I am currently coaching a high school boys soccer team. I had the opportunity to take the job as the girls' coach as well so I asked several people about my options. Now, these people were a blended group. There were coaches and non-coaches alike. Almost all of them said that I should take the guys team because it is harder to coach girls than it is to coach guys. It was interesting to hear stereotypes as well. They said that girls were more focused on socializing than on the sport, so you can't yell at them or make them work too hard. They also said that girls are not very focused on winning. They just want to play.
Now that I am coaching, I am beginning to see a different side to the girls team. We practice by them every day and they are working extremely hard. They are not socializing all practice, nor are they daydreaming about upcoming school dances. They are learning the game of soccer and they are striving for a league championship. They are just as disappointed as the guys are after a loss and just as excited after a hard-fought win.
One individual gave me an example so show me that girls are less focused. He said he knew of a coach that brought in a trainer to get ready for a national tournament. They had a few tournaments before the big stage. The trainer didn't let them talk during stretches, nor did he allow them any time to catch up about life. They fell apart and lost games they should have been winning. The coach stepped in and fired the trainer. He then allotted stretching as a time to catch up and chat. They began winning again. So the conclusion is that girls want to socialize more than they want to play?! My initial thought is that guys teams would have shut down if they weren't allowed to talk to each other during stretches. It is not a gender issue. It is merely a poor trainer. And allotting 15 minutes to socialize does not mean the girls don't care about the sport. Allotting an entire practice could lead to such a conclusion, but not stretching periods.
- Josh Kronz
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I am in a similar situation as you, except kind of flipped. I am a female coach of a co-ed swim team. There is not enough money to budget for a male coach to coach the boys, so they made me head coach of both teams. Needless to say, this did not go over too well with some of the parents and other staff members. I got a lot of flack for being placed in a position to coach boys. I am qualified to coach either team, yet this doesn't seem to cool off the people who have objections. It's not necessarily an issue of there only being one coach, the issue seems to be that I am a female coach. I know first-hand that the previous coach was a male and there was not this much fuss made. Because I am a female coach I feel I am being treated in a different light.
Elizabeth Kravig
Sec 3206
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