Recruiting and Retaining Female Coaches [NIAAA]

By: Trish Betthauser, CMAA - Director of Athletics, Adlai E Stevenson High School (IL)

The challenge of finding quality coaches and then keeping them in the position for several years is a daunting task for any athletic administrator. With evolving responsibilities and increasing pressure to succeed, less and less teachers are stepping forward for increased opportunities to impact student lives through co-curricular activities. I believe the place to start when working to devise a plan to recruit and retain female (or any) coaches is with the "why."

I try to offer opportunities for coaches to have lunch and come together for a stress-free time period. I may frame the conversation around a specific topic that is relevant to the profession, but I often come back to the questions, "Why do you coach high school sports?" Here's a sampling of the most common answers.

• Coaches want to give back
• Coaches love being with kids
• Coaches want to teach kids the same life skills they learned from the sport
• Coaches feel they can be a positive role model for young people
• Coaches want to help grow the game
• Coaches want to develop their leadership skills
• Coaches love competition and the satisfaction of working towards a common goal

My role as an athletic administrator is to take this knowledge of why coaches enter the profession and do all I can to ensure this is where they are spending the majority of their time. We all know how the administrivia of the position can “wear” on coaches and take them away from the primary reasons they started coaching in the first place.

Here are a few things that athletic administrators can do to make the coaching profession more appealing to applicants.

1. Offer flexible work times and locations, if possible. This can be the case especially at the lower level, e.g., freshman level. According to the October 16, 2019 article published by the National Athletic Trainer’s Association, “Youth Sports Specialization Recommendations” by Beth Sitzler, “Adolescent and young athletes should not participate in organized sport and/or activity more hours per week than their age.” This means a 12-year-old athlete should not participate in more than 12 hours per week of organized sport. Likewise, a 14-15 year-old student-athlete on a lower level team should not practice more than 2 hours/day for seven days. In addition, Sitzler said “Adolescent and young athletes should have a minimum of two days off per week from organized training and competition. Athletes should not participate in other organized team sports, competitions and/or training on rest and recovery days.” Convincing these coaches that it’s okay to have two scheduled days off per week can be a difficult sell, but it’s better in the long run in regards to physical performance and mental wellness.
2. Integrate family activities into the position. Plan events for the athletic department that are family friendly and allow for your coach to be visible and serve the community, while enjoying time with their own family.
3. Cultivate a supportive and collaborative environment. Give head coaches, in particular, permission to empower their assistants to assume more responsibilities and provide support in areas where they have strengths. Head coaches have a tendency to feel like they must do it all, or it could appear like they don’t have everything “under control.” Reinforce the message with them that by asking more of their assistant coaches, they are modeling the teamwork behavior they expect from their athletes.

While there may be some high school coaches who coach a sport in a state where salaries can creep into six figures, like Texas, the pay for most high school coaches is a stipend, or compensation for a short term. Regardless of the stipend amount, this compensation is typically not enough for support a person or a family financially. What are some ways that athletic administrators can recruit experienced and knowledgeable candidates?

Recruitment

• Form partnerships with colleges and universities in your area. Utilizing university connections, speaking to college classes, sending your coaches to speak to college classes, and reaching out to college students to help with youth leagues are ways the leader of an athletic department can increase the visibility of their programs and find valuable prospective coaches.
• Have a strong social media presence. This doesn’t mean the athletic administrator needs to be on social media all the time, but it does help if the social posts express the vision and values of the school and athletic department.
• Reach out to coaches’ associations and utilize your colleagues. They may have interviewed a great candidate, but that individual wasn’t a great fit for their organization. Some of my best coaches interviewed for another school and weren’t offered a position. Timing and environment are interesting factors in athletics, at any level.
• Work with the curriculum chair/directors/principal at your school to select candidates. Be proactive and persistent in sharing your list of coaching vacancies with your colleagues who are looking to fill faculty positions. Maybe there are opportunities at your school for a coach to start as an aid or a paraprofessional and work into a full-time faculty/staff position. If you believe a coaching candidate is great for kids, advocate for that individual with your peers.
• Recruit the Human First. Sometimes, we need to reimagine who a “coach” is and recruit great people in our building that may have little to no experience in a sport, but they have a genuine interest in being a part of the lives of young athletes and are willing to learn the sport.

Retention

• Be flexible. Accommodate and support coaches as they transition through life phases and changes. A coach’s commitment may look different when they’re in their 20s and single versus a coach who is well established in a family rhythm, balancing life and work responsibilities. An awareness of this and an acknowledgment on your part will be meaningful for them to continue the positive impact they have on the young people in the program.
• Be Observant. Take the time to conduct informal observations of your coaches’ practices and send notes of encouragement the next day. Coaches, like athletes, crave feedback and a positive note can inspire your coach to stay energized.
• Reach out to coaches’ associations and utilize your colleagues. They may have interviewed a great candidate, but that individual wasn’t a great fit for their organization. Some of my best coaches interviewed for another school and weren’t offered a position. Timing and environment are interesting factors in athletics, at any level.
• Be Creative. Look for ways to provide professional development in alternative modes: podcasts, virtual meetings, and lunch chats are a few ideas. Respecting their time away from work as personal and family time is important.
• Be Resourceful. Invest time and energy into creating a strong Booster club that can support the fundraising efforts of all of your programs. Create a strong line of communication with parents who want to assist the program with team meals, senior gifts, etc. Being able to remove some of these tasks from your coach’s list of responsibilities will free up more time for your coach to do what they were hired to do – work with student-athletes!
• Be a Mentor. It may be physically and emotionally impossible for an athletic administrator to mentor each and every new coach. It may be vital for the head coach and athletic director to meet on a frequent basis, but new assistant coaches can be mentored by veteran assistant coaches in your division. Pair up individuals on your staff and encourage them to create a connection. Virtual meetings and phone calls are a great way for these mentorships to grow.
• Be Inclusive. Create an environment where people of all cultural orientations can freely express who they are and share their own opinions and points of view.

Sitzler, B. (2019). Youth sports specialization recommendations. National Athletic Trainer’s Association. https://www.nata.org/blog/beth-sitzler/youth-sports-specialization-recommendations