Four Indianapolis-area women are coaching youth football for the first time this fall and are using USA Football Coaching Member resources as their guide to prepare and lead their teams.
Jen Bilby, Corie Elkin, Kathy Gutting and Robin Story are coaching in the third-grade tackle division of the Noblesville Elementary Football League (NEFL), leading a pair of teams that include 8 and 9-year-old players. All four are coaching football for the first time.
The women have completed USA Football’s 15-chapter standard tackle coaching education on usafootball.com, a two-hour course that encompasses how to best teach football fundamentals, communicating with players and player health and safety, including concussion education and management. They also have access to an online film room to help teach football fundamentals, a computer-animated library of football drills organized by position to prepare players for their next practice and a practice planner for coaches to efficiently structure practice sessions.
Teams in the NEFL’s third-grade division bear the colors and names of popular college programs. Bilby is the head coach of the division’s Indiana University team with Story as her assistant. Elkin is the head coach of Penn State with Gutting assisting. Both teams kick off their season Saturday, Aug. 13, at Noblesville’s Dillon Park.
“The moms will be able to offer a totally different perspective,” NEFL Vice President Jim Wormuth said. “They will instill structure, discipline and they will be very organized – that’s what you would expect from a mom. Having moms coach taps into a whole new area. This is great for youth football.”
“We’re pleased that Jen, Corie, Kathy and Robin are on the field coaching this season, showing that women can teach America’s favorite sport as well as men,” said USA Football Executive Director Scott Hallenbeck. “They join youth coaches in all 50 states who put our coaching resources to work for them and for their players. We look forward to following these ‘Coach Moms’ throughout the season.”
On average, 43.5 million women watched Super Bowl XLV, more than doubling the number of women who watched the 83rd Annual Academy Awards a month later (21.4 million). Overall, 93 million women (nearly eight in 10 women) watched NFL games during the 2010 season. Forty-four percent of NFL fans are women and the NFL is the favorite sport among women ages 12 and older according to a 2010 ESPN Sports Poll.
Approximately 3 million American children age 6-14 play organized youth tackle football, placing it among the country’s most popular youth sports. More than 400,000 adults volunteer their time to coach youth football.
