Monday, May 10, 2010

Female coaching boys football

Check out the NY Times article here
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1 comment:

Unknown said...

This New York Times article addresses the newly appointed female coach, Natalie Randolph, for the Calvin Coolidge Senior High School Football team. I found it very interesting how in depth the article goes to explain how out of the "norm" it is to have a female coaching football. The article quotes a few of the players on their reactions to the new coach and whether or not they would believe it to be successful for the team. Most of them reacted with shock while others were surprised to learn of her success in playing football for the D.C. Divas in the Independent Women's Football League. We later learn that Randolph was hired for the job because of her emphasis on the education and the classroom. I am glad to see someone really pushing for a stronger focus on academia in the athletic domain, because it so often is neglected. But the article then quotes Randolph saying "I hope they know that I really don't care about winning football games." This almost immediately retrogrades back to the mentality that female coaches are not focused on the sport. I think that this can be very dangerous for the future of women in sport in that it may continue the stereotypes of gender roles. The article talks about her height, weight, and the fact that she rarely yells. It even explains that the players enjoy the "novelty" of having a woman in charge, some even want to call her "mom". This emphasizes the connection of women to maternity, regardless of the sport involved. She has been receiving a lot of publicity as well which appeals to many of the players because they find it as "free publicity". There are many other female coaches that are not receiving any attention. Yes, this is a step forward for athletes in the academia world, but female coaches must speak out about the kind of respect that is deserved on the field as well. Otherwise, we are just continuing to promote the constructed gender roles in our society.

E.D.
Kines 338i T/Th 9:30am

May 10, 2010 at 4:36 PM

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