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Today's post will be somewhat tongue in cheek and for fun as I compare some of the stereotypical differences between athletes on women's and men's teams. Of course I am generalizing, of course there are exceptions and of course it always depends on the level of play, the participants and environment. However, After coaching in women's sports for 27 years and having been a male athlete in my past, yes I did play sports, not to mention having observed athletes in various sports, both genders and sharing discussions with colleagues, I think that there are some constants which always come out in one form or another. Today's post will refer to adult, somewhat recreational teams as competitive athletes want to prolong their playing careers but move away from the high level leagues. The discussion of the book, "Men are from mars, women are from Venus" has come up mostly in discussion around the workplace. I'm not one to follow the whole notions present in the book, some guys are sensitive and some women are hard-edged, just as some men don't show their emotions and some women can't conceal how they feel. But when it comes to adult recreational sports, there is a true separation in how females and males play and in certain behaviors to how each gender deals with peers, conflicts, coaching and competitive situations. Men's teams are made up of personalities. They take jabs at each other about how they played that day. They go to the games an hour before just to shoot the shot, brag and, well, you know. Afterward, they’ll hang out in the parking lot for an hour or so, have a beer, harp on about plays, who made mistakes, how the other team undermined them, what the coach needs to do better. You’d think all of this negativity would have them leaving the park frustrated. But not real mean. Instead they head to a bar to continue the banter, load up on beer and junk feed, basically negating all the calories they burned off actually playing the game, while they reminisce about their glory days of playing soccer in their youth. With women’s teams, players straggle in at varying times before the game, anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes before kickoff. Most of the players show up already dressed, just needing to change from their flip flops or runners into their cleats. There is usually one player who asks if anyone needs to head to the washroom and 4 or 5 join her. For this group, they might constitute warm up. There are always 2 or 3 who take the game seriously and start warming up seriously, running across the width of the field and stretching. Some moms might bring their young kids to the game because God forbid dad has to watch their kids while mom is having some fun playing soccer. You can sometimes hear instructions being yelled out to the kids while teammates try and keep the rugrats in line. Afterward, they might complain about the other team, but it’s usually because "her behavior. wasn’t sportsmanlike" or because "she or they were bitch". There’s no tailgate party. No meeting up after the game. Everyone has to go to work, feed the kids, visit the in-laws; other priorities. And why would we waste the calories we burned off on alcohol and fried food? Small author's note, my wife's team, I learned that her return home time was generally 2 hours after the end of the game as they did the whole share a few beers and stories after the game. Men prolong their playing careers to relive past glories, to try and prove to themselves and others that they still got it. They will always feel they are just one lucky break away from getting called back into a competitive side Women will continue to play for the love of the game and to interact with friends ( and to get away from the house maybe). The social bond is strong. The biggest frustrations might come from those who still see themselves are highly competitive and can't understand why others around them aren't. In both cases, their are always moments when they realize that the mind and desire is willing, but the body just can't follow. Or in my case, I became a coach.
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In the not too distant past, about 30 years ago or so, sports media was pretty much limited to three mediums, print ( newspapers and magazines), network television and radio. Since, we have seen an explosion in the addition of varying avenues for sports media; cable television, specialty all-sports radio and televisions stations, podcasts, online streaming, YouTube channels, blogs, websites, digital print media, social media and probably others I am forgetting. This significant increase in coverage of sports is more an issue of changes in technology than in any form of increase in actual sports needing coverage. In the same time frame, there has been some expansion on the so called four major sports (football, baseball, basketball and hockey), we have seen the arrival (or return ) of professional men's soccer in North America, the rise of the WNBA and women's professional soccer ( albeit now in its third attempt for a viable league), and most importantly, the influence technology has had in eliminating obstacles for sports to be covered on a global scale. As a soccer fan, I can use the example of now being to watch games from anywhere around the world on a daily basis and almost around the clock. However, the boom on platforms via which to cover sports has grown exponentially higher than the actual sports have grown. So essentially, it is issue of now having many more ways to cover the same amount of sport. So if the opportunities to work in sports media have grown so much and assuming we, as a society in the 21st century, would like to believe that sexism and gender equality have progressed from where they were a few decades ago, one could only imagine that the percentage of women working in sports media must have increased. I say percentage instead of numbers, for the specific reason that it is obvious they are more women working in sports media, but not because it’s easier to get into the business or more welcoming for them once they are in it but simply because of incredible diversity of avenues that now present themselves to those seeking a career in this industry. I can't support the assertion with facts but I would say it's a safe bet the percentage of women in sports media has not increased and might even have dropped and that the paths into these jobs are no less bumpy or difficult than they were twenty or thirty years or so. In addition, for those women that do get into the industry and are making a good living at it, I would say that in many ways the conditions they face might even be tougher with the anonymous nature of social medial, blogs, chat rooms etc. and the ease with which Mr. and Mrs. Everyone are able to reach an audience to voice their complaints. There was a time, where the most significant issue about a women covering men's sports was locker room access. As recent as the 1970s female reporters were not allowed to interview players in the locker room before and after games, leaving their male counterparts with a distinct advantage. Following legal rulings the practice of banning female reporters from entering locker rooms was deemed illegal. This gave women reporters the chance to approach players after games and practices, in the locker room on equal footing with their male counterparts. However, even though laws can quickly change, social behaviors and attitudes don't. Despite the cultural barriers being broken and women now able to enter locker rooms, these journalists were faced with hostility and angst while doing their job. Unfortunately, on multiple occasions male athletes have been known to drop their towels as a way to taunt female reporters during interviews; which amounts to sexual harassment but didn't seem to be treated as such. There needs to be a change in the way reporters and athletes interact post-game; regardless of gender. I can imagine that athletes see the locker room as safe haven or escape, a place where they can spend time with their teammates and get away from everything so maybe reporters regardless of gender should not be walking into locker rooms and there should be a better way to hold post-game interviews. Many reports, men and women, along with athletes coaches and others have advocated for a neutral spot outside the locker room for all post-game interviews, after players are allowed to get showered and collect themselves. While others think this would remove the raw emotion ever-present directly after a game is completed. Again, if I use soccer in Europe as an example, we don't see reporters entering the locker room after matches but rather payers are interviewed in a designated area, generally splashed with logos of the clubs sponsors. Regardless of side of the discussion one might fall on, the only right answer is one that includes a level playing field regardless of gender. Most studies and common sense for that matter will agree that gender imbalances are present across print, broadcast, online and all other platforms in sports journalism. Men and especially Caucasian men, greatly outnumber women. I think no one would be surprised to discover that sport media along with sports management as I have discussed in past posts fall way behind other areas of today's society in the area of gender equity. Female reporters and journalists continue to be critiqued more on their outfits and physique than on their knowledge of sports. When a women is hired to work in sports, it is assumed it is for their looks and to attract a wider viewership. Even the women in question is a former successful athlete, the suggestions will be that it is for her marketability and star power then for communication and journalism skills. Seems ridiculous when you think about the number of athletes these days who retire from the playing field and quickly find themselves working in sports media. The justification is that as recent retirees they know the sport and have understand the challenges faced by the athletes. Doesn't matter that they might not have any public speaking or communications experience or finished college for that matter. For those females who get a chance to work in the sports media, or appear in front of the television in any way, have to deal with regular sexist comments and assertions or be evaluated on how they look. Just Google search things like hottest female sports reporters and marvel at the search results and commentary that goes along with these lists. This does nothing to improve the seriousness with which female journalists should be taken. Sports journalists are also faced with harassment from fans, the athletes themselves and even their own colleagues. A soccer fan and with Spanish heritage, I saw firsthand an example of this at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. When Spain played their first match against Switzerland, they lost 0-1, and as soon as the match ended, the Spanish press (and social media) blamed this defeat on one person: Sara Carbonero, a TV presenter who was reporting on the match from the field. Carbonero also happened to be the girlfriend, now wife, of Spain’s goalkeeper, Iker Casillas. Fans blamed Carbonero’s presence as a distraction for the goalie and many made unrelated remarks on her lack of professionalism and how she could not be a proper journalist because of her beauty. It was seen as impossible for an attractive female presenter to be good at her job. Social media and its potential for anonymity has completed changed society and sports media is no exception. The online arena is a dangerous one for women who work in sports journalism. This is one area where women who work in male-dominated fields are especially targeted. While male sports reporters are also subjected to insults through social media, women are more vulnerable to malicious online attacks. If young female journalists feel they will face sexist abuse online, they will be less likely to want to enter the field, as this is an industry where public profile and reader interactivity are increasingly important. The difference for women is that it can be very nasty and vile and goes into sexually derogatory insults. It goes into a place men never have to deal with. It’s not about sports. It’s not about writing or radio . TV presence but about gender. Just google Sarah Spain and Julie DiCaro "more than mean" and you'll have ample prove, Here in Quebec, Chantal Machabee has been working in sports media for thirty years. She is one of the most professional, knowledgeable and well prepared individual you will find. She has anchored sports news, done play by play, moderated sports discussion shows, and been beat reporter for the Montreal Canadians , in a city that takes covering its sports team, especially hockey, to the extreme. She has been very vocal throughout her career about gender bias and harassment she faced and how social media affected it. So how can we make it better. Well like anything else, those with the ability to make a chance must be willing to and must step up. Doors have to be opened, obstacles have to removed and unacceptable behavior must have consequences. Like anything else, if the environment is seen as being a positive one, where everyone is given the same chance to advance and be successful then it will attract interest. Women should be encouraged to get into Sports Media because they bring a voice and insight that is different and interesting. as always, just my opinion For many people, it would seem that women’s soccer in Canada has always kind of been around but reached prominence at the 2012 Olympic Games. The fact is that the roots go back over a 100 years.
The Canadian Soccer Association known at that time as the Dominion Football Association came into existence for the first time in 1877. At its origin in Canada, soccer is not considered as an appropriate activity for women. They have few opportunities to play sports, with only activities considered "distinguished" as skating, horseback riding and canoeing constituting acceptable pastimes for Victorian society. In the late nineteenth century, tennis, badminton and golf was popular among women, but even something cycling remains marginal and sports considered too masculine, that is to say those that require running and that may cause physical contact, are clearly unacceptable. In the 1920s, women start playing team sports like basketball, baseball / softball and ice hockey. However, few play soccer as seemingly it is considered a traditional male sport by the majority of Canadians. In 1922, an English team, the Dick Kerr Ladies Football Club, travelled to Quebec as part of a tour of North America with hopes to play matches against other female teams. The Dominion Football Association, however, publicly states its opposition to the idea that women should play soccer and even forbids to all affiliated clubs (read male) to play matches against Dick Kerr Ladies. They follow the example set by the English Football Association which has banned the club from playing in its fields. This forces the visiting club to play games against men’s teams in the United States. Some women are playing soccer early in the twentieth century, with the first known instance of an organized female soccer game supposedly being held on August 5th 1918 in support of the auxiliary war service. In 1936, a section of The Free Press, a London newspaper in Ontario reports that "soccer has become a significant fall sport for young women studying undergraduate at the University of Western Ontario"; Moreover, girls also play soccer at Central Collegiate, a high school in the city. In 1950, McGill University forms a women's soccer team that plays against teams from McDonald College, Bishop's University and a number of local high schools. The fact remains that, globally, the number of women playing soccer during the first half of the twentieth century are still minimal and there remains a resistance to the idea that this sport can be appropriate for females. With the arrival of the 1960s, the situation is changing, and the popularity of soccer with young Canadians both male and female is growing. In 1972, Toronto, Ontario, boasts to have 14 girls’ teams, significantly less than the number of boys teams but still quite significant for the growth of the female game. Since then, soccer has become one of the most popular sports among young girls and women. In addition, the proportion of female practitioners is steadily increasing compared to the proportion of their male counterparts. In 1980, women accounted for less than 10% of the registered members in a soccer club in Canada, a percentage that exceeded 40% in 2013. Female international competitions Canada's women's soccer team in international competitions dates back to the late 1970s. In 1977, a team from the Greater Vancouver Women's Soccer League went to Hawaii for a two-week tour. The following year, it participated in a Women's World Soccer Tournament Invitational in Taiwan. In this international tournament, they beat several of the 13 participating teams. The first official Canadian women's national team is formed in 1986, but failed to qualify for the first Women’s World Cup held in 1991. Canada qualifies for the following World Cup in 1995 where the top 8 teams will automatically qualify for the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta since it is thought that there will not be sufficient time to hold a separate qualifying tournament. Unfortunately, Canada fails to finish top 8 and are excluded from this initial Olympic competition. Canada has participated in every subsequent World Cup (1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015), finishing fourth at the World Cup 2003. Canada was the host for both the U20 and Senior World Cups in 2014 and 2015, respectively, which served to showcase women's soccer at the highest level. In 2008, the Canadian team qualified for the Olympics in Beijing, China, reaching the quarter finals. Sports fans in Canada are quite familiar with Canada’s success at the 2012 London Summer Olympics especially the final two games. In the semi-final against the heavily favoured US a game watched by millions of people and which put the team in the minds of the entire country, despite an outstanding performance of the team and its captain Christine Sinclair scoring three goals, the United States prevailed 4-3 in overtime in controversial fashion. Where this team really caught our attention was during the next game against the French three days later winning by a score of 1-0 to win the bronze medal. Reactions by Coach John Herdman and various players remain engraved in the history of Olympic sport in Canada. Four years later at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Canada had an almost perfect run that includes a historic win over Germany in the preliminary round, accumulating 5 wins and 1 loss. Once again however, the single defeat came in the semi-final against Germany who got their revenge. Despite this second disappointment in four years, Canada successfully beat Brazil 2-1 to win the bronze medal. Now we find ourselves in a low point of the competitive women's soccer cycle with the next big competition being 2019 World Cup to be held in France. We are have seen a number of mainstays of the 2012 and 2016 teams retiring and the inclusion of a new generation of young, talented players. See you all in 2019. I've covered the topic of the need and obligation that everyone involved in sports management should feel to create the opportunity for more women to get involved in coaching or for that matter all sports management roles. I wanted to cover the topic again because I think it is a hot button issue that is getting more and more traction and warrants exposure.
For the most part, when people advocate for getting more women into coaching, it seems to be the default position for men mostly that are all for it , as long as it is more women coaching women, and not at the highest ( read better playing ) levels. Women have ascended into positions of authority in politics and business (certainly not enough given their percentage of the population) but sports, especially professional sports, seem to remain the final bastion of limited access for women into coaching roles of authority. The thinking remains that women somehow can never have the understanding and ability to successfully coach men in sport. I am thinking that if women can run cities, provinces, countries and corporations, they can certainly coach sport. Women who coach, especially if they coach on the male side, often have to justify their knowledge and experience in the male-dominated sports world, and often to people ( again read men here) , who are nothing more than fans and arm chair experts. It is always annoying when someone who has never been involved in sports other than watching them, can so strongly offer opinions about how things should be, so I can only imagine how a woman, experienced in coaching, must find it annoying to be further considered unworthy of coaching because of the added "handicap" of being female. While the number of women coaching boys’ or men’s teams and programs is minimal, probably less than 5% of university men’s teams have female coaches in some capacity, with number certainly being lower in the pro ranks and potential higher at the youth, club and recreational levels, — these unique situations certainly come with their fair share of obstacles. In my coaching career, I have seen other instances in female coached teams, where opposing coaches would approach a male member of a coaching staff, assuming they were the head coach. For the most part, once directed to the right person, they apologize and interact with the coach as they would with any other. While this example is essentially harmless, situations like this remain a never-ending problem for female coaches, not to mention those who coach the opposite sex. Women who coach boys’ and men’s programs are subject to sexual harassment, gender inequality and tokenism. They are forced to constantly justify their qualifications, while male coaches with little to no knowledge of or experience playing sports are handed well paying coaching without question. Women coaches at all levels face a complex set of barriers and bias, which often result in workplace inequities. They are often held to a different set of standards than their male counterparts, they are compensated less than their male counterparts, and the number of opportunities to enter and stay in the profession greatly reduced. Women who do succeed and reach the upper ranks of the profession are often dismissed as having be helped along the way due to political correctiveness or some form of affirmative action project. Currently, there are no female head coaches of men’s professional sports teams in the United States, though in recent years, women have been entering previously uncharted territory as assistant coaches and at different universities, there are also female pioneers in men’s programs. From the outside looking in, I can understand why why the hiring of women in coaching roles for men's teams can be seen as so unique or newsworthy, because there are simply not many women regularly being hire in coaching at any highly competitive level and of course even less with men's teams.. But from my perspective,it is simply a job, one where you hire the best candidate available and whose skill set should compliment those of the other coaching staff members. As I have always said in various presentations I give, if I am looking for an assistant coach whose qualifications are complimentary to mine, a female is the obvious candidate, she will have skills that I as a male can never have. As more women are hired into leadership positions in male-specific or male-dominated sports, it will only create a cultural shift and more balance, where such an instance isn’t viewed as an exception. I know a lot of women who want to coach, but the opportunities are limited, and getting a foot in the door is the hard part. Part of it is the stigma from a male standpoint, and the other is women not reaching out for it for fear of being turned down. But the more it happens, the more normal it will be, and the less of a big deal it will be. That is why I have maintained that it is up to the decision makers to open the door to opportunities, to not condone any behavior or action which serves as a barrier to women entering the coaching ranks. So why would women coach the other sex ? To begin with, if that questions is even needed to be asked, then why do men see not issue with other men coaching women's sports. When I started 25 years ago, it was often assumed that if you coached women's sports it was because you could handle or were not sufficiently qualified to coach on the men's side. I thinking coaching now is about seeking out the best opportunities and for those who wish to pursue coaching as a career is about seeking the better paying roles and those that can further a career. So if it is one's chosen profession, why would you go out and explore EVERY possible option. If I look at my sport of soccer specifically, why wouldn't women get into coaching. I know of some highly qualified women's coaches who started out simply as soccer moms ( I used the culturally familiar term simply as reference and not in any demeaning manner). As their sons started to play soccer, they would be the parent taking their sons to games and practices, by watching, they learned how to run drills, how to interact with players, formations, tactics, everything. Gender shouldn’t deter your desire to coach either male or female. In the case of my friends, they ended up coaching boys because they had boys. Part of the coaching was out of necessity because there was nobody else to do it but also because it allowed them to start involved in their sons chosen sport. If they had girls, maybe they would be coaching girls. I think that encouraging and ensuring that more women rise in the coaching ranks and other areas of sports management at all levels will have benefits that go well beyond the field of play. There is evidence that not only are role models critical in the advancement of women throughout roles of leadership, but female-based networks are also crucial. Men are often provided with greater amounts and larger networks so so called "old boys network" within all levels of society in large part because of the tradition of more male leaders within sport and industry, and women are missing out on opportunities based on a lack of connections. While the world of sports is slowly headed in the right direction, gender inequality and sexism at the coaching level won’t end until women coaching men, and women, for that matter at all levels becomes more prevalent, and a coach isn’t judged by his or her sex, but by his or her success. When young girls boys see women in leadership positions, or in this case, head coaching positions, it has the ripple effect of empowering young girls to consider coaching as a successful, viable career option. It will also empower to seek out leadership position in any domain they pursue. The more we see women being supported and respected as coaches and leaders, the more we will continue to crush gender stereotypes. Leadership knows no gender. A coach should be a ‘coach’, not defined or limited as a ‘female’ coach. To begin with, let me address the word struggle in the title of this post. I put the word in quotation marks for a reason. Coaching hasn't been a struggle and to be very honest, I think that people struggle with real issues, gender bias, discrimination, illness, financial difficulties, etc. There are many more serious situations that people go through in their lives than my efforts to grow the game of women's soccer in my immediate surroundings.
The choice of the word and bracketing as I need was done purposely though. The struggle was as much me facing people who didn't really care about women's soccer as it was with myself as I discovered my voice and my desire to fight for the bigger picture of women in sport and women's soccer specifically. I have often mentioned about how I come into coaching, it wasn't a choice and I never really saw it as something I wanted to do, and certainly not something I would doing for this long and have it become such an integral part of who I am. As for the choice to coach women's soccer instead of men, again, fell into it. As I look back on the last 27 years I have spent coaching, I can see a definite evolution in how I see my role as a coach and as a defender of women's soccer, to how it has become almost an obligation for me to advocate for women in sports as opposed to women's sports. How I now see it as a small microcosm of the bigger need to help empower female athletes to want to get into coaching but most importantly into positions of leadership. When I started coaching, I fought hard to get the best for my athletes. Gender was not really relevant at that point. I simply worked hard to get what was best for my team and athletes because they were "my athletes" and in many cases my friends and I saw it my responsibility in my role as their coach. My efforts were focused, on getting the best for my team that would help as on the field. As I have written in a previous post, the focus was about winning. The players were with my age bracket, peers so I didn't , couldn't see myself in any form of mentoring role. Truth be told, there were a few who were actually mentoring me. My coaching was done in a somewhat isolated environment where I didn't really have the chance to compare bias or discrepancies based on gender. My team got whatever we fought far and naively, we didn't know what anyone one else ( read males) were getting. At this time, the only gender bias or stereotypes I would come across where men ( generally older in my work environment ) making what some would refer to "locker room banter" type comments but looking back were blatantly sexist and certainly ignorant. I never laughed at the comments, and certainly didn't agree with them but being young I never real contradicted them or stepped up to defend women's sport. I would say that it was the culture and accepted old boy behavior back then but that would be a cop out, I simply was not confident enough or understanding enough to realize that not saying something was the same as playing along. In the early 90s, women's elite sport was basically golf and tennis and every 4 years for summer or winter Olympics. Women's Soccer was certainly not on anyone's radar and the reality was that women's teams coached themselves and girls teams were coached by someone's dad. What young, somewhat accomplished male actually chose to coach women. Again, didn't chose to, but it quickly became part of the fabric of who I am. The sexist comments above were not the norm but there were always gender biased comments, that I must not be good enough to coach men's soccer, that it wasn't real soccer, that it must be fun to be around young athletic women and the like. I ignored the comments and just did my best to learn how to coach. I didn't of myself as coaching women's soccer, just coaching soccer whether the participants happened to be women but more importantly athletes. The reality was that even the club we were a part of, wasn't really hands on with women's soccer, so they pretty much left to run the team as I saw fit. The start of my coaching career ran parallel to the start of my professional career. Each has influenced the other and my views on gender equity are shaped by what I experiences both as a coach and by the progression of my career. My first boss happened to be a female. Someone who had fought and worked hard to get herself into a position of senior management. Truth be told, to this day, after all the different people I have worked for (mostly men yes), no individual has influenced me more in the type of manager that I wanted to be than her. She was a mentor, tough and demanding but who saw potential in me and pushed me to take every chance that presented itself to learn more and become better. Not once do I remember thinking anything less of her just because she was a woman. There were others around who questioned her ability to lead, When I transitioned to coaching with the provincial program, it was the first time where I would participate in discussions with coaches and administrators of both male and female teams. It was there that I got to see the discrepancies that existed between male and female sport. It was still the provincial teams program so the structure was certainly better than what I had seen at the club level, but definitely the boys teams were given greater exposure, support and investment. The bias wasn't blatant but still very clear. Know, it wasn't about standing up for my team, but standing up for my team, my athletes to ensure that we got the fair share of the resources and support. I started to see myself now more as an advocate for women's soccer on the whole, to change the perceptions of the quality of soccer played by female players but mostly to ensure that women's soccer got its due. However it remained strictly a matter that was focused on soccer. For the last 15 years, I have been coaching at Concordia University in Montreal. The time spent coaching in this role represents the biggest portion of my coaching career and certainly the most significant. I also truly believe that it has played a tremendous part in my personal development into the type of individual that I wish to be. It has given me a voice and a purpose for the role that I want to play in my athlete's lives and the role I hope to play in society. My involvement in coaching at the university level, gave me the chance to spend 7 years as president of the USport ( then the CIS ) women's coaches association. To be part of an influential group of decision makers attempting to bring about change. I always knew that coaching soccer and interacting with the athletes was more than wins and losses, Xs & Os, that we could influence individuals in ways that surpasses sport, but it was only once I got to Concordia that the full impact of this truth became so much more evident to me. I meet young student-athletes, female student-athletes precisely, at 17 or 18 years old, pondering what is perhaps their first truly adult decision, where to go to university and what to study. I believe strongly in individual accountability and each person making the decision that is best for them but I have come to realize that for the truly committed student-athlete, who takes the role seriously, the advice or feedback that I as a their coach give them can really influence and affect the choices they make. As young females, even today, they probably have more people telling them what they can't do, what things are beyond their reach that it's important they hear the people that tell them what they can achieve and more importantly that they are exposed to people that provide with the chances and support to actually achieve them. University students are at the age where they discover who they might want to become as adults, what path their lives might take. They should be presented with a wide range of opportunities and given every chance to choose whatever they wish to do, with no obstacles or bias. Being young, there are moments where they will use the comment of " but coach, we are women, you have to understand that it isn't the same for us". This is true but I never allow them to use their gender for an excuse or explanation as to why they should expect less or be expected not to push themselves to get the same things men's sports get. I still fight to get all the support and resources for my team that will help us be successful, but I now see myself fighting for my team and my female athletes not because it's good for the them but because it's the right thing to do. We can't always defer to the norm and to convention and accept that " that's the way it is and we have to accept it". Sometimes we have to be willing to push the boundaries and get rejected, but if we focus on a goal and work hard to achieve it with the right intentions, I truly think we can get there. I have no illusions of grandeur and no false sense of my worth when it comes to fighting for gender equality in sports. While I started out wanting to just to get more exposure for the women's game which would hopefully result in increased investment and support, I now see myself working for something greater, to have my female athletes feel empowered and confident to take on bigger roles in society once they move on from playing. However the reality is that while I believe in what I am doing, while I feel that I have a role to play in eliminating gender bias and unfair stereotypes, the fact is that I am a male. I can never put myself in the place of any woman, I can never fully understand or experience the issues they face. My struggle is that I can only do my best to ensure that my actions when I am working with female athletes and by extension, any females in any context, at worst, do not perpetuate any bias or inequalities that they might face and hopefully at best create an environment where they are ready to face the challenges. It is possible that I am full of myself to think that my coaching, my actions can help a problem that affects society, but it won't stop me from trying. This isn't the first time I write on the topic but I think it is a very relevant issue that seems to always come up. Dealing with over-zealous parents is something that can be very difficult and it many ways the issue seems to be getting worse.
My personal coaching experience has mostly been with adults or young adults, however I have had situation where I had to deal with parents wanting justification for certain decisions as they related to their child. I have also witnessed what I consider unacceptable behavior while attended club games or showcases when doing the rounds for scouting new players so I think I have a pretty good handle on the topic. Parents have become more emboldened about confronting coaches on issues such as playing time, roles on the team and proper exposure for their son or daughter for the chance to earn a spot at on a university team with scholarship, all-star team selection, media attention, whatever. Through the emergence of social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, along with the evolution of email and text messaging, parents can more easily access coaches and express their thoughts. Additionally, these mediums make sharing opinions and views with friends, the public and parents of other players on the team easier. Social media/email and cellphones/texting have given more parents a way to complain, inquire and vent without a personal meeting. This allows them to either be braver or just more anonymous while asking questions parents wanted to ask years ago, but didn’t want to do in person. We are too accessible. A unique issue of the North American culture is that the better an athlete is, the higher level they compete at, the more it costs. Other regions have models where the participation masses fund the elite. The biggest change from parents is a sense of entitlement due to the fees associated with participating in a elite level sports.Because parents pay a fee for their child to play, they feel they are entitled to be heard and have policy changed to suit them if something comes up. As fees increase and social medias impact grows, it’s difficult to see the tide turning toward making the parent problem easier to handle. The main causes of parent - coach disputes are pretty straightforward in nature and are probably not a secret to anyone. I have put together a few suggestions for handling the most common ones. 1. Don’t Talk Playing Time. Many coaches tell parents immediately that discussions about playing time are off-limits. The best way that we’ve limited parent complaints from the onset of the season and throughout the season is to tell parents at the parents meeting that playing time is non-negotiable, and each player will know what their role on the team is. Do not compare players or players situations when talking to parents, if you do want to have a discussion, focus on what the parents child can work on to improve their game and what the importance is of their role on the team during the season. The players that get the most playing time are the ones that based on practice, work ethic, attitude, team plait should come from the athlete.All coaches know and respect that players would like more playing time. No coach minds when a player comes and asks, Coach, what are the things I In fact, coaches should encourage that. Should parents travel down the playing time path, it may not be the words they want to hear. 2. Be Open And Honest Right From The Start. We’ve all heard the cliché honesty is the best policy, and it’s a phrase coaches should really follow. It’s never too early to let parents know where you stand. Open dialogue is always the best policy. However, be clear about when and how this dialogue will occur, Don't get into arguments using email or texting. If there is a conflict, this is always done best face-to-face. Be human, listen to parent concerns and if you handled a situation poorly, apologize for the mistake and move on. Nobodys perfect, and we can always learn from our mistakes. One parent may push your buttons too far and take you to a place you don’t want to go. It’s wise to grow from the mistake and make it a learning experience. 3. The 24-Hour Rule. I can't stress enough the importance of this rule. Don’t take a meeting with a parent for at least 24 hours after a game is finisheda parent cooling-down period.Not only does instituting such a rule help parents calm down, but it lets coaches clear their minds too and lessens the chances of an ugly, regrettable confrontation. 4. Preseason Meeting Suggestions. The preseason meeting is an opportunity for coaches to not only lay out the rules for parents, but to get to know each other better and establish a comfort zone. Be upfront, let parents know from the start that as coaches, as humans, can make mistakes. make it clear that decisions are always made in the best interests of the individuals and the team as a whole based on the information available. Sometimes as a coach, you will make the right decision but the outcome won't be what you hoped. Unfortunately you will often be judged on the result. It’s how you respond to those mistakes that will determine your success. 5. Communication Is Key. Remember, each parent is trying their best to be an advocate for their (child). For the most part, when parents question decisions, they are doing with the best of intentions or at least in their mind simply looking out for their child. Yes, there will be that minority of parent who feels they know the sport and coaching better then you, better than anyone and will be rude and arrogant about expressing their opinion. For these, I have sometimes just suggested perhaps they take over the team. generally quiets them. for the rest, try to see their perspective as the caring parent they are trying to be, and help them see how you, as a coach, need to keep everyones child and the overall goals of the program in mind as you make decisions. The parent problem isnt going to go away, but with a little bit of patience and a positive attitude, the experience doesn’t need to always be combative.Parents feel they have a right to be heard, and if it is the proper time, situation and the communication is mutually respectful, that can be a good thing and a positive experience. Communicating and building rapport with parents should not mean a coach compromises any of their meaningful expectations or philosophies. Anyways, just a few thoughts which I hope might help some of you starting out in coaching or thinking of getting into coaching. Until next time. For today's post, I want to look at the role that gender can play in a coach-athlete relationship. I will focus on the issue of how if affects female athletes since the bulk of my experience has been as a male (obviously) coaching female soccer players. There are significant calls and programs to increase the number of women in coaching throughout different sports. As I have often said and even written about in prior posts, I fully advocate and support this. When people talk about opening the doors to allow more women into coaching roles, the assumption is usually that this implies creating better opportunities for women's to be able to coach women's sports (and certain shall we say less mainstream (read profitable and lower paying coaching roles). Most people don't even conceive the idea that it might relate to creating more chances for women to coach period, regardless of sport OR GENDER. For me , it would like saying that we support women taking on a greater percentage of managerial and executive roles in business so long as they only oversee female employees. Doesn't make sense. What is also most ironic is that most male's two biggest reasons for why a woman is not suited to coaching men's sports is that they can't understand what its like to be a male athlete or the requirements of the sport because they have never played at that level and that it could create awkwardness in the locker room having a woman around male athletes. To the first point, I would simply say that I have never heard of a male that played female sports so how is that not an issue for men coaching females and to the second point, from experience, I would say, do you not think a male coaching females has any chance of creating awkwardness. Anyways.... To give some context to my perception as why men continue to hold the majority of coaching roles, I looked at how women's sports have evolved over time. The growth of professional sports has been exponential in recent years but let's be honest women's sport at the elite level is not something new. There has been elite level women's sports and elite level women's athletes for decades. For the most part women's elite sports were generally identified at the college level and at sport events like the Olympics, or World Championships. Some sports, like golf, tennis, basketball, volleyball both court and beach have allowed women to make a living, some would say a good one, albeit no where on par with their male counterparts. Athletes from non team sports like swimming, figure skating, track and field have also been able to make a living and in both team and non team sport athletes, there was always the income generated from endorsements, sponsorship, We are seeing the worldwide growth of women's soccer leagues, while women's hockey doesn't have any full fledged professional leagues, there are attempts in trying to build them. In additional to all this, with the growth of TV and medial presence for women's elite and professional sports, the viability of making a living being a coach in women's sports is also growing and for the moment these roles continue to be held predominantly by males. This reality is seen at most levels of women's sports where men continue to hold the majority of coaching roles, and reversely, there are a really small handful of women's making a living coaching men's sports. So how does gender affect coaching and the coach-athlete relationship when we look at men coaching women? It is very clear in society that women in general and female athletes as a part of that, feel under pressure to conform to certain types of body image and accordingly this will impact behavior, diet and training routines. I would think ( or maybe I should say I would hope) that if most elite female athletes were asked, few would state their coach was the source of this pressure. This assumption is based on elite level sport and not recreational levels where coaches do not have the experience or training to work with high performing athletes, but again maybe I generalize. Where you to delve deeper, I am quite sure that it would reveal anecdotal evidence that a word from a coach carries a lot more weight that other pressures. If a male coach doesn't fully understand the added pressures females athlete might feel, then a comments made could be received by the athlete in a manner that is not intended by the coach. This would make sense given the influence of any coach in any coach-athlete relationship by could be different when the gender issues come into play. Many discussions with or questioning of high performance female athletes typically shows a general preference was for male coaches but as I have stated in prior posts, I think this is often skewed by the fact they limited experience with female coaches and therefore do not have sufficient points of comparison to be able able to make a proper judgement. This could also be affected by that fact that they female coaches they might of had where not properly trained or prepare for the role either by their certification process or prior experience. I have seen women been given chances to catch with the goal to see them fail so that men can say "see I told you it wouldn't work". In addition, most coaching training courses remain given by males, so women getting into the coaching ranks are training by men and all that comes with that. In my years of experience, when I have spoken with athletes about their preference for a male or female coach, there was a general preference for a male coach. When I would ask why they would tend to answer the following;
Many athletes see themselves as athletes first and women second. They want to be pushed as hard as male athletes and demand the same expectations. That said, most of my athlete acknowledge that women are different to men; for example, women can be more emotional, focus more on the group dynamic and cohesion, they will talk more and are more inquisitive. As such, the coach may need to adapt the way he or she communicates with the athlete or team to meet these needs, but still train them as hard and with the same technical rigor. There has always been the axiom or saying " she plays like a guy" or "coaches like a man does", like this means that it is being done the "right way". I once had a manager in my work who always said " I became a good manager when I started acting like a man would in the role" FALSE ! A person should coach (or manage ) their their strengths, their personalities and their style. Being a female is not a weakness and no woman should aspire to coach like a man! As always, I share my perceptions of the topic without thinking that I alone hold the answers to society's issues. Putting my thoughts in writing permits me to reflect and decide how I wish to proceed as a coach and a person. until next time. For many people, women's international soccer hit the big time at the 1999 World Cup when during the final, Brandi Chastain scored the decisive penalty kick, ripped off her jersey and fell to her knees. That picture remains an iconic symbol of women's soccer announcing their arrival.
In terms of the Canadian Women's National Team, for a lot non soccer fans, or more specifically non women's soccer fans, the team really attracted mainstream attention at the 2012 Olympics during the disappointing loss to the United States, It was an incredible display by our team on the whole and by Christine Sinclair individually. We felt robed by the ref and applauded Christine for doing a very untypical Canadian thing and openly speaking out with criticism instead of being the usual polite Canadian and turning the other cheek. The team rebounded from that disappointment and won the bronze medal a few days later. It was the start of 4 years of the women's game being front and center in Canada, with the country hosting both the U20 (2014) and Senior (2015) World Cups and then repeating as bronze medalists at the Rio Olympics. I thought I would put together a brief history of the women's program prior to the 2012 Olympics where all of Canada discovered our national team. Canadian women's soccer in its current form and on the international stage goes back to the mid-1980s. People might remember that 2002 U19 World Cup in which Canada lost in the final to the United States ( again) in dramatic fashion but was also the launch of a generation of players who would mark our national program for years. Players like Christine Sinclair, Erin McLeod, Candace Chapman, Kara Lang, Carmelina Moscato, Robyn Gayle, and Brittany Timko (now Baxter) have all made significant contribution to the women's game in our country since that tournament. On a side note, that tournament was also the launch of some players of note from other countries that you might have heard of ; Brazil's trio of Marta, Daniela and Christiane, France's Camille Abily, Germany's Anna Mittag, Englands, Fara Williams and Laura Bassett and finally, from the US Lindsey Tarpley, Heather O'Reilly and Ashlynn Harris. However, Canadian women's soccer, didn't start in 2012, or 2002 but much earlier. We have been a participating in 7 World Cups and 4 Olympics. I thought I would share a little bit about the history of Canada's national women's program. Canada's participation at international events actually dates back to the late 70s. In 1977, a team from the Greater Vancouver League, participated in an international tournament in Hawaii that was played over two weeks. A year later, this same team represented Canada at an invitation international tournament held in Taiwan alongside 12 other countries. This event turned out to be the precursor to women's world cups. The first formal Canadian Women's Team was formed in 1986 following a tournament bringing together provincial teams. The top 18 players were selected and they were formed as the national team. This same event was held the following year. In the early years, Canada participated in the 1988 Women’s Invitational Tournament in the People’s Republic of China. Played over the course of two weeks, the 12-team tournament served as an antecedent to the inaugural FIFA Women’s World Cup that took place three years later. Canada took part in the qualifiers for the 1991 World Cup but did not advance to the final competition in China after losing to the United States by a score of 5-0 in the inaugural CONCACAF Women’s Championship (then known as the CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup) held in Haiti. In 1994, Canada hosted their first Women’s Gold Cup, consisting of five teams – Canada, Jamaica, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States The tournament took place in Montreal and was played in a round-robin style with Canada posting three wins and one loss at Stade Claude-Robillard and eventually qualified in 2nd place, securing a spot in their first ever FIFA Women’s World Cup to be held the following year in 1995. The second installment of the Women’s World Cup lacked the same excitement that the inaugural tournament in China had brought and obviously TV coverage and social media traffic was non-existent in the mid-90s While over half a million fans showed up over the course of the 26-match tournament four years prior, only approximately 100,000 total spectators managed to attend the various games (an average of only 4,316 per match), with a disappointing 17,158 showing up to the final between Norway and Germany that was held in Stockholm. In their first match, played on June 6th of that year, Canada went down 3-0 to an English team that had also not qualified for the tournament’s opening installment. The team went on to tie their next match 3-3 against Nigeria and then lose their last match, 7-0 match to the eventual winners, Norway. With 11 female referees in the tournament, including Sonia Denoncourt of Canada who served as head referee during the United States victory over China in the 3rd place game, and Ingrid Jonsson, who oversaw Norway’s 2-0 victory over the Germans, the 1995 tournament served as a positive step for both women’s soccer as a whole and the women’s game in Canada despite low attendance among European fans. Canada hosted the fourth installment of the Women’s Gold Cup that was held in 1998. In the decade following the formation of Canada’s first women’s team in 1986, players like Geri Donnelly, Silvana Burtini, and Charmaine Hooper played a pioneering role in establishing the women’s game in the country. These three, along with several other key contributors like goalkeeper Nicole Wright, who posted five clean sheets in five wins, and midfielders Amy Walsh and Andrea Neil, led the charge for a team that would eventually outscore its opponents 42 goals to nil over a dominating 7-week period. In front of a sellout crowd in Ontario’s Centennial Stadium, Canada’s 22-year old midfielder Liz Smith scored the sole goal that led them to a 1-0 victory over Mexico and their first CONCACAF Women’s Championship and a spot at the 1999 Women's World Cup that was to be held in the US. In their first match against Japan, a formidable and veteran team that had reached the quarterfinal of the 1995 cup, the Canadian women tied 1-1 in front of over 23,000 at Spartan Stadium in San Jose (almost 5 times as many people as they played in front of in the 1998 Gold Cup final) After losing back-to-back matches to Norway and Russia, the team was eliminated from further play. The 2002 CONCACAF Women’s Gold Cup was co-hosted by the United States and Canada. Held in Seattle and Vancouver, the two hosts ultimately made their way to a final after dominating their respective groups and met at the Rose Bowl Unlike prior Gold Cups, final would not who would advance to the World Cup as new FIFA rules allowed for two Concacaf teams to reach the World Cup. Despite losing 2-1 to a heartbreaking Mia Hamm golden goal, the Canadian women seemed to be closing the gap and ready to compete at the international stage. As I wrote earlier, the summer of 2002 also saw Canada host the U19 World Cup and Canada place second but most importantly, was the beginning of the great career for Christine Sinclair who continues to shine today. The 2003 tournament was moved from China due to the outbreak of SARS, and with just 5 players from the previous World Cup the team was quite young with an average age of 23. Following a 4-1 opening loss to perennial power Germany, the team rebounded with its first ever World Cup win securing a 3-0 victory over Argentina followed by a 3-1 victory over Japan. Advancing to their ever knockout stage, the faced a Chinese team that had placed second in the ’99 Cup with a significant number of returning players. The team once again made history by winning 1-0 and earning the right to face Sweden in the semi-finals. Two late goals, ended their magical run. By finishing second once again at the 2006 Gold Cup, Canada qualified for the 2007 World Cup which was to be held in China ( as replacement for having lost the 2003 competition). Unfortunately, the team could not match their performances from 4 years earlier and were eliminated following the group stage. However a few months later, Canada participated in an Olympic qualifying tournament where once again they finished second to the US but qualified for the team's first ever games. at the 2008 Olympic Games, held in Beijing , Canada opened with a solid 2-1 victory over Argentina in their opening game, the team drew against the hosts China but lost to Sweden which eliminated Canada from the competition. Two years later Canada participated in the 2010 Gold Cup which took place in Mexico. CONCACAF was now allocated 3 sports for the 2011 World Cup which was to be held in Germany. After progressing through the group stage and fairly easy semi-final win, Canada found themselves facing the hosts Mexico that had shocked everyone by pulling off a 2-1 upset of the United States in front of a sellout crowd in Cancún. Three days later, Canada defeated the home side to win their 2nd overall CONCACAF Gold Cup, the first of which was won during a year in which the United States received an automatic bye because they were hosting the upcoming World Cup. Full of confidence from their resounding victory at the previous year’s Gold Cup, the Canadian team entered the 2011 World Cup in Germany looking to improve upon their record-setting performance in 2003. With a generation of players entering their competitive primes and an in form Christine Sinclair now firmly established as one of the world's top players, expectations were high. However, over the course of three games, Canada managed to only muster up one goal on its way to three consecutive losses to host-country Germany, a strong French side and African champion Nigeria. The soccer program was in a mess, then coach Carolina Morace resigned in somewhat controversial fashion and with the Olympic games just 12 months away, the outlook was bleak. Within a few months, the CSA hired an Englishman by way of New Zealand who would try and rebuild the team prior to London 2012. As the saying goes, the rest is history. Technology has changed the manner in which we carry out various everyday tasks at home, at work and interacting socially with friends and family. The easy access to information and ability to "shrink" the world has affected so many areas. Yes in many ways things have become easier but sometimes too easy doesn't equate to better.
Technology has definitely impacted how college and university coaches are able to connect with and recruit potential student-athletes. There are still very specific regulations in place to control and monitor have coaches go out and communicate with potential recruits, but the ability to reach out and accumulate information, do the due diligence to look into a potential players statistics, background and even social media footprint has really changed how the practice of recruiting is carried out. We have come a long way for the endless road trip to games, showcases, home visits, sending out letters via traditional mail, getting video footage sent to us via courier to we can catch a glimpse of some footage, not to mention having rack up long distances charges reaching out to the player and their coaches. These changes aren't something that has taken place over the last 20 or so years but rather has changed exponentially in recent times. I have been in my position as a university coach for the last 15 years and I have seen a significant change. In the last ten years, the university recruiting game has developed tremendously, bringing many new opportunities and challenges to having athletes commit to play at the university level. Between finding prospects at an earlier age, learning new rules and regulations each season, and the emergence of social media, there are now so many ways coaches can communicate with a recruit. In turn, technology has really stepped up in order to help coaches keep pace. There are multiple systems that track athletes through the recruiting process, others that help monitor social media and those that help identify athletes and their skill levels. Recruiting services that build date bases of athletes with their personal information, statistics, video footage but coaches in touch with potential players, but also create an expectation by the athlete themselves that they are being looked at by numerous coaches. Athletes are more willing to reach out to coaches via their school's athletic web page, send great personalized recruiting profiles. In the world of Facebook and Twitter, it is one thing to create initial interest and spark a conversation with a prospect that would help fill a roster. It is another thing to get that conversation to go deeper and help build a connection. One way to do this is through finding out more information about what a particular recruit is looking for out of a university experience and what kind of person they are now. It is also important to understand their academic objectives and what they hope to do as a career once their schooling and time of the playing field is done. If you can find out their personal goals, what size university they’re looking for, or if they want an urban or rural environment and you match that with what kind of athlete they are, it will only help identify those that are the right fit for your program. This information can then be used to build up a solid level of trust with the prospect. By using technology, this search and discovery process becomes easy and won’t cost you or your staff valuable time in the fast-paced recruiting process. The flip side to all of the above is that it is impossible for athletes to hide or embellish their athletic background and achievements. It is quite easy to fact check information given to you by prospective student-athletes, what teams they played for, their achievements, and potential information that might affect your interest in them as an addition to your program. I have had a number of prospective student-athletes send me information, claiming to have played with their provincial team, or in same case with international students, that they were members of some high level club or even their national team. However this can all be checked now. As a coach, you can put together a fully comprehensive profile of a recruit before even having the chance to meet them in person. I don't think technology is a bad thing, not at all, but I think that while it can help enhance and facilitate the recruiting process, there is no substitute for meeting a player face to face, interacting with them, listening to them lay out their plans and objectives, seeing if they defer to their parents or take charge of selling themselves to the coach. Recruiting is about finding the right individuals who will be part of your team and who you as a coach will interact with quite frequently over a 3 to 5 year time span. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't but certainly technology had changed the recruiting game. Being a university student on it's own is a tough undertaking, imagine doing it when leaving home at 18 or 19, traveling to a new city far from friends and family. Many young adults might find this experience tough and demanding on its own, but now include the added obligations that come from being a varsity student-athlete and its fantastic how on the whole, a majority of individuals are able to successfully complete degrees while competing in athletics.
We all hear about the so-called jocks, focusing just on their sport, being helped with their studies, fake exams, bogus courses, fixed marks. Those athletes who complete one or two years of university ( and complete might be used loosely here) and move on to the pro ranks. However I call tell you with certainty that overall, this is a very small percentage of all the student-athletes across Canada and the US. Few will go on to pro careers and a majority will complete their degrees and become productive members of society in their chosen fields. Student-athletes receive scholarships, public recognition, travel to various places around the country, a closet full of athletic apparel in school colors, and more. This is what the public sees from the outside, the so called glamour and prestige usually associated with being a student-athlete. However athletic participation may not be as glamorous as many perceive it to be. Student-athletes shouldn't complain. Their status does come with some perks and in most institutions with a support structure not available to the average student. But there is no doubt that it is much harder in university to be a student and an athlete. Not only most they carry a full time course load to be eligible (again I am talking about the real student-athlete) need to stay on top of homework, assignments, studying for tests but they practice 4 or 5 times a week, play games, and make time for a social life, Athletes not only have academic responsibilities, but they also spend countless hours outside the classroom doing various activities in their respective sports. For example, many athletic teams return early to campus to begin per-season conditioning which limits potential summer employment opportunities. During the season, morning or evening sessions are completed as needed around daily classes, and there is evening court practice. Some schools have mandatory study hall and then you can add team meetings, video review, and treatment of injuries all taking place in between these activities. Finally depending on the sport and league, the team travels to and from various universities in athletic competition, and when scheduling permits, the team might also add community service work. Also, student-athletes are subject to rule and expectations that while for other students might be considered normal extracurricular activities for student-athletes, these might be frowned upon by coaches, athletic department administration, the university or governing bodies. For example, a regular student goes out and returns to his or her dorm intoxicated at 4 a.m. and does not awaken for class the next day. This is an individual problem. However, when an athlete takes these types of actions, he or she can be suspended for a few games or suspended indefinitely. Don't get me wrong, the life of a student-athlete is amazing, I think it will give individuals enriching experience that they will take with them well beyond the days of their sports participation. However, I think people from the outside don't always recognize all the commitment that goes into being a successful student-athlete and envy them when only looking at the glamour that seems to be associated with it. I always share with my athletes that being a student-athlete is about going to school and playing sports, it is about adopting a lifestyle that is very different from other students and whose rewards might only come long after graduation. |
AuthorAfter many years of coaching at various levels and with different teams, I thought I would share some of my experiences and thoughts about coaching. Archives
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