I guess I am indebted to Ron Morris of The State newspaper (Columbia, SC) because before his article of 4/27/08, I had absolutely no idea that male head coaches of women’s college basketball teams were experiencing such tough times. Apparently, there is a severe crisis facing those embattled men and I was (previously) oblivious to their plight. Please excuse me, while I fetch some tissues and regain my composure.

Whew. That’s better.

Please note that this article is an expression of my opinion and, as such, does not necessarily represent the views of the owner, other writers or staff of secwb.com. (Or maybe it does!) This is only my opinion and on this website, you are both able and encouraged to comment and express your views, as well. I welcome all of your comments, whether in agreement or opposition. But let’s get on with it.

Mr. Morris is alarmed that, between 1977 and 1996, the percentage of males coaching women’s Division I basketball teams only increased from 20.6% to 34%–and during the season just recently completed, 35.4 % of DI women’s basketball coaches were men. That IS disturbing news. But it is disturbing to me for an entirely different set of reasons than it disturbs Morris. Try reversing the numbers, not to mention the logic. What those statistics show is that over the past 30 years, the number of women coaching Division I women’s college basketball teams has DROPPED nearly 15 percentage points: from 79.4% of the jobs available down to a current estimate of 64.6%. But the men, somehow, believe that they are getting the short end of the stick. This is based on the fact that they hold only 35% of the jobs available coaching women’s teams. Once again, let’s reverse that logic and compare the number of men coaching women’s teams to the number of women coaching men’s teams. Oh, that’s right. There aren’t any! So, it’s okay that there are 0% women coaching men on the Division I level, but it’s a problem that there are ONLY 35% men coaching women on the same level. That’s just basketball coaches, but a 2001 article in the Chronicle of Higher Education took the idea a little farther and looked at the total number of Division I coaches, both head coaches and assistants, who are coaching men’s teams and women’s teams and separated them by gender. It should also be noted that where there are women coaching men, these are nearly always “non-major” sports like swimming and diving, track or golf and at many schools, those teams are combined and composed of both male and female participants. I have reproduced the most interesting comparison chart here:

 
By my calculations, that means that when you stop singling out the basketball coaches (with their measly 35% domination rate) it turns out that it’s more like 46% of women’s teams that are being coached by men. And you can contrast that with women holding 4% of the jobs that include coaching men.

Admittedly, these figures are a few years old, but anywhere you look for these statistics, you will find that the number of women coaching women’s teams has been declining over the years. And the number of women coaching men’s teams has stayed just about the same for the past 25 years. So it seems that Ron Morris (as well as Tom Collen, Geno Auriemma and the like) has only half of the story right–or more likely, he just doesn’t care about the rest of the story. Since his focus is men–male coaches, to be exact–and not the game or the players, he is missing quite a lot.

Whether you want to believe it or not, male and female players approach the game a little differently. I’m not necessarily referring to the on-court game, though obvious physical differences mean that there is a lot more play below the rim in the women’s game. But off the court, female players are looking for something different as early as the recruiting process. We need look no further than the current situation at the University of South Carolina for an illustration. With the resignation of head coach Susan Walvius, some of her 2009 recruits feel that they are left in limbo. Why? They still have scholarship offers that are solid. One of the most highly regarded coaches in the game has been hired to take Walvius’ place, but Becky Burke, one of the prize recruits for 2009, still has her doubts, according to thetimestribune.com:

“Obviously, I know who she is and that she know the ins and outs basketball wise, with all that she’s accomplished as both a player and a coach,” Burke said. “But there’s more than that. You need an emotional connection. You need to get to know someone, and that’s the part that’s missing right now.”

I haven’t heard much of that kind of talk from the young men in Division I college basketball–have you? Providing young women with an appropriate role model is a concern, too–especially for those who might actually have an interest in coaching. They can learn the Xs and Os from anyone, sure–but they can’t learn what the specific challenges are for a woman trying to make it in that profession from a MAN. And the challenges are many. As noted above, the number of women coaches is in constant decline. As Nell Fortner, head coach at Auburn points out in a recent posting at The Birmingham News-al.com, “It’s a man’s world. In a lot of cases, men are doing the hiring at most colleges and high schools. There are more men athletic directors and presidents. They do the hiring, and their circle of friends is mostly men.” Male athletic directors and presidents also set the tone for family-friendly (and female-friendly) policies and programs at their schools. Women coaches with families face enormous obstacles, since they are a little less likely than a man to find a spouse who doesn’t mind taking a back-burner job, while they are out searching for recruits and championship opportunities.

And men are having a problem–so says Morris– with “stagnation… in claiming head coaching jobs.” Sorry, but I’m finding it hard to get too choked up over that.