UCF received the highest grades and was one of two schools that received an A for hiring women to coach women’s college athletics from University of Minnesota’s Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport.
Nearly 90 percent of UCF’s women’s sports teams are coached by women, the study finds, nearly 10 percentage points ahead of the only other A given out by the study, Cincinnati.
“The goals of this annual report card is to create awareness, stimulate dialogue and get everyone on the same page to help increase the percentage of women coaches,” Nicole LaVoi, co-director at the Tucker Center, told Kate Fagan of ESPNW. “I believe we are starting to realize these goals, and I am encouraged by the slight increase in NCAA D-1 women head coaches for three years running.”
As a sign of overall progress, for the first time in the study’s history, more schools received an A (70-100 percent of coaches as women) than a failing grade. Even Xavier, a school that did not have any female coaches last year, climbed after hiring Breanna Patz to coach women’s golf.
UCF has several strong women programs led by women including Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak (women’s soccer) and Renee Luers-Gillispie (softball). If women’s basketball is the face of most women’s programs, Joi Williams sits as the lead woman of that program too.
The Knights had a very progressive hiring vision for its women’s teams under former athletic director Todd Stansbury. As decisions get made in the future, it will be interesting to see what Danny White does and how he makes hiring to continue this trend when that time comes.
UCF though appears to be a leader in giving women opportunities to coach in college athletics.
