Coming of Age

Women's sports at all levels have exploded over the past decade offering opportunities to athletes that simply weren't available before.

Now female coaches are slowly getting the same opportunities, particularly here in Canada.

The national women's hockey team, of course, is ably coached by Melody Davidson, who succeeded the very successful Daniele Sauvageau.

No one had to tell Hockey Canada a woman could do that job as well as a man.

The national women's soccer program, meanwhile, recently hired Italian Carolina Morace as the successor to Even Pellurud. Morace is the first woman to coach the national program.

Whether it's soccer, hockey, baseball or other sports, more and more women are getting opportunities to coach in situations that once were reserved for men.

It's the system, quite clearly, maturing as young women who were once athletes move into the coaching ranks.

For a GTA example, check out the female hockey squad at Appleby College in Oakville, probably the province's top high school program that features Brianne Jenner, the captain of Canada's national under-18 women's team.

Three years ago, Appleby rarely won a game, but the school had the foresight to hire Bradi Cochrane, a former member of the Beatrice Aeros senior program to coach and recruit.

Yesterday, Cochrane's squad finished off a spectacular double by winning the Conference of Independent Schools Athletic Association (CiSAA) championship in overtime over Nichols School of Buffalo, a best-of-three series that went the limit and came down to yesterday's thrilling final in western New York.

The win came two weeks after Appleby captured the prestigious North American Prep Hockey Association championship over Wyoming Seminary of Pennsylvania.

Despite being one of the most promising female hockey coaches in the country, Cochrane remains in the minority in women's sport. One recent study showed that of more than 417,000 accredited coaches in all sports in Canada, less than 30 per cent are women. The Canadian Coaching Association recently completed a three-year pilot project designed to get more women involved in community and elite coaching.

So the times are a-changing. Slowly, but surely. Winning, of course, will pave the way.

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Comments

[S. Power]

In the game of hockey, female coaches are still very few and far between. Bradi is a players coach. Passionate, tough, demanding and at the same time very empathetic. She quickly gains the respect of her players by demonstrating a superior knowledge of the game. My daughter Courtney has had the good fortune to play for Bradi over the past two years and has learned so much about the game from her. She has the highest level of respect for her coach, as do each and every one of the players on this fine team! Congratulations on a job well done!

[Kim McCullough]

While I don't believe that it is necessary for women to coach women in order for athletes to excel, I think that it is critical that young female athletes have strong role models to emulate throughout their sporting careers. In the case of Bradi Cochrane at Appleby, you have a former elite level player who is passionate about teaching and inspiring young players to be their best. Much like Morace, her playing resume speaks for itself and the players she works with undoubtedly respect her talent as a player and coach. Female hockey in particular is starting to see many former elite players coming back to the game in coaching positions and that will do a tremendous amount to help grow the game here in Canada and worldwide.

[Sarah]

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