School Leaders Supporting Female Athletic Directors

A female coach or athletic director’s day may seem exactly the same as her male colleagues: parents questioning tryout results, a bus not showing up for an away game, or the occasional on-site emergency. However, it could be more complex for female coach or administrator.

What female administrators may face are microaggressions which may compound challenges. In a preseason meeting, a female athletic director may advocate for equity, only to be dismissed and given a candid, but derogatory, nickname by colleagues. While enforcing heat safety protocols, a coach may openly challenge her authority while parents email the superintendent, questioning her competence. Later, a booster club member suggests male staff members oversee the hiring of a new football coach.

Being an athletic administrator is not an easy task for anyone, yet female athletic directors can be subject to increased scrutiny, perceived as less competent, and endure general lack of respect within their roles despite their credentials or experience. Over time, subtle and overt biases endured in athletic and professional spaces can be overlooked and undermine their leadership capacity within a school community. However, school leaders can take intentional, practical steps to change these patterns and maximize the potential of all leaders within their athletic programs and school community.

Shifting Numbers and School Climates through Personnel Practices
Both female coaches and athletic administrators are often told, “We need more like you,” yet personnel practices rarely reflect the need to retain or empower female members of staff. Systemic change does not happen with solely electing a female athletic director to run a department or serve on a committee, let alone the addition of more female coaches in a department. Coaches on staff need to acknowledge them as leaders; hiring coaches that cannot do so only makes the job harder and discourages qualified individuals from taking on leadership roles.

Supporting female athletic directors through hiring practices includes hiring coaches who uphold Title IX and understand acts of discrimination regardless of what sport or gender they intend to coach; this can be done in pre-screening interview questions focusing on Title IX, equity and inclusion. If already on staff, leverage existing relationships, address discriminatory behavior and document any interventions based on the severity of incidents.

Obligations of School Leaders in Supporting Female Leadership
School leaders need to be mindful of supporting female athletic directors and aware of microaggressions they face. If left unaddressed, bad behaviors may frustrate their best attempts and leadership capacity. When female athletic directors are not supported and validated by supervisors or department values, it impacts their sense of belonging, effectiveness and the overall climate of both an athletic program and school community.

School leaders need to acknowledge positionality, and ethical and legal implications when female athletic directors are questioned, or in severe cases harassed, by coaches or parents for upholding best practices. Leaders who shift their position to see experiences as divergent from their own are more likely to see discriminatory practices, asking questions such as, “Is this parent or coach questioning the procedural standard or is it a matter of sexism and harassment?”

If the female athletic director has the expertise and competency to do the job and make sound leadership decisions, school leaders must work to educate their school community on issues of inclusivity and required policies. Failure to do so can serve as a deeper and systemic Title IX issue and legitimate complaint of harassment.

School leaders also need to give opportunities to female athletic directors to lead. Whether it is directing email complaints from parents to an athletic director or being present at parent meetings and directing questions to the athletic director, such actions show the community who should be making the decisions. Furthermore, school leaders should make time to meet with all leaders so that messaging is consistent and supports school and department purpose and mission.

Empowerment through Diverse Professional Development and Connections
Females working within high school athletic administration may have to work harder to develop confidence and empower themselves against the adversity and occasional hostility found within a male-dominated profession. When school leaders actively support and prioritize access to both broad-based and female-centered professional development, they directly empower and sustain women in athletic leadership. This includes not only encouraging and supporting their involvement in state and national athletic associations, and sport-specific professional organizations, but also female-focused professional athletic associations.

Female leaders should engage with professional development or memberships that align with current best practices and intended for broad groups of professional athletic administrators, which includes organizations like NFHS and NIAAA.

Equally important, school leaders should ensure that female athletic directors and coaches can engage in female-centered organizations, which serve both as an avenue for job-related professional development and an affinity space equipped with the tools needed to thrive in spaces not traditionally designed for female leadership. Such programs can be found within existing sport-specific organizations, general women’s coaching organizations like WECOACH, and research institutions like the Tucker Center.

Furthermore, a female athletic director may be one of few female athletic administrators within their district, league or region. It is essential that school leaders ensure they have access to mentors and encourage female leaders to strengthen identity-based professional networks, in addition to those grown through other organizations. Formalized mentorship programs through WECOACH and other female-centered organizations offer valuable opportunities for female athletic administrators to build professional connections while having their experiences in athletic leadership validated.

Creating opportunities and allowance to participate in diverse professional development offerings may entail providing release time to attend conferences or training, ensuring professional development opportunities are built into site, league, section or district agendas, and partnering with booster clubs or budgeting at the site level to cover membership fees and related expenses. These actions help female athletic administrators strengthen their expertise and develop relationships with mentors, peers and allies. Connections and things learned through both forms of professional organizations can ensure that female athletic administrators can thrive, not just survive, in their positions.

Final Thoughts
Improving female leadership within athletic spaces is a collective responsibility that cannot be placed solely on any given member of the school community. However, school leaders can promote community awareness of bias, ensure female athletic and coaching staff maintain access to authentic professional opportunities for growth, and receive strong institutional support. Simultaneously, female coaches and athletic directors can develop professional avenues for self-empowerment and systemic change.

Monique Paris Anderson is a special education teacher, girls tennis coach and assistant boys tennis coach at Emerald High School in Dublin, California. She is a member of the High School Today Publications Committee.