While I was growing up, I played the usual array of sports. Tee ball and soccer in elementary school, volleyball and basketball in middle school, and cross country and track throughout most of high school. With the exception of volleyball, I noticed a common theme among these sports: all the leadership positions were held by men.
Now that I am in college and I run track and cross country, I was expecting female leadership to be growing right along with the number of female athletes. Contrary to my expectations, at Augustana college, most coaches and athletic directors are male. According to the school’s website, 4/5 athletic administrators are men and a majority of leadership positions for women’s sports are male as well. To be more specific, of the 46 coaching/assistant coaching positions for women’s sports, 18 of these positions are held by women. Moreover, 14 of the women’s leadership positions are assistant coaches, rather than head coaches or trainers.
This is not to say that men are not qualified or able to coach women’s sports. So far, I have been happy with how passionate, accomplished, and dedicated my coaches are. I just wonder how my experience would have been different now and growing up if I had more female role models in athletics. All athletes can gain insight and support from one another, but there are certain struggles that a woman has to undergo, that a man never will. One of these struggles is being told by society that female sports teams can never be as respected as male sports teams. Or, better yet, once women finally do achieve great athletic feats, they are labeled as “masculine.” What better way to stop these messages, than for a female coach to exhibit what girls and women can accomplish.
Perhaps a more frightening message is that women can’t be strong leaders. Countless examples, like Mia Hamm, Shalene Flanagan, and Serena Williams, show how women can be inspiring leaders. Yet, most female sports teams and athletics directors are male. This probably results from the fact that society at large favors men, rather than women as leaders. There is definitely more that plays into this favoritism than female leadership in sports teams, but it is a great place to start. Perhaps seeing more women in respected positions in athletics will lead to more girls growing up and seeing they can be leaders. Women are just as smart, just as talented, and just as capable. It’s time for Augustana’s leadership roles to reflect that.