Do most coaches treat girls differently?

Submitted by Julie Derderian on Mon, 06/09/2008 - 13:17.
Have you ever noticed that coaches treat girls differently, as if they are afraid that girls are going to start crying at even a hint of  feedback? The best coach I ever had was when I was playing with a boys junior high school team and my coach yelled at me and made me do sprints and whatever it took to make me a better player, just as he did the boys; there was no special treatment. It made me into a tough well-rounded hockey player. Girls can handle being coached like the boys because we also are determined to become the best players that we can be.
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Have you coached both boys and girls? ›

Great Post!!

Submitted by Kirk Mango on Mon, 06/09/2008 - 15:14.

Julie, I feel the same way as you and applied the same philosophical principle you describe in my own coaching style. I am also the father of two daughters who went on to play their sports in college (at the D1 level) and they were raised, and encouraged, to believe this as well. This is a big deal to me and find that doing otherwise, in my opinion, cheats young women out of opportunity and accomplishment they are more than capable of. Working toward "being the best you can be" is not gender specific. As a former varsity girls

I think all coaches need to

Submitted by Teresa Smolinski on Tue, 06/10/2008 - 14:17.

I think all coaches need to figure out what makes their players tick. What works for one child is not going to work for another. While one may respond to the push, another might respond better to a pat on the back. I know my daughter doesn't respond to being yelled at. Does that make her less of an athlete or isn't going to become the best that she can be?

Finding the right coach and environment for your child is a challenge all parents of athletes face. One of my daughter's coaches was tough. At first I thought he'd turn out better athletes. Years later, he lost all of his players and many still carry the emotional scars of his bullying and have gone on to play for coaches that build self-esteem, not break it.

I'm not saying that a tough coach is a bad one. I'm just saying that kids need to be treated as individuals. Not all kids will be playing at the D1 level.

I think some girls can take

Submitted by Tony Lagreca on Tue, 06/17/2008 - 17:15.

I think some girls can take yelling, some boys can't, and vice-versa. Why not take an approach everyone is comfortable with...not yelling, working on an athlete to athlete basis. No kid (boy or girl) ever came to me and told me, ya know, you really ought to be screaming at us more

No, but some athletes don't

Submitted by John Dee on Wed, 06/25/2008 - 17:49.

No, but some athletes don't focus unless you really get on them.

  Great question.

Submitted by Brooke de Lench on Tue, 09/23/2008 - 15:20.
 

Great question. I have researched this issue and often speak to groups about the difference in coaching girls and boys. I coached boys and never yelled at them. I am not a yeller and my voice is not loud enough to carry across a noisy filed. Each boy told me at the end of the season that I treated them better than most of their coaches ever did. I found this fascinating and began to research it for inclusion in two chapters in my book Home Team Advantage.

The boys on my team told me what I found from my research: most athletes do not like to be yelled at. When they played for me they each told me: “ I felt like I was playing for myself not for the coach.” I too was a strong athlete but unlike you I worked best for coaches who let us (my team) play the game and let us push each other.

 

Brooke de Lench

Publisher

MomsTeam.com

Author

Home Team Advantage (Harper Collins)