Coaching study raises questions

A study and research paper by Mike Sagas, a doctoral student at Texas A&M University, College Station, offers a new -- and possibly controversial -- explanation for the lack of women in head coaching positions: lack of interest in pursuing such positions.

For the study, which will be published in The Journal of Sport Management and which recently won acclaim from the North American Society for Sport Management, Sagas surveyed nearly 200 college coaches from the Big 12, Pacific-10, Big East, Big Ten, Western Athletic, Mountain West and Atlantic Coast Conferences.

Sagas found that the number of female head coaches in women's sports is at its lowest level in history: down from 90 percent in 1972 to a current level of 45 percent.

Sagas said he also found that many women do not apply for head coaching positions. About 35 percent of male assistant coaches surveyed had applied at least once for a head coaching position, compared to just 15 percent of female assistant coaches.

"For a variety of reasons, women don't become head coaches, but the main reason is they don't desire to be one," Sagas said. "The study also showed that most women intend to leave the coaching profession at an earlier age than men. They are pretty much content to be an assistant coach and stay right where they are."

Sagas also noted that he believed women tend to be more loyal to their current head coach or to the college that employs them and for those reasons, "they tend to feel obligated to remain in their current role as an assistant coach."

Sagas also said that a commonly held belief that women do not want to be head coaches because of family concerns did not hold up in his study. Only 17 percent of the women who responded to the poll were married.

The two most common responses women offered for not pursuing a head coaching job were not wanting the responsibility and pressure of being a head coach and a belief that the increased stress of the head coaching position was not worth it.

Sagas said the idea for the study came from his wife, Alison, who is an assistant softball coach at Texas A&M. He had asked her several times if she wanted to be a head coach and she told him no, and she also asserted that many other women felt the same way.

"The (study's) findings were surprising to say the least," Sagas said. "Previous research has not indicated that women have less desire to coach than men."

For more information about the study, contact Keith Randall at the Texas A&M office of university relations at 979/845-4644.

It's Huntsville, not Hitsville

Pitchers at the University of Alabama, Huntsville, were hard to beat on April 22. Two Chargers pitchers -- in two different sports -- threw no-hitters that day.

Sophomore Matt Jansen threw the second no-hitter in Alabama-Huntsville baseball history within a
seven-inning game against the State University of West Georgia. The 14-0 win clinched the Chargers' third consecutive berth in the Gulf South Conference tournament. Jansen faced 24 batters, striking out six and walking two.

Across town, junior Lane Davis pitched a perfect game against Athens State University for the Chargers' softball team. Davis faced 21 batters in the 5-0 defeat of the Bears, striking out 14. That no-hitter was the second Davis had thrown during that week for the Chargers. The other came April 17 over the University of North Alabama. It also was Davis' third no-hitter of the year and second perfect game.

Stressed out?

It's no secret that intercollegiate athletics can be stressful -- for student-athletes, coaches and athletics administrators alike. A new book written by individuals active in athletics, "Stress in College Athletics: Causes, Consequences, Coping," aims to address the issue.

The book reviews the causes and consequences of stress in intercollegiate athletics as well as the coping mechanisms that are effective for stress management in the athletics environment.

Authors are Deborah A. Yow, director of athletics at the University of Maryland, College Park; James H. Humphrey, professor emeritus at Maryland and author of "Stress in Coaching," as well as other books on stress; and William W. Bowden, founder and president of Strategic Management Consultants, a firm that has worked with dozens of universities and organizations on management challenges unique to athletics.

For more information or to obtain a copy of the book, contact The Haworth Press
at 800/429-6784 or see the Web site at www.haworthpressinc.com.

-- Compiled by Kay Hawes

Looking back

5 years ago: The NCAA announces that its Woman of the Year banquet will move from Washington, D.C., to Kansas City, Missouri, effective with the 1995 event. The awards dinner also will be held on Sunday for the first time rather than on a Monday, as has been traditional. The dinner has been held in Washington, D.C., since its inception in 1991. (The NCAA News, July 5, 1995)

10 years ago: In light of the Association's recent $1 billion contract with CBS, the Executive Committee's Budget Subcommittee is recommending two distribution formulas, one based on a conference's performance over the past six years in the Division I Men's Basketball Championship, and the other based on schools' sports sponsorship and grants-in-aid. Distributions for 1991 are expected to double the $36.5 million sent to tournament participants in 1990. (The NCAA News, July 18, 1990)

15 years ago: Delegates at the NCAA's fifth special Convention support 12 reform initiatives proposed by Association presidents. Among them is a required self-study of athletics programs, revisions in the NCAA's enforcement program and playing-season restrictions. CEOs also propose tighter control over institutional budgets. NCAA Presidents Commission Chair John Ryan, president of Indiana University, Bloomington, opens the Convention by saying that presidents believe there is an "integrity crisis" in college athletics. (The NCAA News, July 3, 1985)