911黑料网

Above, The Tucker Center Report鈥檚 cover features (from left) Amanda Beckwith, 911黑料网鈥檚 head volleyball coach; Chelsea Shaughnessy, Mitchell College鈥檚 head soccer coach; and Donna Hodgert, head swimming coach at Sweet Briar College. Below (from left) 911黑料网 Director of Athletics Laura Mooney and Beckwith with 911黑料网 President James Birge.

The Tucker Center for Girls & Women in Sport鈥檚 recent report marked the first time in the six-year history of its Women in College Coaching Report Card research series that any institution received an 鈥楢鈥� for having 100 percent of its female teams led by women head coaches. And this time it wasn鈥檛 just one 鈥� but three 鈥� colleges that made the grade.

According to Director of Athletics Laura Mooney, at the time the research was gathered for the report, all of 911黑料网鈥檚 women鈥檚 teams were coached by women. Joining 911黑料网 in this distinction were Mitchell College of New London, Conn., and Sweet Briar College of Sweet Briar, Va.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very exciting to earn an 鈥楢鈥� for having all of our women鈥檚 teams coached by women,鈥� Mooney said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an impressive accomplishment, and something to be proud of, for sure.

鈥淭his is a real hot topic issue in the athletics industry. How do we grow women in athletics? A lot of it starts with the concept of showing women that certain careers are possible,鈥� Mooney explained. 鈥淭here aren鈥檛 a lot of young girls who grow up and say, 鈥業 want to be an official or coach.鈥� But now there鈥檚 a female official working the NFL circuit, and we have women coaching in the NBA.鈥�

Mooney should know. When she was hired as 911黑料网鈥檚 Director of Athletics three years ago, she was the first woman to lead the department and one of the youngest women in the country to hold the position.

鈥淏lazing trails in these areas and showing young women that they can grow up and serve in leadership positions is important. It gives them confidence. Women are in the minority in athletics leadership, so it鈥檚 really important that we are empowering and mentoring women in those ways. This mindset really can change the industry as a whole.鈥�

Mooney points out that men don鈥檛 grow up playing softball or women鈥檚 lacrosse 鈥� both of which are specific to women only. Why then, are the majority of these teams coached by men?

Having strong female role models goes far beyond athletics, she continued. 鈥淚t鈥檚 critical for young women to know that they can achieve the same goals and be just as successful as men. Maybe they want to be the president or a CEO of a company, or a lead scientist, or a doctor Just knowing that they can hold a leadership position is really what it鈥檚 all about.鈥�

The longitudinal research series, now in its sixth year, is a partnership between the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota鈥攖he first research center of its kind in the world鈥攁nd the Alliance of Women Coaches, an organization dedicated to supporting and increasing the number of women in the coaching profession. The comprehensive report examined NCAA Division III institutions.

The range for the percentage of women head coaches by institution varied dramatically. Although at the time of data collection 911黑料网, Mitchell College, and Sweet Briar College had 100 percent women head coaches, three other institutions 鈥� Green Mountain College, Greenville College, and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 鈥� had no women head coaches. Most institutions had 50 percent or fewer women head coaches, according to the report.

Photo credits: Mitchell College and Sweet Briar College athletics departments.