Colgate women's lacrosse: What's the right coaching approach? | Opinion

Regarding "'Bullied, manipulated, psychologically abused:' Inside Colgate's women's lacrosse turmoil," USA TODAY Network Northeast, March 15:

One question raised in the recent dispute between the coach of the Colgate University women’s lacrosse team and her players relates to a leader’s need to attain the proper balance of discipline within the group in order for it to achieves its defined goals.

From a distance it appears that Colgate hired coach Kathy Taylor to upgrade the women’s lacrosse program based on the fact that she had been successful in other environments. To further complicate the matter, she inherited players who competed in a culture less restrictive than the one Taylor was trying to establish.

Women’s competitive sports has come a long ways in the years the passage of Title IX legislation in 1972. Nowadays, the competition is fierce and formidable.

There have been recent instances in the realm of women’s athletics, where both players and parents have assailed coaches for having a more aggressive and controlling coaching style than in their estimation, was needed.  It begs the question: how much control/discipline is too much?

Perhaps University of North Carolina’s women’s soccer coach Anson Dorrance (who at one point coached both the UNC men and women) said it best when he stated: “In coaching women, there is more of a need for 'ego-boosting.' With men, it is more 'ego-busting.”

Dorrance meanwhile was convinced that his female athletes could be conditioned to become more confident and competitive. He therefore implemented a very aggressive evaluation system he termed his “competitive caldron.” Daily it pitted team members against each other in spirited soccer-related competitions. Those who graded best earned playing time.

UNC has won 21 NCAA women’s championships (11 more than legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden!) and the fact that those that excelled in his regime initially comprised the nucleus of our U.S. women’s national team seemed to validate the Dorrance methodology.

However successful Dorrance’s approach, it did not escape legal challenge.  The case against him reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which felt it was unable to arbitrate. The key dispute: whether or not the coach went too far in the demands he made of his players.

It is noteworthy that a half-century since the passage of Title IX, the old sport issue of coach/player conflict has become more pronounced in women’s athletics.

However, there is consensus that all athletes, regardless of gender, respond best when challenging, yet realistic, training and performance goals are established. And, of course, valuing and nurturing player relationships is paramount.

In a society where daily confrontation seems the rule, both players and parents should recognize that coaching mastery comes in many forms and is achieved only through years of experience. Today is also appears that such excellence is attained only by surviving challenges from invested individuals who seem to have scant training in the field and little appreciation of all the demands made of the modern coach.

We’ve come a ways since 1972 but clearly everything is not how we envisioned it.

Tim Schum lives in Endwell, New York, is the retired Binghamton University men's soccer coach. He recently published “Relentless: The Story of American Soccer and the Coaches Who Grew the Sport.”

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Colgate women's lacrosse coaching approach