As a longtime soccer player and the former president of the Harvard Soccer Club, I read with keen interest Hugh Silk’s recent column challenging parents, town sports program volunteers, and anyone else to whom the message resonated, to help increase the number of female coaches in town (see “Consider This,” Sept. 11). I’m hopeful that the call to action will result in more volunteers to lend a hand to town sports, be it the soccer club, youth Little League, lacrosse, basketball, or other programs. I agree with Hugh’s points on the impact that female coaches can make on our young athletes, both male and female.
I never had a female coach until I got to college, but admittedly that was a different time. I think it is important for boys and girls to have female coaches on the sidelines, and I am thrilled at the number of women who currently volunteer for Harvard Soccer Club. When I first started coaching, it was highly unusual to see another woman on the sidelines in town or even when my boys started travel soccer. While I agree with Hugh that the presence of women there is still far less common than it should be, I think we are making steps in the right direction.
Addressing the isssue
I have been involved with the board of the Harvard Soccer Club for close to eight years and recently stepped down as president. I still sit on the board, and I want to illuminate some actions the club has taken to address some of the issues that Hugh highlighted and the positive results we’ve seen. Hopefully sharing our actions and their early results will shed light on any misconceptions that exist regarding town sports and provide further encouragement and assurance to women coaching candidates in town:
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The club sponsors professional coaches to provide an easy on-ramp for any parent to get involved as a coach at the youngest (under 6) age bracket. To quote a recent club email sent to all parents with children in this bracket:
“If you don’t have any experience, even better! At this age group, soccer is all about fun activities with a soccer ball, and those that have not played before are just as qualified as those that have.
“We also have professional coaches ‘coach the coaches’ each morning prior to the practice and game sessions, so you don’t need any experience or preparation …” - The club provides reimbursement for professional coaching classes provided by MYSA (Massachusetts Youth Soccer Association) and NSCAA (National Soccer Coaches Association of America). These courses are available online and in person, depending on the level of the course and the organization.
- Last season (ending spring 2015), 20 percent of the club’s coaches were female. This season, which began in earnest this past Saturday, 24 percent of its coaches were female. We attribute the increase in part to the survey Hugh cited, which raised awareness of our desire to increase our numbers of female coaches.
- These data tell only part of the story; the club strives to have a female among its two professional coaches supporting young athletes. In each of the last two seasons, one of the two professional coaches has been female, providing an estimated 70-plus percent of the club’s teams with a female role model at games or practices.
- Undoubtedly, our proportion of female coaches could improve; it’s beyond the 11 percent that Hugh cited but still not representative of the population and where the club would like to be.
New volunteers welcome
The volunteers of the soccer club are contributing their nights, weekends, and spare hours to the club because we see the positive impact it has on our young athletes. We are always striving to improve the town soccer experience, and we welcome new volunteers with ideas and passion to help deliver on them. Please join us at a board meeting, which generally happens on the second Sunday of each month (check www.harvardsoccer.org for the latest schedule). Alternatively, feel free to email the board at board@harvardsoccer.org if you are interested in helping
Rika Stevenson is a former president and current member of the board of the Harvard Soccer Club.
