Men Coaching Field Hockey?

As long as one lives in the USA, and not anywhere else in the entire world, one sees that there is only one sport exclusive to women:  field hockey.

Once upon a time other sports were the exclusive domain of men.  Along came Title Nine and the world changed.  Or, rather we thought it changed.

This morning I came across an old blog from a woman who has coached ice hockey questioning what gives a man the right to coach women's field hockey.  Well, the same right she has, perhaps?

Men have been playing field hockey in the USA since the tail end of the nineteenth century, more invisibly as not.  This lack of visibility and lack of scholastic teams for guys have helped support the myth that field hockey is territory exclusive to females.  At some bygone time ice hockey was known as Boys hockey and field hockey was called Girls hockey.
Pink and blue sports are an antiquated notion.

Field hockey does need both men and women, as players, as coaches, as umpires, as promoters, as everything else.  Take a good look at the most successful NCAA Division I field hockey programs and you will notice the diversity of the coaching and support staffs.
Strong programs are built with the strongest building blocks: diverse individuals with special knowledge, skills, and talents.

Men with international field hockey experience have played a role in the success of those teams who are prominent in NCAA Division I.  It is a smart use of talents and diversity, not a gender issue.  The top programs in the USA hire their coaches from the ranks of women who have competed on an elite, international level.

 Steve Jennings, shown above, happens to coach at American University.
Marcia Pankratz, to the left, is head coach at Michigan. Both were members of USA National teams with considerable international experience.




Ask either coach if they coach alone.

This is genius level hockey.