Recognizing how female coaches empower and inspire young athletes for Women’s History Month
By Alexis Blue
March marked the start of Women’s History Month, a time to celebrate women’s contributions to American history and their evolving roles in all aspects of life, including sports. In a field still largely dominated by men, recognizing and acknowledging the impact of women head coaches on student athletes is more important than ever.
Cal Poly Humboldt offers collegiate-level athletics for both men and women. Basketball, cross-country, soccer, track and field, and wrestling are offered as men’s sports. Basketball, cross-country, rowing, track and field, softball, soccer, triathlon, and volleyball are all sports offered for women. Of these sports offered at Humboldt, the head coaching positions have nearly the same number of male and female head coaches. Many of the women’s sports are also coached by women, with the exception of women’s cross-country, rowing and soccer.
With women coaches in influential positions, young student athletes have found a unique sense of guidance. Poppy Edge, a freshman student athlete on the women’s triathlon team majoring in molecular cellular biology, reflected on the role that her head coach, Kinsey Mattison, has played both in and outside of her sport.
“I am able to relate to her on so many levels, even just from her being a woman athlete,” Edge said. “She cares about what we are going to be doing in the future and what it looks like beyond [college].”
Edge also discussed the great experiences that she had with men coaches in high school, noting that each coach varied in their coaching style. Notably, Edge said that Mattison’s coaching creates a sense of comfort and understanding, especially when it comes to difficult topics for athletes like injuries.
“She’s also very conscious about injury, more than any other coach I’ve had,” Edge said. “She wants to make sure that from the start, you’re not doing anything that’s even going to start an injury.”
Julia Rivera, a senior softball player majoring in criminal and justice studies, shared sincere gratitude towards a coach who also acted as a role model of hers prior to college. While playing travel softball and amid college recruitment, Rivera’s assistant coach was Humboldt Alumni and Softball Hall of Fame recipient Andrea Williams, now Andrea Williams Padilla. Rivera articulated the confidence and growth that Padilla gave her.
“This woman was definitely the deciding factor of me playing college softball,” Rivera said. “Seeing her succeed at every single thing in her life gave me so much confidence, and I can definitely say she’s a role model.”
Rivera’s drive to continue to pursue athletics collegiately can also be attributed to the coaches she had growing up.
“Being that every female coach I’ve ever had played college softball, I think working up to that point, there was never a doubt in my mind that I wanted to do this,” Rivera said.
Kinsey Mattison, head women’s triathlon coach, shared a similar sentiment of hope for the athletes she coaches to have an athletic experience as positive as her own. Prior to Humboldt, Mattison competed in women’s swim and cross-country as a student athlete at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, where she also became the assistant women’s swim coach after graduation. She then coached as the head women’s triathlon and assistant men’s swim coach at Colorado Mesa University.
“Seeing how [college athletics] completely changed the trajectory of my life and thinking, ‘I can do this for other people,’ then I have to,” Mattison said. “There’s no other option. If this is possible, to help people have an experience like I had and find themselves, then that’s what I want to do.”
Mattison discussed her approach to mentorship and leadership for her athletes and the development of this process over the course of her career as a college coach. She acknowledged how she has begun to lean into vulnerability in her coaching style.
“I think that is something that has changed as I’ve gone along is not just wanting to coach them, but give them kind of a real-life example of what it looks like to be not just a woman in this profession, but a mom in this profession,” Mattison said. “And it’s not easy or perfect.”
According to the 2022-2023 NCAA Demographics Database, only 24% of the 20,255 NCAA teams, including both men’s and women’s sports across all three divisions, are led by female head coaches. As an NCAA DII college coach, Mattison reflected on challenges she faced prior to Humboldt in feeling underrepresented and like her voice was less important. Ultimately, she emphasized the support she feels specifically within Humboldt’s athletic department.
“To be in an athletic department where it’s 50/50, we get a seat at the table and our opinion matters,” Mattison said.
Mattison acknowledged that what each individual athlete needs from a coach is a bit different, but the best thing she can do is stay true to her coaching style by leaving athletes with confidence beyond their sport.
From the earliest days of recreation sports, to collegiate athletics, to competing professionally, coaches are there every step of the way. It is important to acknowledge the role models, and specifically women coaches, because their impact on the younger generation of athletes contribute to a cycle of leadership and empowerment for future generations to come. Coaches act as role models on and off the field, guiding and potentially inspiring athletes to push through challenges and believe in their own potential.
“It is gonna take a long time, it’s gonna be a lot of work with sacrifices and hard days, but if I put my mind to something — I can do it,” Mattison said. “I want other people to feel that way.”
Alexis Blue is a junior at Cal Poly Humboldt, majoring in journalism and minoring in writing. She enjoys drinking coffee, sunsets on the beach, and playing soccer.
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