female athletes . Role models are so important , which is why the need for female coaches is so high . They can provide the sport with that role model an athlete will need .
Growing female sports is a big challenge . One of the easiest ways to grow female sports is to allow females to be in leadership positions in sports like coaching . The more females that are a part of the sport the better the sports will be . This would provide females with the opportunity to grow the sport that they are passionate about . By adding more female coaches it provides a career path for females to better the sport and improve it for the next generation . “ The more role models we have , the more female players , coaches and referees we have , the more we ’ re going to inspire and encourage the next generation of girls to come and take it forward ” ( Arnold & Johnson ). The fact that there would be more females coaching means other females might consider coaching . This is an important example of how a sport grows . “ Just by being more visible in their role they may inspire other women to pursue and emulate their achievements . Seeing women coaching greatly increases the likelihood of a woman considering a career in coaching ” ( Haigh ). Having more female coaches not only benefits sports but also the female athletes as well .
Several steps are important to increase the number of female coaches in sports .
1 . Offer female-only coaching education and programming .
2 . Add more females to the board of directors of sports leagues .
3 . Create a way for current and upcoming female coaches to connect .
4 . Inform current female athletes about coaching opportunities and encourage them to apply .
The purpose of this article is to inform and educate coaches and sports professionals , such as athletic directors , on the disparity between the number of male coaches versus females . In addition , several recommendations are provided to help increase the number of female coaches , such as providing more information that could increase the number of female coaches and eliminate gender inequality within the profession . “ By increasing the number of women coaches , we can change perceptions , give equitable opportunities , and positively influence the lives of young women ” ( Haigh ).
FEMALE-ONLY COACHING EDUCATION AND PROGRAMMING
Coaching education is important for all coaches to continue learning and improving as a coach . Participation is important . Coaching education is an avenue that should be used to improve female coaches throughout all sports .
One of the challenges in coaching education is that the majority of the classes are made up of males . Taking these classes with males can be intimidating for females . If there were female-only sports education courses , the intimidation factor that can discourage females from attending the courses would be eliminated .
According to M . Kahn ( personal communication , November 19 , 2020 ), female-only coaching education and programming can “ give women a chance to pursue development and not feel like they are in a room full of a bunch of male egos .” The female-only educational programs would not be offered only to females , but rather there would be a specific section of the class that would be made up of just females . These would also be the same educational programs offered to anyone , but providing female-only classes could increase female coaches throughout the sports industry . U . S . Soccer has done this but only offered the C coaching license courses to women pro players . Creating more licensing classes open only to women would increase female attendance and provide more access to higher education in coaching .
Additionally , creating these femalesonly classes could help organizations learn best practices for educating female coaches .
ADD MORE FEMALES TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Having diversity in the higher positions of a sports organization and diversity as a coaching ideology is important . Females are underrepresented in decision-making at the highest levels in sports coaching . Adding more females to a board of directors would lead to more diverse thinking and potentially better outcomes . Female influence can provide many benefits — from improved productivity to increased social responsibility . Adding females to boards will help create gender balance within organizations . Females need to be placed in these positions not only to maintain this gender balance but to continue hiring other women into other positions in the sports industry . Increasing the number of females who are involved with the hiring process allows them to advocate for more female coaches . Female representation can be used to grow female sports around the country by providing more opportunities for females to continue exploring the possibility of working in sports organizations and perhaps get into coaching .
DEVELOP NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
Even though coaching is a maledominated industry , there are many female mentors and coaches across sports . For example , Jill Ellis is a two-time World Cup champion for the U . S . Women ’ s National Team . Or Dawn Staley , the current head coach of the South Carolina Gamecocks women ’ s basketball team . Even in sports played mostly by men , there are female coaches . This season in the NFL , there are 15 women in full-time coaching positions — the most for any male professional sports league in the world . Having more females as coaches will make the profession more attainable for future generations of women to get into coaching . LaVoi ( 2016 ) said that “ if girls and young women see females in coaching roles , they will more likely think about coaching as a legitimate and viable career , and so may aspire to become a coach ” ( p . 4 ).
One of the challenges facing many aspiring female coaches is connecting with current female coaches . The would-be coaches want to make those connections but it ’ s hard to find existing female coaches to create these relationships with . Providing a way for current and upcoming female coaches to connect and
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