|
Thirty years after the enactment of Title IX, the law mandating equal opportunities for males and females in education, there still seems to be a preponderance of males coaching female athletes, not just at the high school level, but at the collegiate level as well. This holds true throughout the Cedar Valley. 
A coach can be not just a coach, but a teacher, mentor, friend and even perhaps a father figure all at the same time. For a coach in an opposite-gender sport it can be tricky to try to connect with the athlete while keeping the appropriate distance. However, four local men coaching women’s sports agree that there is something special about the opportunity provided them.
“I always thought I was going to coach baseball,” said former University of Northern Iowa (UNI) women’s basketball coach Tony DiCecco. He spent 12 years at UNI, six years at Creighton as an assistant, 16 years at Montezuma High School, and two years as an assistant at West Central of Maynard. He also was head softball coach at Maynard and Montezuma, served as director of all junior high school girls’ sports at Maynard, and was an assistant baseball coach for three summers.
“I had the great opportunity and unbelievable fortune in coaching women’s sports and I absolutely fell in love with it. I found the dedication of the female athlete to be unbelievable. They were so driven, had such passion for what they did. I didn’t find boys and men to have that to the same degree,” he said.
Dr. Anthony Pappas has been coaching girls’ basketball at Waterloo West High School for the past 30 years. Prior to that, he served two years at Mallard and one at North High of West Union. He also coached boys track at Mallard, baseball during the summer and has worked with friends’ sons in basketball. He too wanted to be a boys coach but was encouraged to accept a girls’ coaching position early in his career, which he prefers today because “I’ve got that background, that knowledge, that network system, which helps me place (my players) and get them to a higher level.”
All coaches face pressure to succeed and conduct themselves professionally when the lights are on. Males coaching females face other challenges, however, such as how to devote so much time to a student-athlete, to be there for them in good and bad times, while at the same time maintaining the appropriate distance?
“It is important to remain professional regardless of who you coach,” said Bob Amsberry, Wartburg College’s head women’s basketball coach currently in his fourth season. He also coached men’s golf and women’s basketball at Rockford College and has coached youth baseball. “Student-athletes need communication and it is important to use good judgment in any interactions.
“Coaching is about building relationships and setting and meeting expectations and in that regard it is pretty similar (to coaching men). I have found that players want to be challenged, regardless of gender. The way I challenge each individual may be different, but isn’t really gender based, it is personality based. However, females generally seem to value relationships more than males.”
Dr. Pappas agrees. “Males’ motivation is achievement motivation,” he said, “where females’ motivation tends to be more from a socialistic viewpoint – they want to go and be part of a group. Girls want to be with their friends. Off the court we spend a lot of time together as a team – have fun, do community service. Males probably don’t do as much off-the-court stuff.
“I don’t, however, coach females on the floor, I coach people. I develop a knowledge of the person I’m coaching. I have to know what motivates them, how far I can push them, how much I can get on them.”
DiCecco and wife Kristi are childless but always have treated the teams as part of their family. “I had 15 kids every single year,” he said. “We’d fix food for them. Kristi was always around, she traveled with us. No question she considered herself a second mom. They believed in her a lot.”
Fourth-year Columbus High School girls’ soccer coach, Jose Infante, says he always has treated his female athletes as he would want his own daughters treated – “with respect”. He also finds that he needs to “take into account not just the sport or the athlete, but the entire person”.
DiCecco says he was always conscious of where he and the players were and who they were with. “We had great chaperones at Montezuma,” he said. “In high school we always had a female chaperone, and always female assistants in college. Gender was never an issue. We always understood the separation.”
Dr. Pappas also spoke of the importance of having good female assistants and spoke highly of current assistant Blair Baldwin, just four years older than the West players.
“Blair has developed a mature relationship with (the players),” Dr. Pappas said. “They can talk to her, but they can also talk to me. Depends upon the problem. I might have to come down hard on them. She knows it’s her job to maybe pick them back up.
“Having a female assistant has its advantages. She can be in the locker room, she can take care of other female problems that I don’t really want to deal with. She’s a good role model, they like her. She’s athletic, she’s fit, she’s smart, she’s young.”
Infante also finds togetherness with his female athletes important. During the season, the team gathers for a dinner the night before each home match, usually at a parents’ house. Columbus is a catholic school, and the team tries to gather together for worship on at least one Sunday for Mass. He feels these activities build team spirit as well as spirituality.
Having parents involved is important. “The best athletic programs have parents that play an active role in supporting team activities,” the team’s soccer brochure says. “Parents will share in the fellowship of a great Christian community at Columbus High School.”
Infante also works within the guidelines of Virtus (brand name that identifies best practices programs designed to help prevent wrongdoing and promote “rightdoing” within religious organizations) training. It was created by the National Catholic Risk Retention Group, Inc. Derived from Latin, it means valor, moral strength, excellence and worth.
“Cedar Valley Catholic Schools, as well as the Dubuque Archdiocese, utilize Virtus training and ongoing certification,” Infante said. “I am required, as an employee, to abide by all of the guidelines of this program.”
Amsberry says he doesn’t have a real preference in which gender he coaches. “I just really enjoy working with young people and challenging them to be better athletes, teammates and better people overall. Communication and professionalism are key.”
“You have to develop a reputation where you separate yourself professionally,” Dr. Pappas added. “I’m much older now. If you’re a young male just starting out, if you’re in a gym by yourself with a young athlete, you’re putting yourself in a position in this day and age. No, I’m not going to have (individuals) over to my house. I always try to dress and speak appropriately. Surround yourself with good people, hopefully some good females. That’s a plus.”
DiCecco agrees. “You have to be extremely careful with your body language – how you’re going to get your point across, how you’re going to motivate them, how you’re going to praise them, how you’re going to discipline them. I just took into account I was going to deal with a little bit more of an emotional individual than on the men’s side.”
|
