WINGS, MYSTICS…SISTAS HOLDING OUT FOR A HEROINE

As five of the seven WNBA head coach spots are filled, hopes for a Black woman HC dwindles.  Online the hiring of a male for the Sun HC sparked a bit of debate as folks expressed their discontent that three of the five selections have been male, two of which replaced Black Women head coaches. Men were quick to defend this as “choosing the best coach available” and not an issue of gender bias. There’s a lot to unpack when it comes to women, particularly Black women getting leadership positions in any industry.  The “pipeline” is often cited as the reason for lack of certain people with the right talent and experience. Since two of the hires (Roberts, Smesko) came from the college rank, let’s take a quick look at that pipeline.  According to the NCAA database, there are 147 (14%) Black Women head coaches and another 705 (26%) assistant coaches in NCAAW basketball.  That’s in addition to the WNBA/NBA pipeline of assistant coaches of former players.

Long story short, the “pipeline” and “best coach” excuses don’t work anymore. This isn’t 1999 WNBA but 2025. That’s a whole generation where women could have entered the pipleline.  Heck, that’s long enough for WNBA players to have had babies and raise them as coaches. How often are we reminded that representation in leadership is important? So who is representing those over 60% of Black players?

And what about salaries? Are these teams paying the men more than the women they replaced? (Yes, that’s a whole other subject)

So yeah, Wings and Mystics, sistas holding out for a HEROINE. Can you stand and deliver? And yeah, we want the Best coach, you just need to find her. IJS

 https://www.ncaa.org/sports/2018/12/13/ncaa-demographics-database.aspx