The American Basketball Association's Nashville Rhythm hired 22-year-old Ashley McElhiney to coach their team yesterday. She played college basketball but didn't make any of the WNBA teams and has no prior coaching experience of any kind. Sounds crazy, no?? Not as a general proposition, but this case seems highly unlikely to be successful. Men routinely coach womens' teams, but how do you feel about women coaching men, from a practical standpoint??

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/writers/pete_mcentegart/05/19/column.mcelhiney/

A more specific Question: If you owned an NBA team, who would you rather hire to coach it: Pat Summitt ("female" coach of the multiple NCAA champion Tennessee Volunteers) or Del Harris?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RayRay,

This is a hard topic to touch without facing accusations of chauvinism, equality and political correctness, but I will try.

In many ways, I feel that maybe a man would have some kind of trouble being coached by a female. Most guys are pretty macho and would feel more comfortable being coached by a male. However, a coach in many ways is very much like a teacher. I know that in school I had no problems—disciplinary, behaviorally and school-work wise—responding positively to a male or female teacher. I think that a good coach is a good coach. If I was on a basketball team and I found out that my coach was going to be a female I wouldn’t be deterred from the team and I also wouldn’t quit the team. I am sure that many of the other guys would have issues with this and would rebel but I think that the right kind of coach could temper them.

I think that Pat Summitt is one of the best coaches of all time—in any profession, male or female. Her record and championships speak for themselves, she has been able to take teams with varied talent, issues, and schedules and take them to championships. So if she was the best candidate I had, yes I would hire her.

I don't understand how anybody could even think this is a genuine issue.

RayRay, yr question is easily answered by a thousand examples, but the clearest one is that of Ian Thorpe who had a female coach at the peak of his career, illustrating how a world champion male can be improved by a female coach who never acheived any serious medals in her chosen area.

I am staggered that people would think twice about a female coach. Geez, we live in 2007, not 1907.

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