I’ve met several men who believe their success in coaching women’s teams is because of their unique understanding of female athletes.
It’s utter bullshit.
What makes coaches of female athletes successful?
The same thing that makes coaches of male athletes successful.
Take, as an example, Sarina Wiegman, the manager of England’s national women’s soccer team. Less than a year after she arrived, England won the 2022 UEFA championship, their first major international trophy in 56 years. It was the second Euros trophy in a row for Wiegman, who managed her native Netherlands to the 2017 title.
What’s her secret?
“She is a special person and puts us first as human beings,” said Leah Williamson, the England defender and team captain.
That assessment sharply contrasts with descriptions of despicable coaches/predators women have had to endure in the National Women’s Soccer League, where a damning 371-page report this week by former U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates documented rampant and persistent sexual assault and abuse of players perpetrated by male coaches and covered up by league executives.
The report is horrifying not just in the details of the sexual predation and abuse, but also in the cavalier attitude by league officials, team owners, coaches, and managers.
“Our investigation has revealed a league in which abuse and misconduct—verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct—had become systemic, spanning multiple teams, coaches, and victims. Abuse in the NWSL is rooted in a deeper culture in women’s soccer, beginning in youth leagues, that normalizes verbally abusive coaching and blurs boundaries between coaches and players. The verbal and emotional abuse players describe in the NWSL is not merely “tough” coaching,” Yates wrote.
Report of the Independent Investigation to the U.S. Soccer Federation Concerning Allegations of Abusive Behavior and Sexual Misconduct in Women’s Professional Soccer
“In well over 200 interviews, we heard report after report of relentless, degrading tirades; manipulation that was about power, not improving performance; and retaliation against those who attempted to come forward. Even more disturbing were the stories of sexual misconduct. Players described a pattern of sexually charged comments, unwanted sexual advances and sexual touching, and coercive sexual intercourse.”
The fall out from the report has been tepid — even with the Portland Thorns, where the reported documented multiple and repeated offenses by owners, executives and coaches.
Thorns owner Merritt Paulson said in a statement he was stepping away from a decision making role but did not say he would sell the team. \
The report shows Paulson protected former Thorns coach Paul Riley after two Thorns players complained of harassment and sexual coercion. Riley’s contract was not renewed, without explanation, but Thorns executives vouched for Riley with he Western New York Flash. General Manager Gavin Wilkinson told a Flash executive “he felt Paul ‘was put in a bad position by (a) player’ and he ‘would hire him in a heartbeat.’”
The reported also documented abuses by Thorns president Mike Golub, who asked Thorns Coach Cindy Parlow Cone, a national team star who led the Thorns to an NWSL championship, “What’s on your bucket list besides sleeping with me?”
The Thorns declined to make Golub available for an interview with Yates and generally tried to obstruct the investigation.
The NWSL’s response has been to issue a statement and refer to its own internal investigation, which is not yet public. So far, no one has been fired; no owner barred from the league.
“As the League continues to evaluate the Yates report, I want to assure you that we remain committed to implementing reform and disciplinary action,” NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said in a written response to the report.
It’s not enough.
In the end, women sports must turn to coaches like Wiegman, who see female athletes not as women but as human beings.