Sports Writing Blog: Week 1 Topic: Biased Sports Coverage & Gender Equality

Biased sports coverage has always been considered problematic and has been an ongoing problem. Why do we target and strictly communicate on one gender in sports more so than the other? Being a woman collegiate athlete and now a woman collegiate coach, I have been around sports, and around the game of basketball specifically, for a long time. I have seen many things in terms of biased coverage in sports, especially between the male and female sports teams. Biased sports coverage relates to gender equality. I have always dreamed about becoming a head coach since I was a little girl. I grew up watching strong, female head coach role models on ESPNW.

The pay gap between the genders of the sport, and the pay gap between the genders of the coach are both as important as the other. It is known and published that collegiate female coaches make less money than their male counterparts. I found that women coaches only make up about 40% of the coaching staff, at the college level, across the country. We see more male coaches, coaching collegiate sports teams, than female coaches and that needs to change. Looking back in the history of coaching, that percentage was even smaller.

Resilience is a major theme when talking about the inequality of the gender pay gap and the issue with biased coverage in today’s sports industry. Collegiate female coaches are resilient when it comes to equality and increasing their numbers in the coaching role. When it comes to covering women, like female head coaches in the sports coverage, the process seems to focus mainly on their gender and how they are indeed female. It shouldn’t be mainly on their gender, but more so on their success and experience. Media looks at a woman’s performance and, secretly, compares it with their male counterparts. This is an issue in and of itself. There is a larger issue than just one woman’s battle for superiority. Female leaders are still not fully accepted for what they can bring to the table.

I have created a list of possibilities that I think might help create the change we need to see. Firstly, I think the culture of our sports media, and our sports industry all together, needs to change. Secondly, I think there needs to be more consistent media coverage. Consistency is key when you want to reach success. People who work in the media, in the sports media department specifically, need to “commit” to consistent coverage between both gender sports. Thirdly, I think our sports industry and media should encourage more male athletes and men’s sports teams to try to connect with women athletes and women’s sports as a whole. Fourthly, I think we could use storytelling as a way to help improve biased coverage. Last, but not least, I think sports media needs to give women more opportunities and chances to speak their minds and voice their ideas, opinions, etc. It’s time to level out the platforms and departments for the better.

At the end of the day, sports coverage entails more men’s sports than women’s sports. One person can’t fix either of these issue’s regarding the gender pay gap and the biased coverage of sports media in our society today. When will sports coverage face the challenge of giving equal coverage to women’s sports? If that means that I become a head coach later down the road in my basketball coaching career then that is what I’m going to do. If I can add to the female head coach’s numbers, statistics, and the percentages then I am going to do just that. To start, this will be my part in the matter. As a young coach in the industry, it is my job to not let anything stand in my way, and to advocate for what is right.  And whoever doubts me, I will just say “watch me”.

Week 2 Blog Post Topic: Coach Barbara Stevens

Coach Barbara Stevens has had a stellar coaching career. Stevens announced that she will be retiring after coaching collegiate basketball for forty three years. Her retirement will be official on July 31st. Stevens played basketball at Bridgewater State University. She started her coaching career at Clark University. Stevens was first an assistant coach at Clark, but then became the head coach from 1977-1983. After her time at Clark, she moved to becoming the head coach at the University of Massachusetts from 1983-1986. Stevens landed at Bentley University in 1986 and has been there for a total of thirty three years.

Steven’s resume is everything but short. Stevens has collected 17 NE-10 regular season conference champion titles, 4 NE-10 Northeast division champion titles, 17 NE-10 Tournament champion titles, and was the 2014 National Champions. For coaching awards, specifically, Stevens has been honored with a total of five WBCA National Division II Coach of the Year Awards, 16 NE-10 Coach of the Year awards, the Carol Eckman Award, and she has been inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.

Coach Stevens recruited me and I accepted a full scholarship to play basketball for four years at Bentley University. This was, by far, the best decision I have ever made for myself. Coach Stevens didn’t just make me a better basketball player, but she also made me a better person. She is a coach that not only focuses on skills, but also life lessons. My freshman year, we made it to the NCAA Final Four in Sioux Falls, South Carolina. This experience will stay with me for forever. In January, 2018, my coach became the fifth women’s basketball coach to reach 1,000 career wins. I will always remember this game. We were playing Adelphi, at home, and the entire gymnasium was packed for Coach Stevens. We ended up beating Adelphi by 12 points. When that time went out, on the megaton hanging in our gym, the atmosphere erupted. I specifically remember running up to my coach, from being out on the court, and being so proud of her. In March, 2018, the Bentley University Women’s Basketball court was named after Stevens. I will forever have so much pride for being given the chance to play for Coach Stevens and to wear that Bentley name on my jersey. I am honored that I was playing for Coach Stevens during the Final Four, her 1,000 career win, my 1,000 career points, and the naming of our basketball court. She will not only be known as my coach, but also as my mentor and role model. I aspire to be a head women’s basketball coach one day. If I am half the coach that she is, then I will be very happy. What can I say, I have learned from the best.

Week 4 Topic: The Suspensions of NCAA Athletics in DIII, DII, and DI

Covid-19 has altered everyone’s life and in every way, shape, and form. A number of universities and colleges’ athletics departments have decided to suspend the upcoming fall athletic seasons due to covid-19 and the health restrictions and guidelines. I work at Regis College, as the Assistant Regis Women’s Basketball coach. Yes, our sport is not considered a fall sport, but our season goes from October 15^th to March. So on top of all of the fall sports, winter sports will be affected as well. What universities and colleges are going to do regarding spring sports will be announced at a later date. Following the health restrictions and guidelines, all universities and colleges have to be super careful about their athletics.

The GNAC, a Division III conference that Regis College is affiliated with, recently just released an updated statement saying “The Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) will postpone conference athletic competitions for fall sports for the upcoming semester. Over the last several months, the GNAC President’s Council has met regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and to plan for the 2020-21 athletic season. During the fall, each GNAC institution may plan for student-athlete training and conditioning opportunities consistent with federal and state public health recommendations, the NCAA, and institutional guidelines. The GNAC President’s Council has not yet made a determination on the stats of winter sports. All options will be thoroughly evaluated to make a decision as quickly as possible, informed by federal and state health and safety guidelines.”

Bentley University, a Division II institution who is affiliated with the NE-10 conference, recently just released their statement on the covid-19 pandemic situation. Their statement said “The Council of Presidents of the Northeast-10 Conference voted on Thursday, July 16, to suspend all NE-10 sponsored competition and championships through December 31 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NE-10 considers the health and safety of its student-athletes, coaches, administrators, staff and wider campus communities to be of paramount importance.”

Holy Cross, a Division 1 institution that is a part of the Patriot League, just released their statement that stated the following: “This is certainly unfortunate news for our student-athletes who have been training all spring and summer with great enthusiasm in unique environments to compete with their teammates and represent Holy Cross this fall. However, our goal is to provide them with a great experience. And at this moment we aren’t confident the fall season would either be safe or great because of the virus and the restrictions resulting from the virus. We all wish the situation was different, but we will continue our work to support our student-athletes and coaching staffs to the fullest. We look forward to the time when we will resume competition contend for championships.”

As you can see, all NCAA divisions, conferences, leagues, institutions have released their statements. I trust that every athletic department and institution will do their absolute best to work towards getting their student-athletes back out on to the fields and courts when the time is right and when the time is safe again. Until then, we will continue to stay together.

Week 5 Topic: The Bubble Has Allowed NBA and WNBA to Start Their Seasons

With covid-19 restricting all sports to happen over the last several months, the leagues have finally started back up at The Bubble in Orlando, Florida. The only major difference is that there are no fans allowed in the Bubble. As we know from reading about The Bubble, there has been limited media allowed. For the NBA’s Bubble, the Lakers center Javale McGee, has been releasing video blogs on his time and experience at The Bubble.

As you can imagine, since sports haven’t been on television for a while now, McGee’s video blogs and his YouTube channel have been getting an insane amount of hits, views, shares, and comments. People and sports fans want to see the experience that the players are having in The Bubble since they can’t physically be there to experience it all for themselves like we did before covid-19 hit. By McGee releasing these video blogs, it’s almost like he is giving fans a chance to see what is going on inside The Bubble. Yes, fans are not able to physically go to The Bubble, but McGee is giving them their own ticket in a way. His YouTube channel has grown from having 40,000 subscribers to now over 450,000. That is a very large increase and that just shows how much sports fans want to be a part of the start of the basketball seasons.  

McGee isn’t the only player who is doing this. Troy Daniels from the Nuggets, Matisse Thybulle from the Sixers, JJ Redick from the Pelicans, etc., are also recording and releasing video blogs to the public. On the other side of things, for the WNBA, the only reporter allowed in is ESPN’s Holly Rowe, who is very famous in the reporting profession. WNBA players have been also sharing pictures and short videos to social media platforms so that their fans can see and still have something to be a part of during these uncertain times. All in all, these videos have given us a little bit of normalcy back within our sports world.

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