In the early 1970s, 90 percent of women’s collegiate sports teams were coached by women. Today, that number is drastically lower: 43 percent.
As our new investigation explains, the unexpected culprit for this decline is Title IX, a piece of legislation intended to level the playing field for female athletes. The law made it illegal for any educational institution to discriminate based on gender. But as our new investigation shows, it also had the unintended consequence of shutting the door for many female coaches.
Despite the decline, we know there are many female coaches out there who are making a difference every day. And we want to hear who those role models are in your life.
Using the form below, tell us about the female coaches who have influenced you – at any level, in any sport. We’ll read all the stories that come in and choose a few for potential inclusion in our newsletter and podcast. You also can email your stories to me directly at bduncan@cironline.org.
Byard Duncan is a reporter and producer for engagement and collaborations for Reveal. He manages Reveal’s Reporting Networks, which provide more than 1,000 local journalists across the U.S. with resources and training to continue Reveal investigations in their communities. He also helps lead audience engagement initiatives around Reveal’s stories and assists local reporters in elevating their work to a national platform. In addition to Reveal, Duncan’s work has appeared in GQ, Esquire, The California Sunday Magazine and Columbia Journalism Review, among other outlets. He was part of Reveal’s Behind the Smiles project team, which was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2019. He is the recipient of two Edward R. Murrow Awards, a National Headliner Award, an Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award, and two first-place awards for feature storytelling from the Society of Professional Journalists and Best of the West. Duncan is based in Reveal's Emeryville, California, office.
