The Women's Final Four in New Orleans next week will include a coaches training session on the inclusion of LGBT athletes and coaches in women's sports. The session will be lead by LGBT sports veteran Pat Griffin, Nevin Caple of Brea{he the Silence, and NCLR's Helen Carroll and Ashland Johnson.
"As teams become increasingly inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender student athletes, unique opportunities are presented to coaches as they guide their teams to a successful season," reads the description of the quartet's discussion. "This session will highlight the everyday challenges coaches face related to LGBT inclusion on teams."
Some of the specific challenges the group will address include:
- Teammates dating teammates
- Negative recruiting tactics based on sexual orientation, be it real or perceived
- Addressing homophobic and transphobic comments by players, fans and others
- The coming out process
The presentation will be Tuesday, April 9 at 10am, just hours before the national championship game. That game will feature the winner of California-Louisville and the winner of Connecticut-Notre Dame.
