T<\/span>here\u2019s no arguing that it\u2019s an exciting time for ladies\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n Earlier this yr, the FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup saw record-breaking attendance numbers<\/a>\u2014and a record-breaking variety of goals scored<\/a>. The recognition of each the Women\u2019s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and National Women\u2019s Soccer League (NWSL) appear to be reaching a fever pitch. Ultrarunner Courtney Dauwalter had even non-runners watching in awe via social media as she won three iconic 100-plus mile races<\/a> in only 10 weeks this summer. And just a number of weeks ago, the University of Nebraska volleyball team played a match in a football stadium and filled it to the brim<\/a>, setting the world record for attendance at a women\u2019s sporting event.<\/p>\n But to be someone who cares about women\u2019s sports is to be consistently celebrating these victories while lamenting how far we still need to go<\/a>. WNBA<\/a> and NWSL<\/a> players, as an example, still make a fraction of the salaries their NBA and MLS counterparts bring home, and women\u2019s sports stories make up only 4 percent of media coverage<\/a>. But what\u2019s perhaps most alarming is that girls still drop out of sports at double the speed of boys by age 14, in line with the Women\u2019s Sports Foundation<\/a> (WSF). Those girls aren\u2019t just missing out on the fun of sport, or the possibility for faculty scholarships or a profession as an athlete; playing sports can be related to raised body image and self-confidence, higher levels of family satisfaction, higher health outcomes and life skills like teamwork and leadership, WSF reports.<\/p>\n Related Stories<\/span> <\/p>\n <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/related-content> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n A number of the most typical barriers to sports for women are obvious: The shortage of opportunities, social stigma, fewer role models. But one which it’s possible you’ll not guess? The dearth of excellent coaches\u2014and specifically coaches who’ve been specifically trained to maintain girls in the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cA coach could make or break you, especially for ladies,\u201d says Mariana Lopa<\/a>, the managing director of Girls Got Game<\/a>, a Filipino nonprofit that goals to empower young women through sport by surrounding them with powerful female coaches and role models. I met Lopa on a recent visit to Manila with Nike, as a part of their work to extend girls\u2019 access to sports\u2014each by providing them with more spaces to play, and higher coaches to facilitate that play.<\/p>\n The Philippines has a fervor for basketball, to say the least<\/a>, and yet, there isn’t a skilled women\u2019s league, and at neighborhood courts where local stars are born, women and girls are sometimes either implicitly or explicitly unwelcome, or forced out.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are such a lot of courts within the Philippines\u2014problem is, everyone likes to play basketball,\u201d says Lopa. \u201cSo to get time on the court, my experience was that I needed to be there right after lunch, or else the boys would arrive after school, and also you get eased out.\u201d Other players I spoke to said it\u2019s common for women and girls to reach on the courts on the break of day simply to get some playing time in.<\/p>\n Nike\u2019s answer to this problem? The Courtyard<\/a>, an epic, colourful space in certainly one of Manila\u2019s most vibrant neighborhoods featuring two and a half courts made from recycled Nike sneakers. The Courtyard is home to a program called Her Hoops, dedicated time where only women and girls are allowed on the court. \u201cFor Nike to create The Courtyard and have specific hours for women is big, because no person can interrupt our playing time,\u201d says Lopa. Nike can be working with Girls Got Game to run free basketball camps for women of all ages on the Courtyard, because you’ll be able to give girls free reign of the court, but without supportive coaches to foster their skills and love of the sport, they\u2019ll still be left at an obstacle.<\/p>\n After all, it isn\u2019t just within the Philippines that girls deserve more from their coaches: Nike\u2019s recently-published Coaching Girls Guide<\/a>, created in partnership with the Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport<\/a>, lays out guidelines intended to maintain girls playing sports, and has already been used to coach greater than 17,000 coaches worldwide. Here\u2019s what I learned about coaching girls from the guide and from my time at The Courtyard.<\/p>\n Once we say that girls need something different from their coaches, we run the chance of perpetuating dangerous stereotypes about girls and sport, like that they aren\u2019t as naturally gifted as boys, so that they need more help, or that they\u2019re by some means delicate or overly-sensitive, and should be coddled.<\/p>\n These stereotypes usually are not true. But, the incontrovertible fact that they still exist speaks to why so many ladies drop out of sports in the primary place. Even coaches with the perfect intentions may unintentionally send the unsuitable message. What girls actually <\/em>need are coaches who actively resist these ideas by specializing in girls\u2019 talents and skills, and showing them how physically and mentally strong they really are.<\/p>\n When coaches are intentional about modeling that girls belong in sport just as much as boys, they’ll make a robust impact, especially on young players who haven\u2019t yet digested as much stigma. \u201cWith these girls, it\u2019s fresh\u2014they don’t have any preconceived notions of what basketball is,\u201d says L.A. Mumar,<\/a> coach of certainly one of the Philippines\u2019 top women\u2019s college basketball programs at Ateneo de Manila University<\/a>. \u201cThey think, that is normal, I can play ball.\u201d<\/p>\n Because girls aren\u2019t all the time supported of their love of sports in the way in which that boys are, personal connections between coaches and players are all-the-more essential, Nike points out in its guide. Lopa says that, in her experience, this looks like understanding that girls often bring their whole selves to practice. \u201cWhen you will have a coach that has a superb enough relationship to the player, they’ll say, Hey, I do know you\u2019re going through this, but can I even have your attention for 40 minutes?<\/em>\u201d she says. \u201cAfter which after 40 minutes, let\u2019s discuss it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWithout intending to, we’re all liable for perpetuating a culture of masculinity in sport through language,\u201d reads Nike\u2019s Coaching Girls Guide. It could appear obvious or unimportant, but even referring to women as \u201cguys\u201d can feel unwelcoming. (One study cited by Nike found that in a classroom where teachers called all the scholars \u201cguys,\u201d girls were significantly less more likely to raise their hands because they thought the teacher wasn\u2019t talking to them.) Name-dropping women\u2019s skilled teams and role models across the gender spectrum can be key, in line with Nike.<\/p>\n \u201cIt makes girls feel more comfortable,\u201d says Lopa, who recurrently uses Nike\u2019s guide to coach Girls Got Game coaches. \u201cIt makes them feel like, oh, this program is specifically for me. And I\u2019m gonna keep wanting to return.\u201d<\/p>\n In the USA, girls who love sports can dream of a profession in a professional league just like the WNBA or the NWSL. Yet even then, they\u2019re unlikely to make enough money for it to be their full-time job. In lots of countries just like the Philippines, even that\u2019s not an option. \u201cIt\u2019s really easy for women to quit because there\u2019s nothing to look ahead to,\u201d says Lopa. \u201cIt\u2019s really easy to say\u2014I\u2019m done, I\u2019m just going to check.\u201d<\/p>\n With athletes who cannot dream of becoming the following Lebron James in the way in which that boys can, girls\u2019 coaches must work twice as hard to maintain girls playing\u2014and to reveal the numerous advantages of staying in sports that don’t have anything to do with someday making it as a professional.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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\n![\"Girls](\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0G4A3330-600x400_falsexfalse_true_70.webp\")
It\u2019s key to grasp *why* girls need what they need from their coaches<\/h2>\n
Girls bring their full selves to sport<\/h2>\n
![\"Girls](\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/0G4A3396_falsexfalse_true_70.webp\")
Language matters<\/h2>\n
The stakes are different for women<\/h2>\n