Coaching Young Women...What's the difference?

This is the third installment in our continuing blog series on issues surrounding women in sports, leading up to the 40th anniversary of Title IX on June 23.

One of the “vexing” subjects that coaches and parents of young people face is the “challenge” of coaching girls in youth sports.

Despite the complex pieces on coaching women out there, Play Like a Champion Today®, advises coaches to not over-think this “issue.”

An important part of coaching is to always remind yourself why you are coaching. Chances are that you are there to spend time with your children, teach valuable character lessons, and to create meaningful memories for yourself and for young people. Are any of those goals gender specific? Would you approach any of them differently for a boy or a girl? Doubtful. So don’t approach coaching differently. There are probably going to be differences in experiences of coaching boys and girls, especially as they get older, but none of the differences between them effect the way that kids receive instructions , develop moral decision-making, and enhance their physical abilities.

When coaching a single sex team, it’s important to avoid traditional gender stereotypes and to get to know the individuals on your team. Getting to know them as Amanda, Shanti, Claire, and Yvonne rather than just “girls” will allow you to see that each person on your team has strengths, weaknesses, assets, and liabilities as young athletes. Once you ignore what you expect Linda be doing as a girl, you will see that she is good fielding shortstop, a confident leader that struggles with her hitting abilities, and worries about her grades in school. Then you will find the ways that you can influence her best as a coach, and she can best impact the team as a player.

Gender-specific coaching can lead to coaching that ignores the development of the whole athlete in favor of perpetuating stereotypes, which can be dangerous for both boys and girls. As psychologist Dr. Nicole Lavoi writes in a recent blog, “if a coach believes or uncritically accepts that boys are inherently more aggressive and competitive, the coach may have different expectations and ways of structuring practices, interacting, communicating, motivating and leading girls. Similarly, if coaches believe boys don’t value connections and friendships, this too erases boys’ need for feeling a sense of belongingness.”

Title IX was a landmark in removing barriers against women in sport with the support of the law, but so many of the barriers that girls and women encounter are beyond the effect of the law. They are in deep-seeded stereotypes of a woman’s ability, social tendencies, and emotional make-up. As coaches and parents of young athletes, we have the ability to make a real difference in the way our daughters, granddaughters, nieces, and friends choose to (not) play into those stereotypes. As mentors of young women, let us champion their abilities, coach them in their individual weaknesses, and avoid the traps of traditional thinking.

Let’s simplify our approach. Learn her name. Coach to her strengths and weaknesses. Realize that she is an awesome individual. The rest will take care of itself.