Successes And Challenges Of Women Coaches: Women’s History Month Panel

On the final day of Women’s History Month, the TeamSnap community gathered together over Zoom to listen to women coaches share their stories and talk about the work they are doing and the work that must continue to be done, in sports. The panel was part of TeamSnap’s Employee Resource Group’s efforts to continue to celebrate, support and empower women, in tech, sports, business, and beyond.

The panel featured female coaches, Katie McMahon Gates, Marti Reed, Casey Miller, and Rachel Yarnold. Lance Lee, TeamSnap’s Director of Community Impact and Sheila Repeta, the VP of People at TeamSnap, moderated the discussion.

Learn more about each of the panelists.

Katie, owner and leader of PRIDE Girls Lacrosse, has over 16-years of lacrosse coaching experience. She’s worked with players at all levels and ages in the game. Her career in coaching and club ownership sparked from her decorated career as a lacrosse player at UC Davis, where she was a 3X All-American. Her mission is to grow the game of lacrosse by creating a fun and enthusiastic learning environment while teaching young girls to be confident and strong leaders.

Why I Coach….

“I started coaching when I was 12. I just kind of fell into it”, McMahon Gates said. “Any chance I get to encourage someone else,  that’s what I really love about coaching. I love trying to find out what motivates and encourages each individual player.”

Marti, is a former UCLA Softball NCAA Champion is now the Director of National Partnerships & DEI Programming Manager at Positive Coaching Alliance. She’s also a National Speaker, and Author of Utility Player Life: How to Purposefully Leverage Your Experience as an Athlete to Take You Where You Want to Go in Life.

Why I Coach….

“I really coach to inspire girls to be the best version of themselves,” Reed said. “Coaching is a vehicle to be a mentor and a leader and give back. I love competing and the lessons you can learn through competitions.”

Casey, is the Positive Coaching Alliance’s Vice President, External Relations. Casey played professional basketball in Oviedo, Spain before joining PCA in 2013. She played college basketball at Merrimack College in North Andover, MA.

Why I Coach….

“When you can drop a play and your team executes it, it’s a much better feeling than scoring a shot [yourself], because it’s a lot harder to get a whole team to work towards something,” Miller said.

Rachel was born and raised in Northern California where her love of basketball first grew. She was a 4 year varsity starter at San Ramon Valley High School, and continued her basketball career at the University of Rochester. After graduating college, Rachel moved back to the Bay Area to start her tech marketing career. She started coaching for Bay City Basketball, an AAU club, in 2016 and hasn’t looked back. She is now the varsity head coach for Convent High School in San Francisco as well as a coach for Bay City Basketball.

Why I Coach….

“I really feel like my soul is on fire when I’m coaching,” Yarnold said.

Each of these women coaches got into coaching through their own unique pathway, and now as coaches and mentors, they are dedicate their days to instilling values and being a female leaders. Hear what these women coaches have to say about values and how they handle the messaging with their athletes.

Compete, But Don’t Compare

“It’s okay to compete, but don’t compare,” Reed said. “Having the courage over confidence. One of my coaches told me that confidence was overrated. But it’s more about having the courage, thats really being able to show up in those moments when you don’t feel like you have it all together.”

I Got Your Back

“Keep an eye out for each other, and encourage teammates to look out for one another,” Miller said. “Being kind to one another and having each other’s back as teammates.”

CEO Award

CEO or “Chief Encouragement Officer” and BFF “Big Fat Fail” What did you try? What did you fail at? It destigmatizes it a little bit,” McMahon Gates said.

It’s The We Not the Me

“Always how I start my first practice every season, if you can start the season with that mentality especially with team sports it’s so much bigger than you,” Yarnold said.

The conversation evolved to parent engagement and how parents can best show their support of athletes. “It’s not asking did you win, but it’s what was your favorite part?”

From best practices, to why they do what they do, to how it can be better, thank you to these amazing women coaches for sharing their insight and best advice. Here’s to continuing to support women, women coaches, and more.