I’ve always pondered why it’s acceptable for male coaches to coach women at the college and professional levels but it’s not as acceptable for women to coach men at those levels. Although it’s not abnormal to see a woman coaching Amateur Athletic Union or high school boys, it’s still rare. San Antonio Spurs’ Becky Hammon is the first full-time paid woman assistant in the NBA – which is a crack at the glass ceiling – but I look forward to the day when it becomes normal for women to be the head coaches of college and professional men’s basketball, baseball, soccer, etc. I think since sports such as basketball, baseball and football are contact sports, they are stereotyped as needing a man to be in control and call the shots. There’s a little more lead way with Olympic-style sports such as track and field, swimming and tennis for women to get away with being head coaches, partly because these are a mix of individual and team sports and they’re more graceful. On the other hand, I don’t understand why people would throw tantrums over the thought of a woman coaching a masculine sport like football, but men coach feminine sports like volleyball and gymnastics, and it’s acceptable. Continue reading “Women Can Coach, Just Not the Men”
