Tuesday, July 5, 2022

"Great Guy," No Equivalent for Women and Unexpected Recognition for This Blog

"He's a great guy." A woman executive explained, "there is no equivalent for women." The closest description is, "she's one of the guys." 

Why does it matter? Advancement and opportunity often follow networking and women aren't as connected in a man's world. 

Former Notre Dame women's coach Muffet McGraw said, "When you look at men's basketball and 99 percent of the jobs go to men, why shouldn't 100 or 99 percent of the jobs in women's basketball go to women? Maybe it's because we only have 10 percent women athletic directors in Division I. People hire people who look like them. And that's the problem."

McGraw explained that she would only hire women. 

I have only coached girls and believe part of my role was championing girls' basketball and promoting women's opportunity. Within the teams that I coached, I had multiple female assistants. One earned a high school varsity job and the other is in graduate school for veterinary medicine. Both are outstanding leaders. 

The Boston Herald named Kristen McDonnell the high school Coach of the Decade. Coach McDonnell won four Division 1 girls titles at Braintree and led the Norwood boys team to the Division 2 finals this season. I interviewed Coach McDonnell here. 


Coach McD (@CoachKristenMcD) established a women's coaching leadership development group on Twitter. Two topics their group will discuss this month include:


The argument that some men advance is, "selecting a less qualified woman for this position is unfair to me." Providing opportunity to women to develop experience and to build a resume' matters. Installing unqualified candidates, men or women, is unfair to players, families, and communities. 

And as women raise their game, it forces men to raise ours, lifting the caliber of education and training for all. 

Lagniappe. Feedspot is the content reader for reading all your favorite websites in one place. The Founder of Feedspot, Anuj Agarwal, recently contacted me. "I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog RonSenBasketball has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 100 Basketball Blogs on the web. https://blog.feedspot.com/basketball_blogs/

I personally give you a high-five and want to thank you for your contribution to this world. This is the most comprehensive list of Top 100 Basketball Blogs on the internet and I'm honored to have you as part of this!"

I am humbled and will continue the work of earning your time and attention. 

Lagniappe 2. "Every day is player development day." Corner cuts offer opportunity for both scoring and rebounding as weak side defenders lose sight or focus on attackers. 45 degree cuts set up rim attacks. "The Dunker Spot" may be invisible. Take advantage of opportunistic 'seals'. 


Lagniappe 3. Frank Martin discusses parents and youth basketball. 
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