The Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota celebrated its 30th anniversary as the first center of its kind in the world on the eve of National Girls & Women in Sport Day!
Dr. Penny Wheeler, U of M Regent and former CEO of Allina Health, will moderate a discussion led by Drs. Mary Jo Kane and Nicole M. LaVoi on the origin, founding, and vision of the Tucker Center (TC), as well as insights into leadership succession. Groundbreaking research, community outreach, and programming achievements of the Tucker Team and the impact of the TC around the world will be highlighted, including innovative and impactful initiatives such as Coaching HER™, Body Confident Sport, and the nationally recognized Women in College Coaching Report Card. The evening will culminate with a conversation among four generations of Tucker Center scholars and highlight diverse research agendas and perspectives related to the significant role and impact the TC continues to play in the rapidly changing landscape of sport for girls and women 50+ years after the passage of Title IX.
Body Confident Sport is a first-of-its-kind set of coaching tools to build body confidence in 11- to 17-year-old girls (and individuals across the full gender spectrum). The program was designed using input from girls and coaches in six countries (France, India, Japan, Mexico, the U.K., and the U.S.), and it was scientifically proven to improve self-esteem and body confidence in clinical trials with more than 1,200 girls, and also proved to upskill coaches in creating a body confident climate for girls.
Sport can be a powerful force in a girl’s life. But research shows that even when girls enter sport, they often drop out before they’re able to fully reap the benefits. Globally, 45% of teenage girls are dropping out of sport at twice the rate of boys, and sadly, low body confidence is the number one reason why. To help change it, we collaborated with other world-renowned experts and two global brands to do something about it.
For the last three years, The Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport team worked together with the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR)—international experts on body image and appearance research; Nike—the biggest champion of athletes and sport in the world; and Dove—the world’s biggest provider of self-esteem and body confidence education to develop Body Confident Sport !
As educators and researchers, we know that having a well-trained, caring coach is critical to helping kids reach their potential in and through sport, and this is particularly true for girls. At the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport, our mission is to accelerate systems change and we are leading this effort through coach education by first launching Coaching HER in March of 2023, and now the Body Confident Sport tool. We also know that changing the system requires collaboration. Through both tools, coaches around the world will have a unique opportunity to challenge and change damaging gender bias and stereotypes, support girls’ needs in sport, value all girls’ identities, and shift the conversation from what girls’ bodies look like to what their bodies can do.
I’m honored to be launching this tool with our talented and committed global team and I’m inviting you to join our efforts to uplift girls in sport in two easy ways: 1) Learn more about theCoaching HER and Body Confident Sport programs (and possibly complete the trainings for yourself!), and 2) Share the coaching tool with others!
Research and Development Team at the October 23, 2023 Body Confident Sport launch event at NIKE NYC HQ (L to R): Anna Goorevich*, Aline Tinoco**, Kat Schneider**, Phillipa Dietrichs**, Hannah Silva-Breen*, Courtney Boucher*, Emily Matheson**, Nicole M. LaVoi*
*Tucker Center Team, ** Centre for Appearance Research Team
“Data in the 11th year of the WCCRC points to some firsts, good news, and a new era,” says Tucker Center Director Nicole M. LaVoi. “Based on the numbers, we are cautiously optimistic that the stagnation era is over and we are entering a new era for intercollegiate Division-I women sport coaches at the most visible, powerful institutions—a slow and steady incline.”
Report highlights:
The percentage of women head coaches of NCAA D-I women’s teams in seven select conferences is up again for the ninth year in a row.
The percentage of women head coaches increased by the largest margin (2.3 percent) in the history of the report card, and 2022 marked the second greatest increase (1.2 percent).
For the first time, more institutions earned an A grade than a F grade. There were three times more As than Fs. For the last 10 years, the number of F grades far outnumbered the As.
For the second time in ten years and for two years in a row, a majority of positional vacancies (58.1 percent) were filled by women.
For the first time, a majority (65 percent, 15 of 23) of BIPOC coaches hired were women of color.
The percentage of women coaches of color increased from 5.7 percent in 2022 to 6.2 percent this year.
This year marks the first time all select seven conferences increased in the percentage of women head coaches.
Basketball, the most lucrative, visible, and popular women’s intercollegiate sport, moved up to an A grade for the first time.
Coaching HER. Watch this 2mn video as TC Director Dr. Nicole M. LaVoi talks about the importance of Coaching HER, our new, free curriculum to upskill coaches to help all girls reach their full potential.
The Title IX Speaker Series, Presented by Best Buy®, centers around conversations with local and national leaders representing a wide variety of industries and communities. The speakers will share how Title IX legislation impacted their opportunities and how it continues to influence their worlds today and into the future.
July 21, 2021. The State of Women’s Sports; 50 Years and Counting, a conversation with Dr. Nicole LaVoi, The Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport; Lisa Lissimore, Minnesota State High School League; and Jen Flowers, Western Collegiate Hockey Association;, moderated by Lea B. Olsen, Minnesota Lynx
Dr. Nicole LaVoi, Director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport, will share new data from the most recent Women in Coaching Report Card—compiled from 357 schools within NCAA Div. I conferences—including new research around women coaches of color. Additionally, Dr. LaVoi will share strategies on how all of us can play a part in continuing to increase the number of women in coaching positions across all levels.
I was a guest on the Premier Hold Fast podcast with OLY David Plummer from Preimier Sport Psychology. We talk about sport leadership, team culture, moral exemplar coaches and more!
Listen to three seasons of Tucker Center Talks,a bi-monthly podcast I host, produced by WISP Sports. This podcast is a place where I talk to, amplify, and support my female colleagues—amazing women who study sport and gender. We let the data tell the story, and talk about our research and ways we are changing the world, through the context of sport.
One Sport Voice 