COACHING PREFERENCE: MALE OR FEMALE?

[Semp12]

Jan 5, 2014 13:58:35 GMT -5 Phaedrus said:

Becky Fletcher, now head women's coach at Frostburg State, was not only the head coach of both the women's and men's team, she started the men's program from scratch in 2008.

They do not have the men's program anymore at Frostburg. I've actually never even heard of them before. Men's teams in the NAIA and NCAA Division III (plus a couple of the Conference Carolina's in DII) have dual coaches that do both, and happen to be women. It doesn't always work. Even some male coaches who coach both don't realize the differences in coaching the different sexes. I'd blame a few men's programs being cut on coaches who couldn't handle/didn't realize the differences so had men's programs that failed.


There's always going to be varying opinions. Some may like female coaches, some may like male coaches. I will say if you grew up always having a coach from one sex, chances are you would be more comfortable going to a school with a coach of that sex. Even more so, having a bad experience with one sex may define your opinion on all coaches of that sex. It really is personal preference.

I will say most women's programs will not have an entirely male staff, although even that happens (and has on one of my teams).

[Phaedrus]

I made the change in the original post, but Becky Fletcher was the head coach for both the men's and women's team at SUNYIT. She is now the head women's coach at Frostburg. My apologies.

[sonofdogman]

Pepperdine & UCSB had 'em

besides UF, Texas, A&M Georgia & LSU in the SEC; USC used to have a female HC

USC used to have a female HC

TCU, SMU

okay, I stop naming programs who have or have had a female HC, there all over the place

If ? is whether or not the PLAYERS prefer a male or female HC, I know you will find a split decision there.

[somethinbruin]

As a player I never thought much about whether I preferred my coaches to be men or women. I've had good coaches of both genders, and not-so-good coaches from both genders. You're better off looking beyond gender and into character and personality traits that suit you as a person and athlete. For me, that mostly came down to things like: intensity without insanity (I don't respond well to screamers) and consistency (with instruction, discipline, etc.). I also hate passive aggressive behavior--I don't respond well to it, so it was always important for me to have a coach that was OK with directness. I don't want coaches to tiptoe around the issue--tell me what I screwed up and what I need to do. I was raised on that direct, almost confrontational, style of coaching (seriously, my coach for 10-year-old softball routinely cursed during our conferences on the pitcher's mound). I have found that my favorite coaches, regardless of gender, had these characteristics. They were firm but fair, and gave players a lot of ownership in the team and its development. When I moved from playing into coaching, these things became the core of my coaching philosophy and what I hope to be as a coach.