Leading With Confidence

We are thrilled to welcome former Michigan Wolverines head softball coach Carol Hutchins, to the 2024 Women Coaches Symposium as this year's Jean K. Freeman Keynote Speaker!

The winningest coach in NCAA softball history, Hutchins guided the Wolverines to an NCAA title and 22 Big Ten Conference titles and solidified Michigan among the top softball programs in the country. She was inducted into the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2006. With a career record of 1,707-551-5 over her 39 total seasons as a NCAA head coach, Hutchins is the winningest coach in NCAA softball history.

"Hutch" was a part of the Michigan softball program since 1983 when she joined the staff as an assistant coach under Bob DeCarolis. She moved into the head coach position in 1985 and, in each of her 38 head coaching seasons, has continued Michigan's tradition of softball success. Michigan has never suffered a losing season in program history.

Weight and Appearance-Based Bullying Among Youth in Minnesota: 3 Takeaways for Coaches

Sarah M. Kaja, PhD

Weight and appearance-based bullying are more common among youth—including youth athletes—than many adults realize. Using data from Minnesota, this talk will help coaches understand how frequently youth are bullied about how they look and the ways this kind of bullying can impact well-being. Afterwards, coaches will recognize how important it is that they step up to support athletes.

Body Confident Coaching Workshop

Emily Matheson, PhD

Body Confidence impacts us all! Globally, girls dropout from sport at a disproportionate rate to boys. Girls report disengaging because of body image concerns, including appearance anxiety and dissatisfaction, objectifying uniforms and appearance-based teasing from team mates and coaches. Coaches are game changers within sport communities and can influence how girls perceive. However, coaches often feel ill-equipped to address body image concerns among their athletes and teams. In this session, coaches will 1. learn what body confidence is 2. be introduced to techniques to boost body confidence in sport, and 3. learn practical strategies for how to address body image concerns both at the individual and community level. The session will end with a body functionality, joyful movement activity!

Confidently Coach within a Caring Climate

Candace Hogue, PhD

In this workshop Dr. Candace Hogue will highlight the many advantages of creating a climate where your athletes feel heard, respected, and cared for. Learn how treating athletes with kindness and respect is an evidence-based approach to helping optimize their performance and their experience. Spend time connecting with other coaches in order to understand how others have fostered positive relationships with their athletes and how they have overcome challenging interpersonal situations within their teams.

The Price She Pays

Katie Steele, LMFT

No matter the sport, the message to girls and women on the court or field is the same: Be aggressive, but not too aggressive. Win at all costs, but be polite while doing it. Get strong, but not too big. Female athletes have long been conditioned to perform under these standards, gracefully and without complaints. Through research and stories of coaches, parents, and female athletes of all ages and ability levels, The Price She Pays will illuminate where we are going wrong—and how we can correct course.

Sport Psychology for Perfectionists, Anxious Achievers, and People Pleasers

Erin Ayala PhD, LP, CMPC

In this presentation, Dr. Ayala will offer insights into perfectionism and people pleasing behaviors among athletes and coaches. She will explore its dual nature in sport, highlighting its benefits and drawbacks--particularly for girls and women. Dr. Ayala will provide an overview of alternative evidence-based approaches to psychological skills training, focusing on strategies to help athletes accept and learn from mistakes rather than succumb to self-criticism. Ample time will be provided for questions.

Beyond the Pool: Applying the Swim-Efficacy Reclamation Model in Diverse Sports

Ayanna Rakhu, PhD

Unlocking the potential of the Swim-Efficacy Reclamation (SER) Model beyond the waters offers a groundbreaking approach to enhancing athlete efficacy, personal development, and engagement across a spectrum of sports. While initially designed for swim-centric contexts, the SER Model's principles hold immense value for coaches and practitioners across various athletic disciplines. In this session, we delve into the practical implications of adopting the SER Model framework in diverse sporting environments. By understanding and implementing the stages of Reflect, Reconcile, Reassess, Respond, and Reform, coaches can revolutionize their approach to athlete development.

Winning Mindsets: Mental and emotional life skills to succeed in a competitive environment

Mara Schanfield

All young people deserve to feel a sense of human worth and experience safety in all forms– physical, psychological, and identity safety. Sports is a key arena for positive youth development, especially for female-identified young people because moving our bodies helps regulate our nervous systems, build self-esteem, and competition offers regular opportunities for growth-promotion. However, when identity and feelings of self-worth become deeply and narrowly wrapped up in being a “winner,” studies show student‑athletes with a “performance” identity report more anxiety, depression, and fear of failure than their athlete peers whose self‑worth and sense of purpose aren’t contingent on performance. The overarching goal of this session is to show coaches new ways of building an environment for learning and development that promotes high achievement without sacrificing mental health or competitive results. This session will bring together research and practice to offer coaches practical ways to support all young people in being and becoming the best versions of themselves as both people and players. Session objectives: 1) examine winning mindsets; 2) distinguish between a performance-based and a purpose-based identity; 3) discuss the underlying mental and emotional life skills to succeed in a competitive environment; 4) become familiar with research-based elements of relationships that cultivate purpose-based identity; 5) offer practical tools and approaches for establishing and cultivating an environment conducive to learning and development.

Confidently Nourishing The Female Athlete: Putting Diet Culture Aside

Kaitlyn Pscodna, RDN / Sports Dietitian

Kaitlyn will take you through an evidenced based yet practical approach to confidently nourish the female athlete, without a side of diet culture. She'll debunk nutrition myths with facts, take you through questions we need to be asking when working with our female athletes and provide you with ideas on how she may support a female athlete with various nutrition concerns.

Confidently Creating Period-Friendly Sport Climates

Anna Goorevich & Dr. Trish Hutchison

Menstrual health is silenced, stigmatized, and shrouded in misinformation within sport contexts, which can have immense impacts on girls and women’s wellbeing, safety, and enjoyment in sport. As role models for athletes, coaches have great potential to challenge menstruation taboos and create safe, period-friendly environments. In this session, Dr. Trish Hutchison from the Period Education Project and the Tucker Center’s Anna Goorevich will teach coaches essential menstrual health information, help coaches identify normal and safe menstrual health patterns, and provide strategies for effective communication about menstrual health with athletes. The aim of this presentation is for coaches to leave with more confidence on how to navigate conversations about menstrual health in sport and cultivate sport climates where athletes and coaches can feel protected and empowered about their menstrual health. This endeavor aids in narrowing the health disparities among girls and women in sport.

Creating Team Spaces Where Girls Can Thrive

Christine Bright

Attracting female coaches and providing them with the training they need to confidently recruit and engage more girls in sport is a key step to getting more girls into and staying in the game. This presentation will focus on the core concepts elevated by the Coaching Girls Toolkit (a resource authored by CHJS) and will be interactive in a way that will help participants understand how these messages will work in their specific contexts. Training will revolve around key messages of what girls want from their sport experiences: - Coaches who create connection (Create Connection) - The opportunity to compete (Let Her Compete) - The chance to build skills and reward for the effort and progress (Progress, Not Outcomes) - A supportive environment in which being brave is more important than being perfect (Brave, Not Perfect) - Attending to the physical and emotional safety of the sport environment (Do a Girl Check)

WCS Program & Schedule

Join us for a post-WCS Happy Hour!