“For her…”
Shared by Breanne Smedley
I’m a head coach. And I’m a female.
I hadn’t really considered that these two things made myself a minority among coaches.
Until I started to look around.
In my previous role, I was the only female head coach in the entire athletic department.
In my current position, out of the 22 sports offered at the high school, four are led by women head coaches.
Gymnastics.
Swimming.
Track and Field.
Volleyball.
The cheerleading coach is also female, although cheerleading isn’t listed as a sport in our league.
I’ve thought a lot about the significance of this.
That most people don’t think twice about a male head coach of a girls team, but find it significant when (if) a woman coaches a boys team.
Does it really matter what the gender of a coach is, as long as they are a “good” coach?
“I don’t care if they’re a man, woman, white, black, asian, hispanic, etc. As long as they are the most qualified for the position.” An Athletic Director told me recently.
Before that response, I had asked that same AD (after he was raving about his awesome coaching staff) how many of those coaches were female.
He had to pause and think.
“Hmmm…well, we have one female at the middle school level.”
I left it, hoping that he could make the conclusion himself that he should consider diversifying his coaching staff.
That over half of the athletes in his department were female, yet there was not one female in leadership to be found on any coaching or administrative staff in the school.
Not even an assistant coach.
That maybe he should consider his bias when in the hiring process.
For fear that he might see me as a “crazy feminist,” I stepped down. Hoping he would ponder his answer the next time he is in a position to hire someone who has so much influence on the young lives of women.
But maybe I shouldn’t have.
Now, I am in no way saying that a male coach cannot have a profound impact on his female athletes.
I consider one of the male coaches in my volleyball career someone who has had a significant impact on my development as a player and a person. I have a ton of respect for him.
I also know that one of the primary reasons why I feel so called to coach is to help inspire and lead a generation of young women to believe they too can hold a position of leadership.
It’s something I think about as these ladies look around their school and see who is leading.
I want them to be able to see themselves in a part of me.
I want them to see that they can do it too.
That it’s possible to raise a family and have a career, as long as they use the support around them.
That they don’t always need to be perfect, they just need to show up.
That they will probably have to work harder than their male counterparts to achieve similar roles, accolades, and opportunities.
That they are more than capable to lead.
That the world needs their unique experience, perspective, and voice.
I do it for her.
And while the playing field is far from being even, I hope that my role as a head coach is one small, but significant way to show her.
That everything she needs is inside her already.
If I can do it, so can she.
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#FiercelyOptimistic
#InspirationallyImpactful
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