Coaching Different Players: Age and Gender

Deb coaches all kinds of players from the T-ball division to adults. Sometimes she coaches more then one age group in one day. She has to be able to make that transition and be prepared for which age group she is working with. “With the little kids it’s did you go to the bathroom, did you tie your shoes? With the older kids it’s did you stretch, is your head in the game?”

Deb also explains the interesting things with which some of the girls try to get away: “I have girls that go to the beach during the day and they come to the field with their bikini tops on underneath their uniform. For anyone who has played sports you know, you cannot play a sport where you have to run around the bases in a bikini top.”

She also has had a chance to coach boys as well as girls. Most people wonder if there is a difference between coaching boys or girls. “You have to deal with what they are talking about; guys are talking about totally different things than girls do. Basically the guys talk about girls and the girls are talking about guys.”

She also remarked about the physical difference between boys and girls. “The human body is what it is and guys will most often have the advantage… I can attest to the strength difference. I was taken aback the first time I caught for a guy at the United States Scholar Athlete Games. It was a big difference in speed.”

Deb explained she found the guys she coached to be more superstitious than the girls. Also, camaraderie and competitiveness are very different between the two groups. “Guys are more competitive. You will see a lot more camaraderie with girls. You won’t see that with the guys. Guys are part of a team, but they are there to get more playing time than the other guys sitting next to them.”

As far as how the guys liked being coached by two women, Deb admitted that it was not too bad. “I think kids are being raised now and see women in all kinds of roles. I don’t think it is a shock for them anymore.”

But in the end, “It’s really not that different. It’s baseball.”