Male Coaches

I know what you’re thinking, what an odd title for a women’s sports blog!  What does it mean to have two male coaches in the women’s final? was featured this afternoon on the NCAA Double-A Zone blog.  The article opens restating the statistics released earlier this year by the NCAA in the Perceived Barriers Study, that we covered in Gender Barriers in Athletics.

Until reading this article I had not realized that this is just the second time in history that two male head coaches meet on the stage of the women’s final.  (the first time coming in 1988.)    

Now, I’m hoping that Marta Lawrence wrote this article just to get a rise out of people like me.  And if so, congratulations!  The questions asked really got me thinking, and caused me to react!  I want to make sure I am not misunderstood, I have had multiple good male coaches, and I know MANY good male coaches of female athletes.  I have nothing against men who coach women.  How many people are going to assume that Louisville and UConn met tonight in the National Champioinship game because they have male coaches?  How many people are going to belive that the Geno Auriemma and Jeff Walz  are more qualifed, more successful, more talented, than Pat Summit, C. Vivian Stringer, Tara VanDerveer, Sherri Coale, simply because they are men. 

So, does the game tonight work to reiterate the subconscious notion that men are better suited to coaching than women?

In one word: No.  

Do women still need to climb the gender equity hill or is tonight’s game an indication that we’ve moved to a post-gender time in women’s athletics?

1) It doesn’t bother me that the coach of the UConn Huskies and the Louisville Cardinals are men.  It doesn’t bother me that the top two women’s basketball teams in the country are coached by men.  We know the facts.  Only 42% of women’s college teams are coached by women.  In 1972, the birth of Title IX, 90% of women’s college teams were coached by women.  It upsets me that people will look at tonight and say “men are better suited to coaching than women.” 
2) Women definitely still need to climb the gender equity hill.  The worst thing that we can do as women, as leaders, and as mentors to young children, is to think that “we’ve moved to a post-gender time in women’s athletics.”  If we believe that, if we allow that thought to creep into our minds, we will lose everything our founding mothers fought for when Title IX was enacted. 

“There’s always going to be another mountain
I’m always going to want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle,
Sometimes I’m gonna to have to lose,
Ain’t about how fast I get there,
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb”

(I SWEAR I chose this quote before that little tribute to the women’s tournament…even if it’s sad to admit!)

Practice makes Perfect

Uncharted waters for the Lady Vols. Tennessee suffered a first-ever, first round loss to Ball State 71-55 on Sunday. Tuesday afternoon, the women were back at Tennessee, and back on the court. Pat Summit discusses her reason for holding practice, how she plans to develop her young team, and of course her disappointment in the first round loss. The women can continue to practie until April 15th, as per NCAA rules.

Really just an amazing personal interview with Pat Summit. Watch this! I didn’t play much basketball, but I ALWAYS respected Pat Summit. She is the epitome of a strong female warrior, an amazing leader and coach, and extremely knowledgeable of the sport. She is obviously struggling with the loss and some of her younger players. It seems like she is dealing with some commitment issues from her freshmen, and maybe the effort they are not putting into the sport. It sounds like the next 3 weeks are going to be some of the most grueling and challenging practices Tennessee has had this season. Best of luck to her as she tries to get through to her team.

As a coach, there’s nothing worse than feeling like you want the victory more than your team does.

Stringer vs. Summitt: A rivalry of success and media attention

Vivian Stringer (Rutgers) and Pat Summitt (Tennessee) are without a doubt two of the biggest names in women’s basketball.

On January 3, the coaches’ teams battled it out for the 27th time. The Lady Vols’ 20-point comeback in the second half made school history.

Together, Stringer and Summitt have compiled 1,805 victories over 73 seasons, and they’re both over the age of 50. This past year, Vivian Stringer reached her 800th win, and Pat Summit has 983 wins, along with an incredible .844 average.

As a result of their success, they’ve built up quite a rivalry. Summitt has won 13 of 14 games against Stringer, and the most notable match up occurred in 2007, as Summit’s team defeated Stringer’s for the NCAA Championship.

On January 3, the Lady Vols made history, with the largest comeback in the history of their program.

Down to Rutgers by 20 points at halftime, the Lady Vols came back to defeat the Scarlet Knights, 55-51.

According to ESPN, Shekinna Stricklen’s 16 points and 11 rebounds led this run, and Summitt’s half-time rip speech inspired the comeback to occur.

Trailing 33-13 at the half, Summitt ripped into her inexperienced team telling them it would be a long plane ride home for the Lady Vols if they didn’t start playing with some “Tennessee pride,” reported ESPN.

“Never in my 35 years of coaching have I seen a game like that,” said Summitt, who earned the 994th win of her career. “I’ve been in a lot of games, I’ve been behind a lot in my career, this one stands out as one of the most special.”

It likely will be remebered by Stringer as well.

The impact of the match up extends far beyond the result of last week’s game in New Jersey. In addition to their winning records, the two coaches have successfully demanded media attention, both online and off.

Perfect example of this demand is illustrated New York Times January 2 article, Rutgers Women’s Basketball Resumes Rivalry with Tennessee. Excellently written, author Dave Caldwell rightfully payed tribute to the pioneers of the sport.

Summitt’s success has influenced the University of Tennessee’s Athletic Department to create a specific site for the school’s women’s sports. To my knowledge, no other institution does this, and it’s a huge step forward in terms of exclusivity in a male-dominated industry online.

Summitt’s name has also become a known brand for the school itself, with her face appearing on almost all of its publications.

In addition, Summitt has written two books (with the help of Sally Jenkins), Reach for the Summitt (part motivational book, part biography) and Raise the Roof (about the Lady Vols’ undefeated season in 1997–1998, in which they won the NCAA championship).

Stringer has also generated significant media attention.

In 2001, her success spurred the creation of a GREAT PBS documentary, This is a game ladies. Also, her face almost always appears immediately on the Rutgers athletics Web page.

Stringer has also made strides for minority women in sports. In 2003, she was recognized by Sports Illustrated as one of the “101 Most Influential Minorities in Sports,” and during the summer of 2004 she received the Black Coaches Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Stringer reflects on these achievements (and others) in her best-selling book, Standing Tall.

Reflective of fan popularity, bloggers are rising out of the woodwork, as well.

The Lady Vols fans have a few noteworthy blogs, including Pat Summitt/Lady Vols News, Govolsxtra, and Tennessee Lady Vols blog, to name a few.

Women’s Hoops Guru, Women’s Hoops Blog and Shes Got Game also frequently writes about Summit and Stringer (as well as other noteworthy teams) in the world of women’s basketball.

Also, of course, ESPN’s HoopGurlz is the best (by far) coverage of women’s hoops available, particularly for high school competition.

As for NCAA basketball, I said early in this article, both Summitt and Stringer are over the age of 50.

The competition for the “winningest coach” in female sports history will continue, I can only hope that some more hopefuls will rise to the top.

As for the media, my hope is that successful coaches like Stringer and Summitt continue to demand attention, and athletic departments realize the value in exclusivity for female sports.

Diversifying the content online (using video, podcasts, etc.) will help drive traffic. Continued wins by great coaches and outstanding performances such as the game on January 3 will hopefully earn a well-deserved spot in the headlines. The increase in the use of blogs will help us all feel like we’re part of the team.

Tennessee Lady Vols squeak past George Washington, great showing of fans

I was fortunate last night to attend a matchup between the University of Tennessee and George Washington University in Washington, DC. The gym was almost full, and within the last five minutes of the game, everyone was on their feet.

Prior to the game, I had received a Facebook invite from a friend for an event titled, “Tennessee is coming…” started by some faithful GWU women’s basketball fans. The message read,

“Hey guys, The lady Vols have been spotted, along with over 1,000 fans. It’s time to remind them that this is our house! Doors open early tonight @ 6:15pm for student only!! This way we can get the best seats in the house.

So, Grab 2 friends, and get out to the Smith Center tonight!!!! Our best opponent of the year is at hand and the team needs our support!”

I was so glad to see a Facebook invite to a women’s basketball event -it already generated over 100 members from the Washington, DC area. So, of course, I decided to go (with a few friends).

Also earlier that day, the Lady Vols took a tour around DC. To the left is a picture of Briana Brass in front of the U.S. Capitol – direct from the Lady Vols’ Web site.

Later that night, I was surprised when I walked in a local bar on campus prior to the game and saw orange. Apparently, the Lady Vols have fans everywhere – and 1,000 of them were headed to GWU’s gym.

I entered the gym- which was pretty-much full, and very, very loud. According to the GWU Web site, last night’s crowd (3,459) was the sixth largest women’s basketball crowd in Charles E. Smith Center history. Pat Summit sure knows how to draw attention. (check out her post-game audio here)

The student section for GWU was in rare form, and the sea or orange behind the Tennessee bench was anything but quiet.

Tenesssee maintained about a 7-10 point lead for about the first 3/4 of the game, but with less than five minutes left to play, George Washington come within a possession of taking the lead (they were down two points).

GWU, a team not even mentioned in the top 20 ESPN/USA Today Divisoin 1 poll, came within 2 points of catching the number 9-ranked ladies in orange, one of the premier women’s basketball programs in the country.

I was impressed by two players, in particular, on GWU’s side.  Senior Jazmine Adair and senior Antelia Parrish, two towers over six feet in height, gave the Tennessee forwards some incredible resistance in the paint, on both the offensive and defensive sides of the floor.

Head Coach Mike Bozeman, in his first season with GWU, was animated and heated the entire game. When GW came within a few points of taking the lead from Tennessee, Bozeman could be found in front of his bench with a towel thrown over his shoulder and his arms extended, waiving at the crowd to get on their feet.

Unfortunately, Tennessee used a 15-5 game-ending run in the last few minutes to escape with a 71-59 victory.

The game was a lot of fun, and I’m proud of the GWU players, students as well as the Tennessee fans who came out of the woodwork for this game. That’s the type of attention every game deserves.

The young Tennessee team seems to have a lot of work to do this year.

NCAA 2008 Woman of the Year

Sunday night in Indianapolis the NCAA announced Nkolika “Nicky” Anosike 2008 Woman of the Year.  Anosike led the Lady Vols of Tennessee to back-to-back Women’s Basketball National Championships.  Being an avid watcher of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament and regular season play, I could not be happier with the NCAA’s decision!  Not only is Anosike a household name, at least in my house, but a woman with tremendous talent, who carries herself with such pride and confidence!

Anosike’s success spans across much more than the basketball court.  Anosike has many noteworthy achievements.  Her academic and athletic success combined is incomparable to most, and I do not think anyone will disagree on how deserving she is of this award.

Academic achievements: Graduated in May 2008 with a triple major in political science, legal studies and sociology. SEC Academic Honor Roll, 2005-08. ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American second-team, 2007-08. Boyd McWhorter Postgraduate Scholarship winner for Tennessee, 2008.

The recipe for determining the winner: “The annual Woman of the Year award recognizes outstanding female student-athletes who have excelled in academics, athletics, leadership and service. A committee composed of representatives from NCAA member schools and conferences selected the top 30 – 10 from each division – from 130 conference and independent nominees. From the 30 honorees, nine finalists – three from each division – were chosen.”

The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics selected Anosike from nine finalists:

“1.  Susan Ackermann, Salisbury (lacrosse), Capital Athletic Conference
2.  Nkolika Anosike, Tennessee (basketball),Southeastern Conference
3.  Jennifer Artichuk, Delta State (swimming and diving), Independent
4.  Shanti Freitas, Smith (swimming and diving), New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference
5.  Arianna Lambie, Stanford (cross country, track and field), Pacific-10 Conference
6.  Samantha Mitchell, Mount Olive (volleyball, track and field), Conference Carolinas
7.  Lindsey Ozimek, Charlotte (soccer), Atlantic 10 Conference
8.  Sarah Schettle, Wisconsin-Oshkosh (track and field, cross country, swimming), Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
9.  Heather Walker, Georgian Court (volleyball, softball), Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference”

I think that this is an amazing award and a great way to showcase female athletes.  Only ONE winner of this award has been a Division III Athlete.  EVERY other winner competed at the Division I level.  Now, I understand Division I is the highest level of competition, thus you are going to find the most successful and talented women competing for Divisioin I.  HOWEVER, having been a: 4 year varsity athlete, 2 time NCAA All-American, team captain, 4 time All-Conference, and a 4 time NCAA qualifier, in Division III swimming, something is to be said for the Division III student-athlete.  Where is the recognition for non-scholarship athletes?  The athletes that compete simply for the love of the game.

The athlete that gets out of bed every morning at 5:30am for swim practice, goes to class all morning, comes back to the pool to swim again, and then hits the weightroom, just to go home, eat dinner, do some homework, and wake up to do it all again.  All the meanwhile, maintaining a 3.95, still finding time to volunteer for various activities and programs, not to mention being a darn talented swimmer!!  This swimmer I am referring to was one of the 30 finalists in attendance Sunday night, Michelle Coombs.  Coombs, a 2008 graduate of SUNY New Paltz, was the 2007 NCAA Division III National Champion for Women’s Swimming in the 100 freestyle, and the first female National Champion at SUNY New Paltz.  As an assistant coach at SUNY New Paltz, I had the pleasure of coaching Coombs for the 2007-2008 swim season!  Much like all of the candidates for Woman of the Year, Coombs excels in academics, athletics, and in the area of service and leadership.  Congratulations to Coombs and all of the other finalists on their amazing honor to be nominated.  Most importantly, congratulations to Anosike for winning the title of Woman of the Year, and best of luck as you all go forward in your lives and look to excel outside of your specific sports arenas.

Vols, Huskies Rivalry Extends to Football

It seems that the rivalry between the University of Connecticut and the University of Tennessee, established through tough competition in women’s basketball play, is extending to football – the two football clubs have agreed to play each other in 2015-2016.

I don’t think too many people would disagree with the fact that Pat Summit’s Tennessee program and Geno Auriemma’s UConn program have drawn both incredible talent and great media coverage for the sport (and women’s sports in general).

But I thought it was really interesting ESPN actually went out on a limb and reported on it, saying that the football teams “don’t have quite the same pedigree.” I couldn’t believe my eyes when I read that!

Apparently, the USA’s women’s basketball powerhouses are actually being given some credit in their ability to draw attention, even in the “big dog” world of college football. This is the first time I’ve ever seen it happen.

Here’s what ESPN had to say:

Connecticut and Tennessee’s rivalry is moving from the basketball court to the football field.

Connecticut announced Thursday that Tennessee will visit Rentschler Field in East Hartford in 2015, and the Huskies will travel to Neyland Stadium in Knoxville the following year.

The two women’s basketball powers had met annually, until Tennessee canceled the series a year ago. The schools’ football teams don’t have quite the same pedigree.

Tennessee won the 1998 national championship in football and has 13 Southeastern Conference titles to its credit. UConn is beginning its sixth season in the Bowl Championship subdivision and is coming off a 9-4 season and its first Big East co-championship.

Needless to say, I’m going to watch this game, and see if the commentators happen to say anything about how the women’s basketball programs have built a rivalry that has extended beyond their sport and gender. My guess is it will be mentioned, briefly.

If only they’d announce women’s sports schedules that far in advance on ESPN….