The Case of the Pink Hockey Gloves
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posted by One Sport Voice Dr. Nicole M. LaVoi: This blog reflects my critical eye and voice on all things sport. I am a critical thinker, scholar, and researcher in girls & women in sport, youth sport, and coach & sport parent education. |
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A couple years ago a student in my Psychology of Coaching class told me a story of a local youth hockey coach. This coach wanted to make his team of U12 boys “tougher.” To accomplish this goal, he decided to give the least tough skater on his team (in his opinion) a pair of pink gloves to wear for the next practice. He named this honor “the pussy gloves.” A majority of the time, the pink gloves were awarded to the same boy. I wish I were making this up.
There are so many reasons why this motivational tactic is the farthest thing from motivational, aside from the fact it is sexist and homophobic. Unfortunately this type of coaching behavior is not uncommon and often goes unchallenged as the status quo.
View Original Post at onesportvoice.wordpress.com
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- Filed Under:
- Skating, Ice Hockey, Sports, SportsPLUS, Coaching, Psychology
There is 1 comment on this post. Join the discussion!
Yvonne
How sad! Unfortunately, there are far too many examples not only in sports, but religion and world history too, where the worst form of humiliation is to be treated like a women. Thanks for putting a spotlight on this behavior.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 7:52am EDT