Coach Dawn Writes

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So here’s the deal. Women aren’t coaching. I know you’re thinking, “well, you’re coaching Dawn…and you’re a woman.” Okay, let me rephrase that: women aren’t staying in coaching. I wrote about the statistics of women in athletics in my post, 3 Ways To Keep Females In Coaching And Athletics Administration, you should go check it out! But this blog is about intangibles…and those are hard to measure. Though that doesn’t make them any less real. And what The Alliance of Women Coaches has found is that women are feeling lonely, are paid less, and subject to more inequalities in the world of athletics than men. Check out what some of their research has shown…

What the female coaches are saying:

• They often are the only female coach or one of a small number and feel isolated.
• They struggle with life/work balance decisions.
• They are not as willing to apply for new positions if they have to uproot their families.
• They are not as confident applying for open positions as men who are less qualified.
• Many don’t feel comfortable with recruiting and fund-raising.
• They are subject to negative recruiting.
• They have limited knowledge of Title IX history and requirements.
• They don’t know how to deal with gender inequities.
• They are subject to homophobia.
• They don’t feel they are given the resources that they need to be competitive.
• They are paid less than their male counterparts.
• Many have had no formal coaching training; they may have been athletes at the school where they were hired to coach, and then receive little or no mentoring or professional development.
• They would like to feel more connected and supported.

So what to do? Join The Alliance of Women Coaches! Forward info on to female coaches that you know…spread the word! It’s important to me that my student-athletes see strong female leadership (within the coaching and administration ranks) so they can see themselves taking my place one day. It’s so important to me that I’m on the Board of Coaches for The AWC.

I love James Brown, but it’s not a man’s world in athletics anymore. The Alliance of Women Coaches is around to make sure that women are welcome, comfortable, and secure in the world of athletics.

I’m on the computer too much, I’ll admit to that…there’s so much information out there and I want to soak it all in. I enjoy reading about coaching and seeing what other folks are doing. Over the next few days, I’ll highlight four websites that you may not have heard about, but deserve way more love! Coach & Athletic Director, Women Talk Sports, ESPN W, and Alliance of Women Coaches.