Missed opportunities

On Wednesday, I introduced my coaching practicum students to the concept of mental toughness and how to coach their athletes to be mentally tough. We talked at length about what it means to be mentally tough focusing on specific concepts like a strong belief in self, focus, motivational strategies and consistent play in practice and competition. Throughout our conversation, I continually encouraged my practicum students to think about specific situations they have recently experienced in their coaching placements.

Towards the latter end of our conversation, one student commented that “I think it is easier for male athletes than female athletes to be mentally tough” and his tone was very matter-of-fact. When I asked him why he thought this, he simply shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Don’t know.” I explained that in our class an observation like his needs to be supported with some type of evidence; research or personal experience.

With some further prompting, he was still unable to articulate where his belief came from, or maybe he just did not want to tell me. Either way, after our class meeting was over and I was on my way home, I began to think about his statement and realized that the stereotypical bias of men are strong and women are weak (even mentally) surely was a part of his belief system.

I also realized that as a teacher I missed an opportunity to debunk this myth and challenge his belief system. I mean after all isn’t that what we are supposed to do in the classroom? What was I thinking? I let the opportunity pass by. The more I thought about it, the more disappointment I became with myself as teacher and a coach. Simply put, I made a huge mistake. Needless to say, this Wednesday, the all of the practicum students are going to get a healthy dose of gender bias and stereotyping in sport. Let’s just hope I am able to see all of the teachable moments when they surface.