This past season I was a varsity assistant and i was stuck doing the book. Fortunately, i am now the head coach so i need to recruit a manager. Many teams use students... Do any of you feel that having a female student on the bench or in the dugout is a distraction to the team? Please let me know your opinions and what you guys have experienced.

Depends on if the female is qualified or not and serious about her position.

My sons HS team had two females keep the book and they did not have a clue about what was a hit or not, didn't keep accurate pitch counts and only appeared to be there to oogle the boys. No offense to the girls as I saw it as the coaches fault for not doing his homework.

We had a female MGR in HS. She knew what she was doing and sat in the stands away from the team.

If she is there to do a job, is competent and willing to take her responsibility seriously by all means, hire her!

It is a job, it requires a certain degree of knowledge, dedication to a team and hard work. That sounds the same as what it takes to be a player!

I have always used girls to keep book. This past season I had a great one. She knew the game and paid attention and got along great with the guys. It was like she was a regular member of the team.

There have been some girls I had to teach and train what to do with the book but after a couple of intersquads they did a good job.

In 8 years it's never been a problem.

HEY, My girl did a nice job, AND ABSOLUTELY NO COMPLAINING IF I HAD TO BENCH A KID!!!

Seriously, For me, I would rather not have girls in the duggout.

Never saw a problem in four years with three different girls. They took some lumps but boys would have too. Eventually they all earned proper respect. You can't disqualify anyone on the basis of gender, unless the job is handing out towels in the locker room. JMHO

I wish I had someone like that keeping my stats tripledad. I would definately pay more attention to them if I had this resource.

I can see your point as well but so far I have had no problems. I was a little worried when I first started doing it but once I established ground rules guys and girls both followed them.

A boy crazy girl would be a bad idea but I have found these girls either truly enjoy the game or truly enjoy helping the school / team.

I have never taken one on an overnight trip and never will. I think that does open you up to a WHOLE LOT OF POTENTIAL TROUBLE.

To keep score they need not be in the dugout

I used to be the biggest male chauvinist in the world but since I married my favorite lady, a fast pitch softball catcher for 20 years , I have changed my thinking---a lady can know the game and know it well

quote:

a lady can know the game and know it well

TR, VERY TRUE!!!!

But I still don't want girls in the duggout if I have the option. Just one more thing to deal with.
Even if they are not a distraction, I don't want my boys to deal with it. If they need to blow a booger into the grass, scratch their assss real good, or make a serious adjustment to their cup etc.. I don't want a girl in there. Thats just my preference, I certainly would not criticise a coach for doing it though.(I see it often.) It wouldn't be a prob for me to have a girl keeping book out of the duggout.

We had two girls in high school for a couple of years. We wanted them close because they were keeping the book, and one of them ended up doing the same for UM. We set the rules, let them know that they didn't speak with players during the game nor on the bus. Players knew the same. It was also a male domain and they were to ignore the "booger fights" and sweatyness (spellcheck). We had no problems and they actually worked out well.

there are plenty of girl student assistant/managers in college dugouts & it doesn't seem to be a problem

Heck, as far as I'm concerned, having ANYBODY to know how to keep the scorebook is a plus! I can't believe that in my four years of high school, there were two kids on the team that knew how to keep a scorebook!!! I hated that because I was of course one of them.

if i coached in college i would be less worried. the boys are somewhat more mature and the guys on the bench would be more into the game. it is different on a highschool bench.

Tale of two managers here. My son's soph and junior seasons his varsity team had an excellent female student manager keeping the book. She new how to keep score always hustled across the field with changes ect, and was always close by when the coach turned around and needed to check the book. She was also "easy on the eyes" but had somehow found a way (I guess I'll never know how) to keep the team's hormones in check and it was clear that she was nothing more to them than "one of the guys".
The other side of the coin was my son's senior year (the former manager had graduated). This girl knew nothing about the game of baseball let alone scoring the game. I kept a book of my own and she was constantly coming to the backstop to ask how to score something or even what the kid two batters ago did because she wasn't paying attention. And I don't mean to sound discriminatory here so please don't take it that way, but the girl was obese and walked slowly everywhere, even to the point of holding up the game in order for her to get back to our bench after a lineup change.
Now why the head coach didn't see problems early on and tell her it wasn't working out is a mystery to me. Maybe he was afraid of being accused of discrimination against her, I don't know. My opinion is that he should have found out if the girl had a talent for that sort of thing before he let her become a member of the team.
I guess my suggestion would be to tell any prospective manager, female or otherwise, that the first couple of games are a tryout of sorts to see if they can do the job.

I think that with any manager it is a matter of training. Our HS varsity coach has had adults doing his books. They didn't have a clue.

Our Swim coach uses male managers during the girls season and female managers during the boy's season. They have worked out well. He trains them and they know what he expects. My son did it his Jr and Sr years before his swim season started. That coach spends a full week working to teach his managers all about the job. They do a great job because of the training.

I was the manager/bookkeeper for my high school's varsity baseball team. OK, my boyfriend was a pitcher, but that didn't seem to matter. He and the others were very focused during the game. I sat in a chair just outside the dugout near the fence, not in the dugout. I'm a picky detail-oriented person so keeping the book was perfect for me. In game disputes, nobody argued once they got a look at my book: Beautiful! Clean! Accurate!

It's a skill that has transferred really well to my own boys. I know the game better than most parents (and some coaches). I keep d-a-mn good, meticulous books and I've taught any number of moms over the years. Take some time to teach a girl HOW to keep good books, and WHY they need to be good, and she can do a great job!

We live both sides of this coin. Our Daughter is a cheerleader for football s****r and basketball. She is the team manager for wrestling and boys track. She is very articulate with her stats and books. She is one of the first to arrive and help set up and one of the last to leave making sure everything is in it's place. She got her Varsity letter in her freshman year for team management.

Son(14U) played up this summer on a 18u rec team. Girls were swarming the dugout. The coach ran them off and the female manager/scorekeeper sat within ear shot of the dugout but not in it. She was fine the ""Groupies"" were not. Coaches just need to besure they have 'managers' not groupies.