The coaches at this year’s Basketball World Cup are former players or have always been on the sidelines. They wear the association’s shirt or a suit. They are loud or rather quiet. But everyone, down to the last assistant coach, is one thing: men.
This is nothing new. Australia’s Liz Mills is the first woman to coach a men’s national team at continental championship level. In 2021 she led Kenya to the Afrobasket. Your team won and narrowly missed out on reaching the quarter-finals.
Even though she managed to get the job, she talks about the obstacles that stood in her way as a woman: “The narrative we hear from day one is: As a woman, I can coach girls and boys, especially girls and women. The idea of coaching a men’s team doesn’t pop into your head, let alone to potential employers .”
Female coaching style?
Scientific research shows that the position of trainer is the one where there is the least equality. There are many reasons for this, including women being considered less competent. But nothing changes because there are no role models.
Liz Mills disagrees with the competency argument. She points to studies that show female trainers have higher emotional intelligence. Since coaching primarily takes place on a relationship level, this is a big advantage.
Emotions are generally a big issue among women who train teams. While male colleagues smash tactics boards in anger or yell at players, and those around them see this as part of the job, female coaches are often immediately labeled as too emotional.
Lack of prospects for women
The lack of women on the sidelines has not gone unnoticed by the world association FIBA. The topic of “Women in Basketball” is addressed as one of the three central strategic goals. This involves players, referees and coaches. The latter make up only eleven percent of the members of the association of the best basketball coaches in the world.
Liz Mills says the state associations also have a responsibility. But these are primarily ruled by men. As long as they dominate leadership positions, women’s opportunities will not be a priority, says Mills. In addition, more perspectives would have to be created. It’s not enough to offer seminars for trainers, it’s also about what opportunities they have afterwards.
Mills criticizes FIBA
Coach Mills also sees FIBA’s turn here. It must hold its member associations accountable, including with quotas at various levels. Such a regulation already existed at the U19 World Cup. However, this was circumvented by, for example, registering physiotherapists as assistant trainers. Something like this must be prevented.
Mills herself wants to be the first female head coach to lead a team at the upcoming World Cup in Qatar. Until then, she will never tire of pointing out how few women are on the sidelines at every basketball tournament.