Hello dear readers! In an effort to avoid packing for my cross country move on Friday, I’m turning to my productive-adjacent hobby, blogging! With the final ITA rankings out, the season has truly come to a close, but your women’s blogging team still has some content left in our arsenal.
In honor of this unprecedented year of women’s coverage on Division3Tennis.com, I’m presenting what I hope to be the first of many Women in Coaching articles. This idea came to me when I was working on our senior series and noticed how many great women coaches I saw representing D3 women’s tennis, and how I honestly thought there would be fewer. Why did I think that? Was this some implicit bias that I had where I just assume coaching is a male job? I did what any reasonable person does when they want to know something: turned to the internet.
The NCAA Champion magazine (the official magazine of the NCAA) did a lovely piece on this in 2017, linked here: https://www.ncaa.org/static/champion/where-are-the-women/. If you don’t like to read, don’t worry, I took notes:
- Statistics on women in coaching
- In 2016, just over 40% of NCAA women’s teams have a female head coach. This number has been DECREASING from 55% in 1981, the year NCAA women’s championships got their start.
- Only 20% of NCAA athletic directors are female
- 3% of men’s teams coached by women
- Female representation is highest at entry level postitions. ½ of paid assistant coaches are women, that number falls to 40% of head coaches of women’s teams being women
- Issues listed include
- Number 1 cited issue is lack of work/life balance (tough to be a mother)
- Lack of networking opportunities
- Women simply aren’t applying – lack of mentors, overt sexism, stigma against lesbian coaches preventing women from going into coaching into the first place
- Women are leaving the field earlier than expected (ties back to work/life balance)
Indeed women are underrepresented in NCAA coaching positions, and it seems like these stats translate pretty well to D3 women’s tennis. I’m no Analyst but just looking at the Top 10 schools based on year end rankings, 4 out of 10 have women head coaches: Emory, Middlebury, Amherst, and MIT.
Without giving too much about myself away, I am in a profession traditionally viewed as a “man’s” profession, so based on my experiences in a man’s world I wondered what it is like to be a female college tennis coach.
Enter the wonderful Erin Ness. She played for four years at UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) and she just finished her 7th year as head coach of the Washington and Lee women’s tennis program. In her time at W&L, she has won 7 ODAC titles and coached 5 All-Americans. Prior to W&L, she was head coach at UCSC from 2006-2012. What’s special about Coach Ness is that she became head coach at UCSC right after graduating in 2006, at the ripe old age of 22. She agreed to share her story with me, and I’ll let her tell you how she did it below.
I did waayy more talking/typing in this than a normal interview, but this is because we were both very excited about the subject and wanted to have more of a conversation than an interview, so please excuse my verbosity.
**Disclaimer: Let me state outright that this series is not meant to imply that females or males make better coaches. We are not trying to say that men should not coach women’s tennis. We are in no way trying to knock down men. Both men and women can be phenomenal coaches (as well as crappy ones). The purpose of this series is to highlight and celebrate female coaches, just as we have celebrated women’s tennis on The Blog this year. I want to give amazing women coaches the platform to share their stories – the good and the bad!
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ASW: First of all, congratulations on another successful year at W&L and thank you so much for talking to The Blog about your experience in coaching. How did you become the head coach at UCSC just months after graduating?
EN: I’m honestly not sure when the exact moment was that I wanted to get into coaching. My goal after graduating UC Santa Cruz was to go to grad school a pursue a PhD in psychology. I was a counselor for the Nike Tennis Camps at UCSC during the summers and discovered I loved coaching our Davis Cup team matches in the afternoons. Coaching kids was something I enjoyed, but never thought of it as a viable career path. During my senior year, my coach announced he was leaving at the end of the year. One of my friends who played at Bucknell, and I worked camps with, was our assistant coach that year. She opened my eyes to the fact that coaching could at least be a temporary job as I was pondering a gap year in between undergrad and grad school. As the year went on, no one applied for the position because it was part time and $10,000 a year. At the end of my senior year, I approached our new athletic director to discuss potentially being the assistant coach. She mentioned no one had applied for the position and I could do an interim year as the head coach. Two weeks after I graduated college, I became the head coach at UC Santa Cruz.
ASW: To me, having great mentors is probably the most important thing when choosing what you want to do with your life, and it sounds like that seeing other females in athletics (your friend from Bucknell, the AD) really helped you see coaching as a viable option. We also can’t talk about UC Santa Cruz without at least mentioning Bob Hansen. What was it like to have Coach Hansen, D3 coaching great, as your mentor? Without revealing the tricks of your trade, were there any pearls of wisdom he imparted on you that really shaped you as a coach?
EN: Bob Hansen is one of the greatest coaches in Division III and potentially in all divisions. There are different aspects of Bob that make him a strong coach, but the two that really stood out to me is his desire to always get better and master his craft, and ability to make his players believe that they are capable of doing more than what they ever thought was possible. He treats his players like they are his own family and is invested in their life outside of tennis. Bob is one of the most competitive people I have ever met in my life, but he genuinely believes that a coach’s main role is to help shape their players into becoming the best versions of themselves that they can be for their futures beyond college. This is a lesson that most young coaches don’t learn until they are older, but I was fortunate enough to have someone like Bob teach me this valuable lesson.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Er05B61Herw
This youtube link is a video done by some alum, and it still gives me chills whenever I watch it.
ASW: That was a really well done video, I even watched it at regular speed! It’s pretty incredible how one person really created the tennis dynasty at UCSC. I’ve never met Coach Hansen but his passion is so obvious through this video, and it sounds like you share a lot of that passion.
EN: I am lucky that Bob Hansen was my mentor because I had to figure everything out on the fly. After surviving my first year, I realized that there was nothing else I would rather do except coach.
ASW: Since this is an interview about *women* in coaching, let’s get into that a little. Now that you’ve had over a decade of experience under your belt as a head coach, have you noticed any differences in the way female coaches interact with players as opposed to male players?
EN: I believe there are some differences in how male and female coaches interact with their players, but at the end of the day, a good coach is a good coach no matter what the sex. I’ve had mainly male assistants outside of Paige Madera (she is awesome), who is at Grinnell College, and can tell that my players do approach us a little differently. My players do talk to me about different things that they may not necessarily feel comfortable talking to a male coach about. However, many juniors have male coaches and sometimes prefer being coached by males (that has been told to my face). The only major difference would be personal issues that female players would feel more comfortable talking to a female coach about. At the end of the day, a player should feel like the coach cares about them as a whole and will support them no matter what the sex.
ASW: That was an excellent answer, and that must be very frustrating to have players tell you outright that they prefer a different coach because of your gender! Have you experienced any other overt or subtle challenges as a female coach?
EN: I definitely had some challenges when I first started. Sadly, I still believe that it takes female coaches longer to earn respect than male coaches. A new female coach has an unfortunate stigma to deal with in the beginning. If she is tough, decisive, and honest right away, she is considered a bitch, moody, or unfair. If she is too nice, then she is considered a pushover. Males have a lot more flexibility within these two measures than females.
I started coaching at 22 and not knowing really anything. While I had enough challenges coaching my own teammates, I also had to deal with male coaches trying to push me around or assert dominance. I’ve been hit on during a match and have had some sexist and unpleasant comments said to me.
ASW: :/
EN: When I first took over at Washington and Lee, I had a male assistant. During my first couple of years, coaches would go up to my assistant right away assuming he was the head coach. Not to sound egotistical, but I was still getting mistaken as a player so 5% of me could see how that mistake was made. However, it irked me that most people would assume that a women’s team would be coached by a male. Other female coaches have had similar experiences from having male assistants. I’ve been at a tournament before with a past male assistant, and a few parents come up to us and start talking to him about the program and assume that he is the head coach. Fortunately, all my assistants have been loyal and supportive so they usually defer to me once the parent starts asking questions about the program.
I’ve been speaking to a few female coaches who are friends of mine, and we have all been sharing stories about personal experiences or even finding common microaggressions that we have all dealt with. Would you like me to share?
ASW: Yes, please! I would love to hear as many perspectives. While I am very sorry to hear about the challenges you face, I am happy to hear that you have fellow female coaches to turn to and vent, if necessary!
EN: There are a few stories we’ve been discussing, and one that has been shared is how some female players have said to their head coaches that they prefer to be coached by males because that is the type of voice they are used to from juniors. Another story shared is gaining respect at conference meetings, especially when the majority of coaches are male. In my conference of 13 teams, we have four female head coaches with two of them coaching both men and women.
I worked hard to gain respect in my conference, but in an inverse way. Our school has a lot of success within our conference (29 overall conference titles and 17 in a row). Coming in, I was immediately perceived as bitchy because W&L has always had an elitist attitude towards everyone else; almost to a point of disrespect. I worked hard to ensure that my team treated the conference with respect and that we always remain humble. To do this, I almost had to go to the extreme of being too nice which some viewed that they could take advantage of it and considered me a pushover. I was very selective in what I would compromise with, but had to find a balance between standing firm for my team and still showing that I was willing to do what is best for the conference.
Another common microaggression that has been mentioned are off-hand comments that men think is ok to say to women, but would never say anything close to it to another man. Some female coaches even face bullying and disrespect within their own athletic department.
ASW: Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and I am sorry to hear that this is part of your job. I can understand your frustration. Based on my experiences in my own profession, where off-hand comments aren’t uncommon and being a young female makes you an easy target, I know that these things can be difficult to talk about so thank you so much for being comfortable enough to share your experience.
I’ll share one — When I was in grad school, I was training under an elderly gentleman who was well-established in his field. As part of my learning he would frequently grill me and my co-student on the subject. With me, he would throw in comments like “I like a woman who is confident” or “no sweetheart, try again.” He would NEVER say things like this to my male classmate. As a 22 year old it made me feel icky but wasn’t so overtly bad that I felt like I could or should report it. Besides, that would jeopardize my grade. My female classmates and I just viewed rotating with him as “doing our time”. Keep your head down and get through it.
I don’t want to make this about me at all, but I bring this up to highlight 1) that kind of stuff unfortunately isn’t uncommon and 2) that it really can be uncomfortable talking about this subject so it’s only fair for me to throw my hat in the ring. Your answers are very relatable to me (and many of our readers) and it takes a lot of courage to even start this discussion, so thank you!
ASW: Now let’s move on to happier topics. What is your advice to young girls and women who want to pursue coaching? What do you love about it?
EN: I don’t think I necessarily have great advice for young women who want to get into coaching except to put yourself out there (apply to several jobs and someone will take a chance on you), and stay true to your values. It can be easy to doubt what you are doing when facing challenges with this job, but stay consistent in what your culture is and stay confident in who you are. Do not be afraid to stand your ground, even if it means you may come across as “bitchy, mean, or moody.” The last thing to remember is that someone else has probably gone through similar experiences, so never be afraid to reach out for help. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness (I’m the last person who should give this advice because I am terrible at asking for help).
One story I want to share is from Taylor Diffley who is the assistant at St. Lawrence University. She will be starting her third year there (graduated in 2017), and we’ve formed an awesome friendship over the past few years.
“I became interested in coaching after college for a few reasons. First was because I initially wanted to go into sports psychology, and I felt that coaching would be a ‘best of both worlds’ scenario where I could be around the sport I love while also helping my players work through the inevitable mental toughness issues many tennis players face, along with any other mental health issues. The second reason I became interested in college coaching is because of the impact my coaches had on me. I learned a lot about myself as a tennis player from all my coaches at Kenyon and University of Mary Washington, but more importantly I learned a tremendous amount about myself as a person. I got into coaching wanting to make a difference in the lives of my players and to collaborate with my players to help them become the best versions of themselves both on and off the court. The third and last reason I got into college coaching is because of my own college experience as a D3 athlete. While there were some highs and lows during my time on the court in college, including my time on court, my love and passion for tennis always remained a constant. The fire I have for this sport with never be extinguished, and I don’t think I was ready to be away from the competitive side of tennis right after graduation. Coaching gives me an outlet to remain in a competitive environment around the sport I love deeply, while also allowing me to help my players build and grow as both players and people; and that is very rewarding.”
Other accounts I have been told:
“I love it because I am not taken by a lot of things but the thrill of sports totally takes me. I’m usually very aware of what time it is but when I play or coach sports, that is the one time I lose track of time completely, and I’m so grateful for that. The other thing is that I love helping people as they transition into adulthood. College is that time where you make choices on your own, and I love helping people realize that privilege.”
“Another female coach literally brought me into it: Why I love it: Helping the athletes experience what it truly means to be on team, and supporting them as they grow throughout their time here and after! I feel lucky to have a job that I’m passionate about.”
ASW: Despite its challenges, I’m glad coaching has been such a rewarding career for you and I am so grateful to the powerful women that make D3 tennis what it is. Leave us with some pearls of wisdom.
EN: My overall view on coaching is that it doesn’t matter if you are male or female to be a good coach. Every individual out there has their own take on coaching and what their personal coaching style is. Some of my closest friends in the coaching world are male, and I learn just as much from them as other female coaches I am close with. My mission with doing this article is to hopefully inspire more females to get into coaching and to realize that females can be just as successful if not more so as their males counterparts. If you look at the top 25 schools in D3, about half are coached by women. I strongly believe we do need more female coaches in every sport, and hope that young women will see coaching as a viable option.
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HUGE thank you to Erin Ness for dedicating her time to this interview and giving us a glimpse of all sides of being a female coach! If you didn’t know already, she is a gem of a human being.
This interview was really fun but also a great time for me to reflect on my biases! I mentioned in the introduction that my gut reaction to coaching was that it’s a man’s job. In juniors, I always had male coaches, and I had both a male and female head coach in college (transfer student). As much as I hate to admit it, I think I was guilty of reacting differently to the same behaviors from my male and female coach! I was certainly more accepting of aggressive words and behavior from my male coach and had much more negative reactions to the same behavior from my female coach. For example, if both said a comment like “move your feet, holy crap how much did you eat”, I would think that the male coach made a mean comment as opposed to the female coach being a mean person. Did that make sense? I guess I was adding to that list of challenges that women coaches face. My bad!
On that topic, Coach Ness recently shared this article with me about gender stereotypes in coaching. It’s a great read: https://theconversation.com/the-war-on-women-coaches-116643.
Let us know what you think in the comments! How do YOU think we should get more women into coaching? Why do you love coaching? What about the negative stereotypes that men face as coaches? Anyone else in the audience want to share a time they experienced subtle or not-so-subtle biases against them? What about times where you were the one with the bias?
If you are a female coach that wants to share your story on the blog, or if you want to give us your thoughts on the subject in a less public forum, feel free to email me or any of the other bloggers! My email is d3asouthwomens@gmail.com.
-ASW
Erin Ness is a rock star!!!
Fantastic article – thanks so much!