Changes in Coaching Style
Important context:
The fundamentals of coaching both male and female athletes remain the same: Having an efficient communication system, being transparent about diet and fitness requirements, being conscious of your own belief systems and biases, etc.
However, there are some psychological and biological differences in males and females that should be taken into account while constructing a coaching plan. After extensive research and interviewing female athletes in India, I have compiled the primary differences in coaching style that, on average, would help female athletes and create an inclusive environment.
Breaking stereotypes and tackling other social norms:
-
Helping young women athletes internalize that they deserve to play sport at the highest level is key because women have been told that sports is unfit for them. In this scenario, coaches play a key role since athletes look up to their coaches. Using motivational words/phrases during and after coaching (in the language most comfortable to the coach and player) is pertinent.
-
Research shows that girls are more likely to incorporate physical activity into their lives when they have relatable role models to look up to (Eugene Civic Alliance, 2018). Similarly, the addition of a female coach to the coaching staff is likely to provide female athletes, not just role models that they can get inspired by, but a person in the coaching staff who might be more approachable.
-
In order to make women athletes feel included, it is recommended that in one or two days of weekly training sessions, women athletes are given the autonomy to choose the warm-up/post-session drills and exercises, as well as the main session focus on that particular day.
Training changes:
-
Research - Brizendine (2007) and Healy (2004) - consistently shows that women are more interested than men in forming connections and bonding with people, understanding their motivations, etc. This has important implications for coaching because it might be a better strategy to conduct a team bonding exercise for female athletes rather than technical/tactical work in case coaches have extra time in their hands. Additionally, since women and girls’ survival strategy tends to be through the building of relationships and high levels of empathy for the people they are interacting with, coaching a team of female athletes would be more effective if it is focused on creating an atmosphere of cooperation and personal improvement rather than one where internal competition among teammates dominates practice sessions.
-
Following the Sandwich Theory of Criticism to give feedback on performance:
-
Start with positive feedback
-
Follow this with 3 pieces of information. This includes (1) what happened, (2) what should have happened, and (3) why it should have happened.
Having difficult but important conversations:
-
Puberty can directly impact a female athlete’s performance. For example, muscle development may lag behind which impacts performance in sports that require physical strength, and might thus lower self-esteem. Coaches ought to be sensitive in this situation and need to change coaching styles/the kind of sessions they are conducting. Again, communication with the athletes themselves would be incredibly important to understand their needs, since bodies often react differently.
-
Body image issues are faced prominently by female athletes. Especially with social media exposure, younger female athletes in specific face problems with coming to terms with their physical features. This has important implications like decreasing self-esteem and thus impacting an athlete’s performance. Coaches should not - in any instance - compare the bodies of athletes on a team. Rather, if bodyweight, for instance, needs to be reduced, the ideal scenario is coaches working with nutritionists (if applicable and affordable for the athlete) to create a specific diet plan.
Communication with parents:
-
Especially given the norms—often perpetuated by parents—that hinder the progress of women athletes, it’s important that coaches communicate with parents about the team philosophy as well as what they need from the side of parents in terms of encouragement and nutrition to maximize outcomes.
Policies
Women have been mistreated in numerous respects throughout the world, with one of the most prominent of these being sports. All the way from the first Olympic games held in Ancient Greece, sports have been considered a masculine affair with women prohibited to even watch competitions, let alone compete. Even in this day and age of supposed equality and meritocracy, sport still remains a male domain, especially on the community level. Even with improved opportunities and treatment, there is still an invisible barrier between sport and the everyday woman.
While implementation of sports programmes such as the Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel Abhiyan (PYKKA), now known as Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan (RGKA), National Playing Fields Association of India, and the Scheme for the creation of urban infrastructure at various levels has helped increase participation of youth in sports, none of these have specific clauses for women and girls. However, under its empowering initiative of “Khelo India”, the government provides for the funding of sports activities and annual competitions for women especially in sports disciplines where there is lesser participation.
The most explicit instance of an absence of considering the problems of sportswomen in India is seen through the policies of the Sports Authority of India—the top governmental sports-promoting body in India. They have not included any specific policy measures related to encouraging sportswomanship. Recently, the SAI have made a provision to include eight prominent sportswomen to its governing body, which totals 27 members. However, their roles and function are unclear, therefore being another example of token representation of women in positions of authority. Nowhere is the lack of governmental regulation or oversight better seen than the pay gap between men’s and women’s sporting salaries. The discrepancies are robust and surprising. For example, in 2017, BCCI hiked the salaries of women cricketers to Rs 15 lakh per year for Grade A players and Rs 10 lakh per year for Grade B players. In spite of the increase, however, Grade A male cricketers are paid Rs 2 crore every year, and Grade B players receive Rs 1 crore. In football, male players earn something between Rs 65 lakh to Rs 70 lakh per year, but the female players’ fee ranges between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. It should be noted that these differentials - in the region of 1500-2000% - dwarfs the existing national pay gap of 24.9%.
Laws
While some laws have been introduced to promote participation of women in sports, these laws are either ignored or poorly executed. The Indian government added the ‘Prevention of Sexual Harassment’ annexure in the National Sports Development Code (NSDC), 2011, but this is still not in actual and effective practice. Speaking of which, the Code itself has yet not been amended to completely align with the Sexual Harassment Act of Women at Workplace of 2013. The only proposed document which ensures the compliance of the Sexual Harassment Act by all sports federations in India is the National Sports Ethics Commission Bill 2016, which is yet under scrutiny.
In India, although laws prohibiting gender discrimination in education and employment are prevalent and general laws have provided strong tools for eliminating discrimination against women, laws with specific focus on sports are still not formulated, which could be a great significance for a positive change.