Jess Taylor: A Lack of Female Coaches

This is the second part of what I hope to be a regular series on this blog. These articles will feature a guest writer, who will provide slightly different, or even alternate, perspective on soccer in America. Each writer will have at least one thing in common - a shared involvement in soccer at the grassroots and developmental level in this country. 

I first met Jess Taylor in Milwaukee, WI after a futsal game I had just coached last winter during the 2012-13 season. She struck me as a very outspoken and confident person, who is not afraid to speak her mind in a male-dominated field. As it turns out, she and her family also live not too far from my family in the same community and she joined my club right around the time I met her. The following is an account of Jess' thoughts on a lack, or rarity, of female coaches in the women's game.

The 2012 NSCAA Convention was held in Kansas City, MO.  Having never been to the Convention before, I wanted to go since it was driving distance from home.  When I arrived the first morning, I walked in to confirm my registration and get my free goodies.  The very nice lady handing out the t-shirts asked me what size I was.  I took a glance at the long-sleeve t-shirts on the table and immediately noticed that there were no woman's sizes, only “unisex,” which really means men's size.  I made a joke about it, got my small t-shirt that is too big (and by the way, I wear a medium in women's clothing) and went on my way.  I enjoyed the convention and learned new ways to teach the game.  For the duration of my time there, nearly everywhere I turned, men were coaching the sessions, men were heading up the vendor section, and men were in charge of the ECNL (Elite Clubs National League) meeting I attended on behalf of my club.  For those that may not know, the ECNL is a national league for many of the best girls clubs in the country.  Scattered among the session leaders were experienced women talking about women's soccer specific issues. 

It was there that my eyes were opened wide that it is a man's world in our sport on both the men's and women's side.  There are certainly many talented women's coaches out there, many of whom are coaching at the college level.  There are very few women taking the lead on girls soccer, specifically.  A perfect example is the ECNL.  Currently there are 11 members that sit on the Board of Directors.  All 11 are men.  They do have a female commissioner and operations manager.  Many of these men on the board are also coaches within a club member of the ECNL.  It was men, in fact, who created the ECNL. 

These facts bring to light how dominant men are in the coaching world and even more so in youth sports.  I don't need numbers and statistics to tell me because I have been coaching for 14 years.  I have been living it.  I am more often than not, the only women, or one of a few women in a group of men.  A 2013 study in Gender and Society found that only 13.4% of coaches in the American Youth Soccer Association are women.  We need to have more qualified women coaches to provide role models for our young players to look up to.  In our history, women have often been told what they can't do and women have consistently broken through all of those myths and restrictions.  Women coaches can continue to break those barriers and show players that girls can do what the boys do.  It often takes courage and determination. 

When I first started coaching, I was young and one of the dads was my manager.  Often, the opposing coach and/or the referees would approach my manager because they thought he was the coach.  Hello! The coach is probably the person spending time with the team with the team's gear on....it was only slightly annoying.  The point is that the girls saw this happen over and over.  Hopefully, even through these minor incidents, the girls saw it as an example for themselves to do what you love to do even when you don't “fit in.”

I certainly have some concerns about the lack of female coaches at the youth level for a number of reasons.  The first is the most obvious.  We are not doing a good job of providing accessible role models to our female players.  Girls already have the disadvantage of not having much access to watch women play sports on TV.  With the exception of some National Team games, a few NWSL (National Women's Soccer League) games, and the College Cup on cable, if a girl wants to watch soccer, she is watching men.  We have all these little girls who love Alex Morgan but only get to see her play a few times a year.  We have a bunch of little boys who love Messi and get to watch him every week.  See the difference?  I understand that money drives that and there is little money in women's soccer but it doesn't change the fact boy's have a much wider ability to watch their soccer heroes play.  Boys emulate and copy their favorite player. It isn't very easy for girls to do the same unless they are watching a lot of soccer.

Growing up, kids have role models.  I just saw an article a friend posted on Facebook listing coaches as the third most influential person in a child's life.  If this is true, the majority of our young female players look up to a male to lead them, guide them and tell them what they are capable of (or maybe not capable of).  The girls who have a female coach that has been there, done that can see a bit of themselves in their coach.  They can look up and see that a woman has gone before them and was successful in the things that they want to do. 

Girls simply do not have the same opportunities to have female role models in sport as boys.  I believe, as a result, girls are often not as motivated as boys in their sport.  Obviously, our country is still developing many great female players in large part to male coaches.  How great would it be for young girls to have more female faces to look up to as a part of their development?

I believe the main reason for a lack of female coaches is the lifestyle that youth soccer demands.  Coaches work in the evenings and on the weekends.  The time is just not very conducive to doing a lot of other things during the season.  When I was younger before I had kids of my own, I didn't think too much of “giving up” that time.  It was what I loved to do and I was coaching with people that I liked and respected.  There were some other younger female coaches for a few years but nearly all of them quit after a couple years to have more free time, start a family, or they got too busy with their day job.  All reasons that are totally valid. 

I continue to love my job coaching young girls and teaching them the game I love but it is getting increasing more difficult with three kids of my own.  When they were young, it was great because I was home all day and was so ready to bolt out the door at 4:30 to go to practice.  As they are getting older, I am leaving shortly after picking them up for school and somehow making sure they are getting to their activities and practices.  It is exhausting and I am missing more and more of their games on the weekends and having to rely on others to get my kids places. 

I struggle with the responsibility I feel to stay in the game and be that role model for young girls and to serve my family well.  On one hand I feel a responsibility to the game and to my players, past, present and future.  I have lifetime relationships with some of the players that I have coached and love that even in their young adult life; they share parts of their life with me and ask for advice.  It is a special thing in my life to have those relationships.  On the other hand, I need to ask myself if I am short handing my own kids to do something for other people's kids.  Am I spending the time with them that I need to or is my coaching gig taking too much away from them?  I think these questions resonate much more with women than they do men. 

That brings me to the big question: how can we bring more quality women coaches to be role models for our girls in our sport?  I wish I knew the answer because our girls need it.  

Jess Taylor holds a USSF National C License and currently serves as the U13 Girls coach with Bavarian Soccer Club in Milwaukee. Jess was a two-time all-state selection out of Arrowhead High School in Hartland, WI and played four years at Marquette University (1995-98), earning all-conference recognition in each of her years there. She had coached with FC Milwaukee since 1999 until moving to Bavarians in 2013. Prior to starting a family, Jess also served as a middle school teacher.