Podcasts

45:26 minutes (41.6 MB)

When we invited Shannon Garrett, the Great Lakes Regional Director of The White House Project to do a presentation for the young women at our coaches camp, and to join us for a podcast conversation, we expected to discuss the many challenges that women triumph over in running for political office.

The White House Project directs its own camps and leadership programs for women interested in learning, not about leading their own team, but about managing their own political campaigns. We learned from Shannon not only about how women can win elections.

Shannon's commitment to The White House Project reminds us of our role in debunking common myths about women in all leadership positions, from sport to politics.

Of the many myths still circulating, the most troubling one is this: Americans believe gender inequities no longer exist in political leadership. After all, they see women in political leadership roles alot...or at least enough...in their minds. Look at Hillary Clinton, the current Secretary of State; Sarah Palin, 2008 Vice Presidential candidate; and Jennifer Granholm, Michigan's current governor.

This is true in sport too. Yes, there are large numbers of girls who play sport. Just as there are large numbers of women who vote. But a critical mass of women in coaching and in political leadership? We can't just see and assume that women now count. We have to actually count them. And the numbers of women in sport leadership and the numbers of women in political office remain disturbingly low.

The White House Project and The Academy for Sport Leadership may have different coaches. We may run in different races. We are definitely, however, on the same side and playing in the same game.

And we plan to help each other win and lead together.

39:09 minutes (35.85 MB)

Mary Ziola, in our opinion, has several full-time roles: as a wife, and mom of two middle schoolers; in her work as a nurse practitioner; and in her sport, as a seasoned marathon runner who continues to earn personal bests and medals in distance running races.

This means that her free time is also on the run. And what has she chosen to do with it? She is a youth coach. As Mary tells us, she started out as a rec league soccer coach, and is currently the middle school cross country coach at University Preparatory School in Redding, California where she now lives.

Coach Ziola likens her first coaching experience to parenting. She thinks that women, and moms especially, need to overcome their fears; open up the how-to manuals on teaching a sport to beginners and have the confidence to join the ranks of youth coaching.

And for this reason alone, Mary should receive a medal, based on her own confidence in her ability to coach a sport she did not play and knew little about. As Mary points out, she "grew with her kids,"and like her athletes, worked on her skills and knowledge to reach the next level of achievement. Or as Mary offers about her own competitive racing experience:

"Start Out Slow and Leave Something For the End."

We believe that Mary's inspirational mantra best describes what all rookie coaches should strive for as they gain confidence and "grow" into the coaching profession.

 

 

 

54:00 minutes (49.45 MB)

Andrea Bernardini is an Assistant Girls' Basketball Coach at Lansing Eastern High School, and a current player with the Flint Flames, a semi-professional basketball team. Andrea recently talked with us at TASL about what she thinks is most important for rookies coaches to know.

Whether it's providing information on nutrition or establishing a points system to track the skill levels of her players, Coach Bernardini always came back to one recommendation:

Make sure that if you are going to coach--you do it for the right reasons.

Now this might sound obvious. But....Andrea wisely reminded us that coaching can be a "thankless job." What with its time demands, low pay, and the conflicting goals of athletes, parents, athletic directors, teachers, just to name a few, coaching sometimes seems not worth the trouble.

But...we also have Andrea to be thankful for, and that someone like her is so committed to coaching. Because we spent the rest of our time together talking about why these professional challenges are ALL well worth the trouble. And then some.

Think about it. There are not many professions where, as Andrea enthusiastically tells us, your main responsibilities are so beneficial. In coaching you mostly get to shout for kids, not at them. To her, coaches should first and always be in the game for the kids. After all, coaches not only get to teach kids to practice and perfect their own unique skills. They have the opportunity to develop the confidence and build the self-worth of every player for the game, and potentially for other roles in life.

And that is exactly what Andrea aspires to do in her own coaching.

We can see why it is that rookie coaches can't get enough of coaching, and finally, why so many coaches want to stay in the field to become veterans. Just like Andrea Bernardini.

48:22 minutes (44.29 MB)

Jamie Fisher Wilhite, a middle and upper school teacher and coach of three girls' teams at The Rowland Hall School in Salt Lake City, Utah may be a younger veteran. But Coach Wilhite has had several years of training and experience, first as a multisport athlete and then in a variety of coaching positions at all levels, in sports ranging from downhill skiing to basketball.

Jamie was also a rookie coach. And she remembers the challenges she faced. And what she found out about coaching as a first-timer.

In this podcast, Jamie reveals what she believes is essential for rookie coaches to learn, including what acting professionally means and why new coaches should not compromise their standards in the face of pressures from athletes and their families.

Jamie Fisher Wilhite is a young veteran to watch. Her advice, we found out is not just for rookie coaches. She offers wise advice for all coaches.

50:12 minutes (22.98 MB)

Coaches are better educated today about injuries and risk. Many high school coaches also have certified athletic trainers on the sidelines. Even so, that doesn't mean they should become complacent about their knowledge or turn over medical decisions to trainers when their athletes get injured.

In TASL's second Healthy Coaching podcast, we talked with Dr. Kerin Jones, an Emergency Room physician and TASL board member, about what coaches need to know to keep current with new knowledge about injuries, and why it is important to pay attention to possible differences between girls and boys in the types of injuries they get on the field and in the sports they play.

Whenever gender differences in injuries come up, well-educated and health-minded coaches tend to point to the high number of ACL tears in girls' knees---that prevent them from moving. Dr. Jones wants coaches to look more carefully at the increasing number of concussions affecting girls' heads---that prevent them from thinking.

48:24 minutes (33.23 MB)

Barack Obama likes athletics. He rarely misses his routine workouts at the gym. He likes to play golf and soon he will be playing his beloved game of basketball with the players, Senators and Representatives, a few of them women, who routinely go to the Supreme Court, which houses a well-worn basketball court on the 5th floor. It is affectionately known as "the Highest Court in the Land."

Obama has even weighed in on sport policy. He told reporters on "60 Minutes"  a few months ago that he favored a college football playoff to the current and much maligned Bowl Championship Series.

We hope President Obama will also take the time to express his views on women's sports issues and on national policy options that favorably impact the opportunities for women not only to play, but to lead on the court and to govern sports' highest courts off it.

But that is not enough. State leadership is essential to get women on the track to sport leadership success.

Please join us, then, by listening in to our series of conversations with Meg Seng, President of The Academy of Sport Leadership, on the policies that most matter to women in offering a real chance to take leadership roles now and as the next four years unfolds.

This is the first in TASL's four part podcast series, Playing and Leading: Conversations on Policy in Women's Sport.

Please let us know how you think Michigan can lead the way in offering women the chance to govern sport.

And give your advice to President Obama. We may well need a football playoff system. But, more importantly, we need new energy and a renewed commitment to women's sport opportunities at the level of the highest courts and counsels of the land.

 

 

 

52:22 minutes (23.98 MB)

Yes, we know. It's the holiday season. The temptations to eat too much and skip the exercise are everywhere. And coaches can sometimes be their own worst enemies. They lead stressful lives, often eating on the run and stopping with their teams in 'food deserts'...places in Michigan cities with few restaurants or food stores offering a choice of healthy foods.

And while many coaches remain fit, there are coaches who are...not just big-boned, portly or heavy set. They are obese.

Make a resolution for the new year Michigan coaches. Ok, forget the resolution to get active and exercise... for now.

Instead, listen in to a conversation with Academy Board member, Ann Carney, a former elementary school nurse for the Ann Arbor Schools and longtime advocate of exercise programs and good nutrition, Jeanine DeLay, an Academy Board member who likes to exercise....and our star and featured guest...Katie Skala.

Katie currently works for Allegiance Health Care System in Jackson County as a Community Health Coordinator. Equally important, Katie has just completed a study for her graduate degree on ways P.E. teachers and school districts can create an environment for their students that tranforms their exercise routines and their diets. For the better.

Notably, Katie's study was conducted, not in Michigan, but in Texas. So, what can we learn from our colleagues in the Lone Star state to improve, and even change our current Michigan Model for Health, to get Michigan kids moving again?

And further, because coaches and P.E. teachers do not often have the same goals, how can these two groups better communicate to improve the health of their athletes and their students?

Katie Skala has the data, the evidence and the ideas to begin working on this critical issue of getting our kids to learn about good nutrition and to get moving. We are very glad Katie has come back to Michigan!