In October 2012, Nancy Redd of Huff Post Live, aired a video asking where all the female coaches are in professional sports because in 2012, between the 122 professional teams, of the NBA, NFL, MLB, and NHL, there were zero female coaches. This year, that number has changed from 0 to 4.
In 2014, Becky Hammon became the female, full-time paid assistant in the NBA when the San Antonio Spurs hired her. Earlier this year, another strong female, one of the greatest figures in women’s basketball, Nancy Lieberman, joined the NBA. She is currently an assistant coach for the Sacramento Kings. In the NFL, there has currently only been one female coach. The sole NFL female coach is Jen Welter, a former football player, who was a preseason coaching intern for the Arizona Cardinals. Unfortunately, Jen’s internship has ended but her experience is counted as a win because, as she says in an interview with the Washington Post, “the biggest question coming in was would guys in the NFL respond to a woman coaching them, and the obvious answer is yes.” In addition to hiring one female coach this year, the NFL has hired the first female official in NFL history, Sarah Thomas.
On September 29, 2015, Major League Baseball made history in hiring the MLB’s first female coach. The Oakland Athletics (Go A’s!!) hired Justine Siegal as the coach for the A’s Instructional League team. Justine’s position is only temporary but there is potential for her to be hired full time. The social media response to Justine’s hiring has been overwhelmingly positive. Jen Welter’s tweet in support of the Athletics decision sums up everyone’s reaction.
With these strides towards equality in the male dominated field of professional sports, little girls truly can dream a little bigger. The next step? A female coach in NHL, and with the hockey season just starting, it’s possible that we may see the first female NHL coach hired in the 2015-2016 season.