The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Celebrating women in sports not just about athletic exploits
It may be a phrase we have never heard before, or at least often, on a national sports broadcast — and in truth, it probably shouldn’t be all that rare.
Coming out of halftime of the women’s NCAA tournament national championship game April 4, ESPN’s Holly Rowe reported Arizona coach Adia Barnes was running late in getting back to the court for the Wildcats’ clash with Stanford.
The reason was one to which mothers the world over can relate.
The mother of a nearly seven-month-old, Barnes breastfeeds her daughter. So with her baby in need of a feeding, it was necessary for Barnes to pump milk.
And not even the second half with a national championship on the line was going to impede that priority.
We often hear in today’s society about the need for more inclusivity in sports, affording more of a platform and celebration for women’s sports so young girls can see that example and strive for their own aspirations.
With that in mind, it’s important from time to time, in this space devoted to high school sports, to take examples from the broader world, engage in that dialogue and apply those valuable lessons for student-athletes locally.
Perhaps in working toward that inclusivity, though, that need is framed far too often within the context of showing competition and transcendent skill in a given athletic endeavor.
Example can also be found in how women balance life — yes, certainly around competition, too. But on this occasion, let’s focus more on celebrating how women find that balance from the sideline as a coach and mentor, with Barnes being a laudable case study in that sense.
Because that example should be important to display for our next generation of young women as well.
Arizona was undoubtedly a feel-good story in this women’s NCAA tournament, led by its prolific, tough senior guard Aari McDonald. This tournament can often get predictable deeper in its journey in the sense of who is left standing in the chase for a national title — UConn, Stanford, Baylor, South Carolina, Maryland and programs of that ilk.
The Wildcats were far from that, just three years removed from being a PAC-12 doormat as a 6-24 squad. Yet they were one contested 3-pointer by McDonald that nearly went in and persistent inbound denial by Stanford from winning a national championship over the weekend.
A great deal of that credit for this being a feelgood story goes to Barnes, not just from the basketball standpoint of building a program capable of being in that position, but also because of how she managed life balance off the court.
An undersized forward from San Diego, Barnes developed into a two-time All-American at Arizona and was the PAC-10 player of the year as a senior in 1997-98. She spent time in the WNBA, including here with the Rockers for one season, as well as playing overseas.
Following her playing days, Barnes did work as a local-broadcast analyst for the WNBA’s Seattle Storm for several seasons before getting into coaching. That started as an assistant at Washington before heading back to her alma mater as head coach in 2016 — a vacancy she was admittedly advised to leave alone because she “couldn’t” win there.
Along the way, she and her husband Salvo, who she met while playing overseas and who is now one of her assistants, started a family. First came son Matteo, then daughter Capri, born late last year.
Capri came along after Barnes endured a miscarriage in 2018.
In an interview, Barnes noted she was essentially back to coaching duty through Zoom calls four days after a C-section to have Capri.
Somehow, Barnes found time to do it all.
To be a working professional. To be a mother.
To make history as a dynamic leader and resilient program builder, part of the first women’s Final Four with multiple Black female head coaches this year, along with South Carolina’s Dawn Staley.
And to do every bit of it at a remarkably high level.
“I’m happy, because I represent moms,” Barnes said. “I have a baby in here crying to feed. I represent moms. You can be coach. You can be an elite level. You can fulfill it just like I do. I represent Black females, who don’t get here too often and don’t get opportunities. But I had an opportunity today on the biggest stage and represented a lot.”
According to a 2019 study by the Women’s Sports Foundation, it was approximated in a survey 42.6% of basketball coaches are female. The number — alarmingly, by the way — falls to 34% female representation for soccer. The only sport that nearly achieved a 50-50 gender split was track and field — 51% men, 49% women.
It’s not to say there should be a 50-50 split mandated or that women’s sports be exclusively coached by females, mind you. It should still be about who is best suited for a job.
But along the way, it likely shouldn’t be expecting too much to be more encouraging to current female student-athletes to pursue coaching once their competitive days have concluded.
It also shouldn’t be too much of an expectation for female coaches to command the same respect and equal treatment — and, just as important, opportunity — as male counterparts.
There shouldn’t have to be a crossroads choice if a woman wants to try and balance work, parenthood and coaching, too.
Especially when they can be balanced with the grace, dignity and success that Barnes has.
One of the most heartwarming aspects of covering high school sports all these years is watching full-circle growth from student-athletes at a formative age to, if they so desire, returning as adults and helping mold the next generation as coaches.
They’re doing so while establishing themselves in their day jobs and with families of their own.
Obviously, high school sports is different than Barnes’ situation. Stipend employment is not comparable to a primary fulltime job guiding a PAC-12 women’s basketball program.
But seemingly, the desire to give back to a new generation faces more pressure at this level if you’re a female coach than a male coach. It’s almost unspoken to believe a female coach “can’t” coach, have a full-time job and be a parent and spouse as well. A choice “must” eventually be made.
If a female coach wants to wear all those proverbial hats, though, why can’t she?
Who is anyone to say that belief is unacceptable or unusual?
Again, there doesn’t need to be a set number on it.
But we need more female coaches in high school sports — particularly long-tenured ones.
The more strong empowering female role models there are in coaching, the better off sports is and will be.
That is especially true for the young women who watch that example, are inspired and driven by it in their own athletic journey and want to carry it forward when they get older.
The “dude complex” much discussed in this space over the years shouldn’t kick in because a man doesn’t want to hear about a female coach, let alone one pumping milk for her baby.
What we should hear more about, though, is the power of that example and normalize it.
That context often comes through the prism of athletic performance.
But as Barnes’ story will attest, we should also look to sidelines and huddles to perceive strong women at work in sports.