (2012) More female athletic directors could help to break the “glass wall.” Gatekeeper positions in colleges will continue to promote change. Professor of Sociology of Sport and founder of the Tucker Center for Women in Sport, at U of M, has been appointed as a board member for highering of their new athletic director. Women deserve more opportunities, this could be one. Jody Runge has not been given a second chance yet because apparently her reputation was tarnished. She was labeled as a complainer and a trouble maker. Was she really? Or was she justifiably fighting for equal treatment for her team? I think the biggest reason that women are not given the opportunity to coach men is because of the perception that Dr. Rosenthal brought up involving “RGIII”. It is highly prevalent and degrading to women. More women coaching will help change that perception.

rbap said...

To Ray, you have coached with the best coach in the state for 3 years, you know the game. Remember this, you could have a record of 20-0 and still have someone criticize you. All you can do is coach what you know and be yourself, your skin will toughen as the years pass.
Laura, please apply for the AD position.
Response to Amie’s second questions….
I think that a possible reason for both questions could be the lack of media coverage. People seem to view what is important by what they see and hear on the news. (Nyad, 2010) discovered in her research that 100% of the sports news shows began with a male sport story. She also discovered that 75% of the show was dedicated to football, men’s basketball, and baseball. I don’t get to watch many games on television because of my busy lifestyle. However, I can watch ESPN and find out everything that went on in that day for male sports in about ten minutes. I cannot do that for women because there is a lack of coverage. People are not aware of the accomplishments women have made. Just in this class I have learned the names of about 5 or 6 women athletes. Women need more coverage to help change the view that many people have

Aimee said...

Hi all, great thoughts on all the questions, we certainly can define what a good coach is. Maybe we should write a letter and send it down to the Saints explaining what a GOOD coach is. =)

Kenny, I find it really interesting how you brought up how athletes are compared to people in their sport based on their race. I have never noticed this, but will definitely pay closer attention to this. If in fact this happens often this should really be looked into!

Laura, you bring up a good point, will less women in administrative positions at the college level, could this be a big reason why there are not as many female coaches?

Sean, your statement regarding job requirements for men and women, with women thinking they need 9 out of 10 is probably a big reason why more women coaches do not apply. I do not think coaching is the only thing this applies to. I have read in other studies how men are much more confident in job interviews and think are they are over qualified compared to women, another great reason there are a lack of female coaches.

jen said...

The decline of women’s coaching since title IX is appalling. The fact that sexism is still prevalent in coaching after all of these years is disgusting. Title IX has opened numerous opportunities for females to play sports, so how is the “pool of women’s coaches” still considered weak?? I believe the key factor for “the Glass Wall” is the dominance of male athletic directors, who keep the “norm” going. I agree with what Dan said about Cornell’s theory. Why aren’t women athletes talented because they put in hard work, practiced a ton of hours, and watched a lot of film like their male counterparts? Women don’t need to practice with men to be great athletes. I can’t understand how this blatant sexism can still exist today. When is someone going to step in and say this is wrong? At this point in time I could care less if women are coaching men’s sports, let’s start with breaking the glass wall first.
What qualities make a good coach?
I am going to list qualities that are important to me: has played the sport, fair, structure, discipline, listens, nurturing, fun, and positive. I strongly believe a coach should have played the sport they coach. A good coach is fair, has a structured program with discipline. Players respect a coach who distributes playing time fairly. Players also like structure, they like to know what to expect. A coach needs to be able to listen to their players and motivate them to stay positive in glum times. Most important the coach needs to be able to have fun with the players, find moments to play with the team and have a laugh, building a strong bond with the team is a must.

jen said...

1. The trend in women coaching is “one and done”, Why do you think women are not given second chances in the coaching world?

2. What do you think is the biggest reason why women are not given the opportunity to coach men? Or “even” women?
I think women are usually one and one coaches because they “rock the boat” to much. Women challenge the “norm” of inequality. Jody Runge is a prime example. Jody was a very successful coach who took her program out of the cellar and made it very successful. I think women get into to these programs that look good on the outside and suddenly realize that they have reentered the dark ages. Once they start to ask for equal court time or equal pay, the AD’s start documenting their “insubordination” and tell other AD’s, which black balls the coach for life. The fact that Runge has not been offered another job is outrageous and just reinforces my belief.
The main reason for women not being given coaching opportunities is sexism. Let’s face it the person doing the hiring is a male 90 percent of the time. They have their full proof excuses, such as, the pool of women candidates were weak, we need to hire the most qualified coach, no women applied for the job. This circle of sexism is not going to end until women get an equal share of the AD jobs. Women need to break through that threshold first, so women applicants can get a fair look. Like I said in my other post women need to worry about getting coaching positions in women’s sports first, and worry about coaching men’s sports another time.

CJ said...

After reading the “Glass Wall” by (Fagan and Cyphers, 2012) it is apparent that women cannot move from job to job like men or complain take a stand to make their program equal. Jody Runge made a stand for her program and is unfairly paying for it. She took on a fight and was labeled as a complainer. According to (Fagan and Cyphers, 2012), Runge was given the advice to stand down from her battles. This advice was from two other female basketball coaches who had previously won NCAA titles. Was this good advice? Should have the coaches stood up for her and helped her in the battle for equal representation for women? I am torn with were I stand on the coaches decision. Part of me feels they should have helped Runge and part of me feels they would have also been unjustly fazed out of their jobs. I know that the University of Oregon made a big mistake in the advancement for equality in women’s coaching. But what do they care….they have Phil Knight’s Nike money lining their pockets and we know where Nike’s ethics fall. SWOOSH!

Brad said...

I don’t believe there are any simple answers regarding the dearth of female coaches. Sports teams seem to value a coach with a more authoritarian style, historically this been associated with males. Females are seen as nurturers and men as authority figures. Changing these perceptions has been a slow process.

Aimee I can relate to what you said about being a female coach. I was never acknowledged for being a skilled coach from the Deaf community when I coached. In the view of some, my teams won because I had the players and not because I could coach them. There was nothing I could do as a hearing person to get some Deaf people to believe that I was a good coach. There has to be some similarities to a female coach trying to prove herself to the old boys’ network in athletics.

I watched quite a bit of women’s and men’s college basketball. The games are completely different, can’t compare the men and women. I didn’t like the women from Baylor’s game because it depended on one player’s physical dominance. I enjoy the woman’s game because there is more emphasis on teamwork as opposed to individual skills. I think comparing women players to star men’s players is well intended but misguided. More knowledgeable annalists compare female players to recent stars from the WNBA.

The men from Kentucky were impressive in the first half of the final. Calipari, the Kentucky coach, toyed with Kansas in the second half, didn’t let his players play. No matter what a coach does, if they win, everything is good. Much has already been said about “winning is everything.” I also disagree with male players going to college for one year before entering the NBA. I don’t think the players are ready for the NBA after a year at college. The male players would clearly benefit from more education and maturity. Brittney Griner (the women’s MVP) was questioned for wanting to come back for her senior year, I applaud her for staying in school.

Kenny Horan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kenny Horan said...

I think Brad makes a really good point with his post about the perceptions of male and female coaches. It is a slow process and I agree that it is difficult to find a simple answer to this issue.

After reading "Gender in televised sports" (Messner, 2010), I found many of the charts to be quite eye opening, particularly the one on page 12 about coverage of all the different sports including "ticker" coverage. I found it to be very surprising that women's sports only account for 3% of coverage in 2009. The coverage of women's sports, at least in news and highlights coverage, does not seem to be improving even 40 years after Title IX. This is interesting because the coverage of the actual games on major networks does seem to be improving in recent years.

I'd also like to weigh in on what qualities make a good coach. I think a good coach is intelligent, prepared, knows his/her players, trusting, trustworthy, composed, and knows how to motivate his/her players, because I feel like there is no one specific way to motivate, it completely depends on the individual. Aimee, I think you're right-- we need to send all of these responses down to Gregg Williams in New Orleans and see what he thinks.

Jared P said...

As for Aimee's second set of questions, in terms of #1, I found this to be a very difficult question to answer. I really had no clue why women were not given second chances in the NCAA world of coaching. The ESPN article, "The Glass Wall" discussed women who had previous coaching experience as a head coach, and were not even receiving a response, never mind being given the opportunity to interview, for most open positions in which they applied for. However, the article does not really say why this trend exists. I guess my reasoning would be the same as found in answering Aimee's second question, which asks why women are not given the opportunity to coach men, or even players of their own gender. As I mentioned in my previous post, the time dedication needed to be a successful head coach in today's NCAA is tremendous. For many family women, the work travel/relocation is something they are just not able to commit to, with the same rationale for women looking to start a family, who cannot commit to such coaching responsibilities while they are pregnant.

I believe that the cast of male dominated Athletic Directors at these NCAA institutions see this as an issue in hiring women for head coaching positions. I believe these male AD's have created a stereotype that a woman cannot be as dedicated to their job as a man, and therefore will not be able to handle the job responsiblities as well as men. I feel that it is this stereotype which is preventing more women from landing head coaching jobs at the NCAA level.

Dan said...

Happy holidays everyone. Before I answer the second set of questions I just wanted to mention that I had a woman as a track coach for all four years in high school. She was the best. Without her I do not think we would have been as disciplined or learned as much as we did. It is tough to read these articles without thinking about my coach. We were the only team at my school with a female head coach and she was awesome. We would be criticized, not by athletes in our school, but other teams in our division. We were the team with the “girl coach.” My team never thought anything of it because our coach was the best and doing what was best for the team.

I believe that women are not given second chances because of Connell’s theory of gender order. Connell’s theory covers the topic of women coaches in sports. The trend of one and done is prevalent in sports because higher ups think that giving women one chance is enough. They can say “we gave her a chance,” but then you see professional male coaches bounce from team to team all the time.

To answer your second question about the biggest reason women are not given the chance to coach men or women is again because of Connell’s theory of gender order. This is a perfect example of men in a position of power over women. Some people probably think that men should coach women’s sports instead of women to express the aforementioned gender order. People in today’s society still do not see males and females on the same level when it comes to just about anything. Athletic directors and other higher-ups in local and professional sports probably feel that giving women one chance to coach is enough, but men can be given multiple chances because they “should” be in the position of power.

Rachel Lassey said...

In the study by Messner, Cooky, Hextrum, and Nyad (2010) they discuss How Can Change Occur. Change can occur when there is support, money, power, and pressure. I think my favorite part is when the authors add “pressures from a number of directions” (Messner et. al., 2010). Support needs to come from all angles whether it has to do with getting more female coverage in sport or getting more female coaches in sport. There needs to be support and assistance from people with the power and money. Whether that is athletic directors, sponsors, bosses, etc. There needs to be more promotion of female success, which needs to be approved and encourage by the gatekeepers. There needs to be an acceptance of female coaches by males or by loved ones. Sometimes a husband might stop a wife from coaching because he is afraid of the household responsibilities. The list is ongoing, but this is 2012 and anything can happen. It starts with a group that takes a step, and I really do hope that, that group will be ESPN. Make a women’s ESPN that promotes and splashes females in sport and female coaches all over the world. I know not everyone will be supportive, but I do know the majority of people will begin to accept it if it just becomes part of the norm. Let’s make women in sports/coaching a “norm.” How great would that be.