Chicago’s pro women’s basketball team, the Chicago Sky, gets a fresh start Wednesday when it takes the floor at its preseason opener at home against Phoenix. Making his debut with the team will be head coach Bo Overton, who took over from NBA great Dave Cowens. When Cowens resigned in September after a one-year stint, he told the Tribune he enjoyed coaching the team but didn’t initially grasp the differences between coaching men and women.
It took Cowens time to realize that the WNBA players craved order and planning, while he was used to leaving more room for improvisation, he told the Tribune. (He’s now an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons.)
Those comments led WomanNews to wonder about the differences between coaching males and females. Are girls more team-oriented and less ego-driven? Are they easier or harder to coach? Do coaches think girls and boys approach sports differently?
We spoke with a number of coaches and former athletes; here are some of their thoughts on the matter.
Dave Cowens
Assistant coach, Detroit Pistons
Former head coach, Chicago Sky
Named one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players
“Women are more ready to pass the ball and be a good teammate, rather than say, I want the ball, I want to be the guy. There’s an element of sharing with women that isn’t [there] with men.”
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Mary Pat Connolly
Head girls varsity basketball coach, Marist High School, Chicago
Former boys varsity assistant basketball coach, Marian Catholic High School, Chicago Heights
Former pro basketball player, Chicago Hustle
“I really liked coaching the guys. The minute I got on the floor, I was like, Yes! This is how it’s supposed to be, this aggressive and this hard. I might work the whole season to get the girls to play aggressively. It comes more natural to guys. … [Girls] wear their hearts on their sleeves more than guys … you can read them better. They always think they’re not as good as they are and need more positive feedback constantly.”
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Jean Lenti Ponsetto
Athletic director, DePaul University
Former assistant women’s basketball coach at DePaul
Four-sport DePaul athlete
“My experience is that women are more coachable. They don’t bring as much ego, and they function much better in a team-oriented concept. Guys sometimes have a tendency to fit their individual skills into the team model. Women always think team first. … [Women are] also faster and easier learners because they kind of check their ego at the door. Guys sometimes walk into a team setting and have the tendency to prove right away how good they are and how good their individual skills are.”
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Marjorie Snyder
Chief program and planning officer and sports psychologist, Women’s Sports Foundation
Former girls basketball and field hockey coach
“Your job as a coach is to figure out the strengths and weaknesses of your team and meld that with your philosophy of coaching. So you could have a bunch of sensitive girls or a bunch of sensitive guys. … The great coaches can coach both. … When I coached an under-10 girls team, the girls weren’t as assertive or aggressive on the field as boys. I figured out that they don’t want to look mean or tough in front of their friends.”
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Donna Lopiano
President, Women’s Sports Foundation
Has coached men’s and women’s volleyball and women’s basketball, field hockey, softball and badminton
“Women are much more coachable and understand the importance of structure and strategy because they don’t have the superiority of strength to pull out being in the wrong place at the wrong time. … Men and women react to criticism in the same way, but they don’t express those reactions the same. Males are much more likely to get angry. Women might express it with tears and regret for not having measured up to expectations.”
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Doug Bruno
Head women’s basketball coach, DePaul University
Former associate men’s head coach, Loyola University
Former coach, Chicago Hustle
“There’s a generalization that in coaching women you’re supposed to be more in touch with their feelings. I don’t think it’s acknowledged enough that when you’re coaching men, you have to be very in touch with their feelings. Men don’t want to admit that. … A true competitor loves to win and hates to lose. It doesn’t matter if they’re a woman or a man.””
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Nicole M. LaVoi
Sports psychologist
Associate director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport, University of Minnesota
Tennis player and coach
“Coaching is about knowing individuals, not making generalizations across gender. There really are more similarities than differences among male and female athletes. … They want to be good at their sport, they want to feel they belong on the team and that they’re valued.”
