NCAA Panel
to Address 'Negative Recruiting'
By
Jim Buzinski
"Negative recruiting," an insidious tactic where a coach
uses homophobia to deter recruits from going to a rival
school, is a bane in women's sports. For the first time, the
NCAA is addressing the issue institutionally.
On
Monday, the NCAA and the National Center for Lesbian Rights
will co-host a think tank on negative recruiting at NCAA
headquarters in Indianapolis, bringing together 32 leaders
in women's sports, including NCAA staff, athletic directors,
conference commissioners, researchers, and coaching
organization representatives. For example, representatives
from the national coaching organizations of women's
basketball, volleyball and softball will be present.
The
brainchild of
Helen Carroll, head of the NCLR's Homophobia in Sports
project, the all-day meeting is designed to devise
strategies to stop negative recruiting in women's sports
before the practice reaches men's sports, which Carroll says
is just a matter of time. "We are looking for people who can
really move it and shake it and solution-solve," she said
about the panel's makeup.
"We
are completely destroying" incentives for women athletes to
pursue careers in coaching and administration because of
negative recruiting, Carroll said. The result has been a
decrease in the number of women in such positions.
"Women haven't wanted to talk about [negative recruiting] at
all, and leaders don't see it as a big issue," Carroll said,
adding that getting the panel together took six months. She
said the think tank would be an annual event and broaden its
focus to other areas of gays and lesbians in sports.
Negative recruiting can best be defined by the practice of
playing on irrational stereotypes to deter recruits from
going to rival schools based on allegations that a rival
coach or team members are lesbian or gay. It can be subtle,
such as a coach touting his or her heterosexual spouse and
children in drawing a contrast with a rival, or more blatant
references to the kind of "lifestyle" that is accepted at a
rival's program.
"(Lesbianism) is the open secret," Vikki Krane, director of
the women's studies program at Bowling Green University in
Ohio, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in an
article on the issue. "Coaches use it against each other
all the time."
“We
hope the think tank will help put a stop to the unethical
tactic of negative recruiting. This is critical not only to
protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender players and
coaches, but also to attract and retain the best, most
qualified coaches," Carroll said. "As long as any athlete or
coach can be harmed by being tagged with the ‘lesbian’ or
‘gay’ label, the goal of achieving true equality in sports
will remain out of reach to all.”
The
think tank's goals are to explore solutions and develop
action steps to establish a positive environment for gay and
lesbian student-athletes and their teammates, as well as
coaches and athletic directors.
“The
NCAA is pleased to partner with NCLR in hosting this event,”
said Karen Morrison, director of education services for the
NCAA. “By bringing together leaders in several fields, we
can address the harmful impact of negative recruiting and
develop effective strategies to overcome discriminatory
behavior.”
“Our
goal is for individuals to be judged on their skills and
abilities on the playing field, not on irrelevant factors
such as sexual orientation,” Carroll said.
Oct. 27,
2006 |
