While Title IX ensures that in principal, I think there are indeed some differences between a club having a program that invites both girls and boys to play and a club that actively takes developmental differences of boys and girls in account to provide the best programs for each.
There are of course exceptions as there are some girls that don't mind playing with boys, but anyone who has coached both boys and girls at the younger age groups has spotted some of the differences. Girls develop teamwork and tactical skills earlier than boys, generally speaking, while boys seem to have the early edge on aggressive physical play and individual skill.
For this reason, an interesting thing happens when you take your 8 or 9 year old daughter out to a co-ed event such as a camp, clinic or scrimmage. With a few noted exceptions, from my experience most girls prefer not to play with a rowdy group of boys at that age, most certainly not if they are the only girl in the group.
It's experiences like this that prompted me to embark on a quest to improve the girls program within my local youth club. Happily, the club actively supports this quest and in fact, it is among the chief reasons why I was elected to the club's board. It's not that the experience the club was providing for girls was poor, but rather it was about how the club could provide a better experience.
So, I started to brainstorm, what actions should be taken as part of a plan to improve the girl's program?
As I've previously written in this blog, I think the club needs to give the girls their own space for things like off season scrimmages and this is chief among the action items.
Next I thought about the U6 age group, where for years our club had operated this age group as co-ed. When moving to U7, girls and boys separated and I know from my team's experience that there was a vast difference in the girls level of play from one year to the next, aside from the typical age appropriate improvement. Happily the club was ahead of me on this one and has already implemented a choice at U6 to sign up for a coed team or not.
Then I considered the impression that I've noticed female coaches to have on young girls. I saw it last year when my team got some guest instruction from former FC Gold Pride player, Kim Yokers. I've seen it within the club where female coaches are already in place. I've seen it on the face of young girls as they watch a Cal Women's Soccer game or at WPS matches. Many young female soccer players see something in female coaches that as a man, I cannot emulate. They see themselves. They see that soccer is not just child's play, it's something that they can grow up doing, even if it they only do so as an amateur.
So, we need more female coaches, but how? Thinking long term, I'm looking forward to a day where this is less of a challenge. While I don't expect a vast increase in the concentration of female coaches this very next season, I do think as a club we can take action now to impact the future. So, we catapulted ourselves to the present: Facebook. Not too many youth clubs seem to have a presence in social media, but I'm told the average U16-U19 player does. I pretty sure this will end up being a good way to keep in touch with those players when they age out of the club. Perhaps this will help not only generate the next generation of coaches but we might pick up a few referees as well and I suspect it will help for both the boys and girls programs.
Meanwhile, my daughter's school has a buddy system where older students partner up with students in the younger grades. Deployment of a similar system, particularly between U6-U8 and U16-U19 might be a welcome improvement for both young and old(er). In the process, a few of the older kids just might get a feeling for what it's like to mentor a young player. While this will also benefit both boys and girls programs, the girls program just might net a much needed increase in female coaches down the road.
Working with who and what the club has in place now, I'm hoping we can identify and count on existing female coaches to help with the initiative, perhaps by participating in girls clinics or other special training events. In addition, networking new coaches with seasoned coaches from within the girls program on games, tactics and training that has worked well for them would seem to be a quick win.
The club already has a working relationship with the local university for both it's men's and women's teams and has conducted routine events with both. These have been great for mentoring both boys and girls. The boys have an advantage here that the girls don't, however. After boys graduate from that or any other university in the area, they can envision themselves playing in MLS and perhaps on the local MLS team, the San Jose Earthquakes. As we all know, for young girls in the San Francisco Bay Area, that dream ended or perhaps optimistically is now only on hold, as local WPS team FC Gold Pride ceased operations. Sure, one can argue that there are teams elsewhere in the country and in the world, but this just isn't the same as most 9 year old soccer players won't sit around watching the game of the week on Fox Soccer Channel.
This is why my next action item is to start a grass roots effort to build a fan base for a future WPS team in the Bay Area. The Sons of Ben, followers of the MLS' Philadelphia Union had a similar approach, as did the Seattle Sounders. They had an established loyal fan base long before they had the main ingredient, an actual team. I think this can be a reality but of course, WPS itself needs to survive first. (Recruiting for help, starting now: HINT).
Next I thought I'd reach out to established organizations like Brandi Chastain's BAWSI (Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative) and The Julie Foudy foundation to see what wisdom they can offer and while I am it, I thought I'd reach out to you: the bloggers, players, coaches, tweeters and supporters of WPS. What else can be done? What are some of the things other clubs have done?
Last, I suppose I don't have all of the answers but that other members, coaches and parents from within my own club might have there own insight so I plan to survey the membership. Hopefully I can create a few future WPS fans in the process.
There are of course exceptions as there are some girls that don't mind playing with boys, but anyone who has coached both boys and girls at the younger age groups has spotted some of the differences. Girls develop teamwork and tactical skills earlier than boys, generally speaking, while boys seem to have the early edge on aggressive physical play and individual skill.
For this reason, an interesting thing happens when you take your 8 or 9 year old daughter out to a co-ed event such as a camp, clinic or scrimmage. With a few noted exceptions, from my experience most girls prefer not to play with a rowdy group of boys at that age, most certainly not if they are the only girl in the group.
It's experiences like this that prompted me to embark on a quest to improve the girls program within my local youth club. Happily, the club actively supports this quest and in fact, it is among the chief reasons why I was elected to the club's board. It's not that the experience the club was providing for girls was poor, but rather it was about how the club could provide a better experience.
So, I started to brainstorm, what actions should be taken as part of a plan to improve the girl's program?
As I've previously written in this blog, I think the club needs to give the girls their own space for things like off season scrimmages and this is chief among the action items.
Next I thought about the U6 age group, where for years our club had operated this age group as co-ed. When moving to U7, girls and boys separated and I know from my team's experience that there was a vast difference in the girls level of play from one year to the next, aside from the typical age appropriate improvement. Happily the club was ahead of me on this one and has already implemented a choice at U6 to sign up for a coed team or not.
Then I considered the impression that I've noticed female coaches to have on young girls. I saw it last year when my team got some guest instruction from former FC Gold Pride player, Kim Yokers. I've seen it within the club where female coaches are already in place. I've seen it on the face of young girls as they watch a Cal Women's Soccer game or at WPS matches. Many young female soccer players see something in female coaches that as a man, I cannot emulate. They see themselves. They see that soccer is not just child's play, it's something that they can grow up doing, even if it they only do so as an amateur.
So, we need more female coaches, but how? Thinking long term, I'm looking forward to a day where this is less of a challenge. While I don't expect a vast increase in the concentration of female coaches this very next season, I do think as a club we can take action now to impact the future. So, we catapulted ourselves to the present: Facebook. Not too many youth clubs seem to have a presence in social media, but I'm told the average U16-U19 player does. I pretty sure this will end up being a good way to keep in touch with those players when they age out of the club. Perhaps this will help not only generate the next generation of coaches but we might pick up a few referees as well and I suspect it will help for both the boys and girls programs.
Meanwhile, my daughter's school has a buddy system where older students partner up with students in the younger grades. Deployment of a similar system, particularly between U6-U8 and U16-U19 might be a welcome improvement for both young and old(er). In the process, a few of the older kids just might get a feeling for what it's like to mentor a young player. While this will also benefit both boys and girls programs, the girls program just might net a much needed increase in female coaches down the road.
Working with who and what the club has in place now, I'm hoping we can identify and count on existing female coaches to help with the initiative, perhaps by participating in girls clinics or other special training events. In addition, networking new coaches with seasoned coaches from within the girls program on games, tactics and training that has worked well for them would seem to be a quick win.
The club already has a working relationship with the local university for both it's men's and women's teams and has conducted routine events with both. These have been great for mentoring both boys and girls. The boys have an advantage here that the girls don't, however. After boys graduate from that or any other university in the area, they can envision themselves playing in MLS and perhaps on the local MLS team, the San Jose Earthquakes. As we all know, for young girls in the San Francisco Bay Area, that dream ended or perhaps optimistically is now only on hold, as local WPS team FC Gold Pride ceased operations. Sure, one can argue that there are teams elsewhere in the country and in the world, but this just isn't the same as most 9 year old soccer players won't sit around watching the game of the week on Fox Soccer Channel.
This is why my next action item is to start a grass roots effort to build a fan base for a future WPS team in the Bay Area. The Sons of Ben, followers of the MLS' Philadelphia Union had a similar approach, as did the Seattle Sounders. They had an established loyal fan base long before they had the main ingredient, an actual team. I think this can be a reality but of course, WPS itself needs to survive first. (Recruiting for help, starting now: HINT).
Next I thought I'd reach out to established organizations like Brandi Chastain's BAWSI (Bay Area Women's Sports Initiative) and The Julie Foudy foundation to see what wisdom they can offer and while I am it, I thought I'd reach out to you: the bloggers, players, coaches, tweeters and supporters of WPS. What else can be done? What are some of the things other clubs have done?
Last, I suppose I don't have all of the answers but that other members, coaches and parents from within my own club might have there own insight so I plan to survey the membership. Hopefully I can create a few future WPS fans in the process.
I think you're doing some really great work, the girls in your club are incredibly lucky to have someone so committed to making sure they get the most out of their experience there. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm currently working on a documentary film called In The Game (see http://kck.st/gZMOTk) that highlights the importance of sports in a girl's life as well. You post has inspired me to make a community platform for information exchange like this, where people can really bounce ideas off each other and talk about best practices where women's athletics is concerned, a part of the film's community engagement and impact plan.
Keep up the great work! Glad to hear your daughter's involved in soccer and loving it! :)
Hi... I wish you all the best and would love to keep in touch...... I'm about to start working with a programme in NY State specifically aimed at improving the girl's section and experience
ReplyDeleteyou might also want to check out this.. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Womens-Soccer-A-guide-to-coaching-and-training/103750703035395
all the best and keep up the good work
Jane Haslam