There are nine female sports teams at Creek. On those nine teams, there are 14 male coaches.
The amount of male coaches on female teams is unsettling. If female coaches can do the same thing male coaches can, why aren’t there more female coaches, especially on female teams?
“I feel like it’s all male coaches. Women can do the same thing as men can do,” junior and varsity basketball player Braelynn Barnett said.
The female sports teams at Creek do an excellent job at the sports they play, often going to state playoffs. But the amount of male coaches coaching these girls isn’t surprising because gender equality is a hard thing to come across even in sports..
Some girls feel uncomfortable having to be taught the sport they love by a male, or could have something they would feel more comfortable with saying to a female rather than a male.
Varsity poms head coach Alex Limberis believes that there really isn’t any problem with other genders coaching each other.
“I just think that female empowerment is really important. And I don’t think there’s any reason, opposite genders can’t coach each other.” Limberis said.
Coach Limberis believes that it’s good to have a good relationship with your players, having a good connection is essential to success. Having a good relationship with your coaches can be beneficial to the way you play.
“I don’t believe you can coach somebody hard, unless they know that you actually care about them,” Limberis said. “If they don’t know you care and you’re correcting what they’re doing, they’re going to get defensive.”
JV girl’s soccer coach Ben Hanson also believes the same thing.
“It starts with making sure they all feel valued as individuals and that they know that they’re an important part of the team,” he said. “When they feel valued and respected and know they’re part of the team, they’re going to work harder, not only to make themselves better, but to make the team better.”
I feel it could be difficult for players to have that kind of a relationship with male coaches rather than females.
“What if one of the girls doesn’t know Coach Chambers comfortably enough, or [isn’t] comfortable enough to talk to Coach Wright about their problems, we [need] a strong female coach to fill in that role,” senior basketball player Sara Sweden said.
It would be nicer to have more females in higher positions in the sports world, and hopefully have more female teams be made. The difference between coaches can make a difference in the players’ comfort levels and overall experience playing on the team.
“I feel like we need a woman in power because women [are] able to do the same things as men, if not better,” Sweden said.
