Coaching Junior Girls
By Muffy Ritz
I've been coaching juniors for over fifteen years, primarily high school age, both boys and girls and I've had nothing but pleasure in doing so. After coaching in many different ski programs including The Colorado Rocky Mountain School, The Green Mountain Valley School (Vermont) and with The Sun Valley Ski Team, I've found that it's more effective for me to coach girls and women than it is coaching boys and men.
I don't think by any means that men can't coach girls effectively - because most girls are coached by men and are doing fine- I'm merely implying that from a personal standpoint, I have an easier time coaching girls than boys for a number of reasons.
From a physical standpoint, high school girls are naturally about two thirds as strong as high school boys, given that they are both in good shape to begin with. As a result of this strength discrepancy, technique is slightly different between boys and girls. Since upper body strength is usually an issue with girls, they ski less powerfully than the boys and rely more on finesse than strength. It's been my experience that it's easier for girls to watch a female role model showing proper technique because they can imitate her better than a male role model. I used to show my Sun Valley girls videos of World Cup women and get those images implanted in their minds as to what really good technique looks like. I don't think this would have been as effective if they watched the World Cup men. Basically, it's easier for a female coach to show technique to the girls than it is to the boys because of the physical differences.
On an emotional level, I think egos become involved when women coach boys. I've found occassionally that boys don't listen as well to women coaches especially if they are faster than the coach. Sometimes it's that they just don't want to take advice from a woman. It seems as if women coaches have to prove themselves to the boys by having previously been an accomplished racer or currently be involved in some form of competition to gain their respect. This is not always the case for every female coach but I've heard it said by some.
Nordic skiing is a sport where girls can gain tremendous self respect, self confidence, self motivation, and self reliance. Up until about 25 years ago, girls and women were not so involved in sports. It was not "ladylike" to be a sportswoman and therefore numbers were down. Now, girls participate in many different sports and are gaining a lot of respect from others and from themselves for doing so. This confidence carries through into their schoolwork, social lives, and into their independence further down the road as women. I find a smile on my face watching a scared little girl come into ski programs as a youngster and over the years transform into an adventurous, confident, determined young lady.
When I took up skiing, both Alpine and Nordic, I don't recall any female coaches out there. I often wished I had a female coach. I think one reason there are more girls in skiing now is because of more women coaching. One spring, I had a chance to coach with Myriam Bedard (Canadian double-Olympic Gold medalist in Biathlon) at a clinic in California. She gave a general talk about her life as a skier and biathlete. As I looked around the room, I saw the girls hang on every word Myriam said. Each one of them was probably thinking - hey, she isn't much different than me. If she can get as far as she did, maybe I can,too. She was a great role model and inspiration.
There's no real precedent set concerning who should coach who, but I've found that girls generally do well being coached by women and boys by men. Whether it's physical reasons, emotional reasons or something entirely different...I don't know. But I do know I love spending time with the girls, not only coaching them but being their friend, too.
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