Life imitates art…about 25 years later

In 1986 Goldie Hawn starred in a movie called Wildcats in which she played a high school track coach who wanted to coach the football team. Hawn’s character was given the chance to be the head coach the Central High.  Nearly a generation later on March 12, 2010, Natalie Randolph, a 29-year-old teacher was named the head football coach at Calvin Coolidge Senior High in Washington, D.C.   Randolph is thought to be the first woman in the nation to ever hold such a position.  Coach Randolph played receiver for the D.C. Divas of the National Women’s Football Association, helping the Divas win a title in 2006.  She was an assistant football coach at another high school from 2006-2008. 

While Coach Randolph is imminently qualified to coach football, she will face one main question: will male football players loaded with testosterone listen to a female coach?  Women don’t usually play football after their youth football “career” has ended.  Junior high, high school, and college football programs are bastions of male bonding and the only participation by women comes on the sidelines as cheerleaders or reporters on television broadcasts.  Will Coach Randolph have enough b*lls to get through to the players when they need to be fired up, dressed down, or in need of an attitude adjustment?  Time will tell but in the meantime, the speculation and debate over whether a woman can be a football coac is underway.

ESPN 2′s show First Take had a debate on Coach Randolph on their Friday, March 13th, program.  One of the members of the panel was Keith Bullock, a 10-year National Football League veteran.  He was clearly not on board with the hiring of a woman football coach.  At one point in the conversation Bullock stated, “When one of the players comes to the sidelines woozy from a big hit or nose bloodied, what’s she going to do…give them a hug?”  As opposed to a male coach telling the player to “suck it up and get back in there.”  On his Twitter page Bullock remarked: “Football is clearly a man’s sport and it’s to be seen how young men take to their coach being a woman.”

Another individual on the panel – whose name escapes me – said that one factor should not be overlooked in the debate.  He said many young men today are raised by a their moms, so they are used to a woman as an ultimate authority figure.  If that’s the case at home, will it really be that strange to have a woman be the ultimate authority on the sidelines for their football team? 

This is a story that we should all follow with keen interest.  Many people will be watching how her team responds and how her team succeeds or fails as the result of her leadership both as a football coach and as a woman.  I, for one, will be rooting for her success.