Should Men Be Coaching Women’s Hockey? 

By Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS

After coaching both male and female hockey players on and off the ice for the last ten years, there is no question that I take a very different approach when working with these two groups.  In general, I have always found working with the girls to be much easier for me, mostly because I can identify with them directly as a player who was once in their place and I have spent the last 15 years immersed in all aspects of the female game.

However, the majority of coaches at all levels of female hockey are male.  They often find it much more difficult to identify with their young female athletes than their female counterparts because they have never been “in their shoes”. 

I have spoken to many male coaches at all levels of the female game about how they deal with this challenge and two main themes always come up.

The Social Side

The first big difference that comes up is on the social side of the game.  Female hockey teams tend to be much more socially focused than their male counterparts.  They have a true ‘team first’ mentality that isn’t always present in the male game.  Female players go out of their way to ensure that all of their teammates feel included and feel like part of the group.  They also tend not to weigh the bottom-line performance on the ice as heavily as the men do, instead focusing on having the best “team” possible on and off the ice.

On the men’s side, if there is one player on the team that is a great player on the ice, but doesn’t really want to be a team-player off of the ice, the men are more willing to accept that and leave him be.   But the women really want everyone to feel included and have much more of a “family” approach.

The Mental Side

Male and female players tend to have very different mental approaches to the game.  In general, female players tend to have less inner confidence than their male counterparts.  Girls’ hockey players are typically “under-confident” in their abilities and tend to downplay their accomplishments both on and off the ice.

Although there are many players on the male side of the game that lack a deep inner confidence, they are much less likely to show it or admit it.  They tend to want to “battle through” and not show what they perceive to be as a sign of “weakness”.  On the female side, players tend to be much harder on themselves in terms of their evaluating their own performance and don’t give themselves enough credit for the skills they have. 

Certainly, both male and female hockey players have an equal desire to get better.  But females are more likely to de-value their talents and lack that inner confidence.  For this reason, the differences in the mental approach to the game are definitely something that both male and female coaches and parents have to be aware of and address with their female players.

© Total Female Hockey 2008

Kim McCullough, YCS, MSc, is a Athletic Development Specialist and founder of Total Female Hockey. In addition to training and coaching girls at all levels of hockey, from novice to the National team, Kim has also played at the highest level of women’s hockey in the world for the last decade. Kim’s female player development website features a state-of-the-art Complete Off-Season Training Program and her blog gives the coaches and parents of aspiring young players access to the most up-to-date tips and advice on how to help their players take their game to the next level. To learn more about female-specific player development, get your Free Report: The #1 Mistake Female Players Make in the Off-Season at http://www.totalfemalehockey.com