I recently had a chance to catch up with Ray Meadows, primarily on the topic of gender equity and making the high school weight room a more inviting space for female athletes.
Ray has been the AD and a teacher at Campo since 2019, but also previously coached at taught there from 2004 - 2010. He is a former D1 water polo player at UC Santa Barbara and also coaches the swim team at Springbrook in Lafayette.
One topic we focused on was ‘what can we do to create a more equitable and inviting atmosphere in the weight room for female athletes?’ The Booster Club has identified the issue and earmarked funds to address it. Several people have mentioned Ballplayers for doing a good job providing opportunities for female athletes to train, which I take as a great compliment! Since we’ve trained many female Lacrosse, Water Polo, Soccer, Tennis and Softball players - maybe we can use what we’ve learned along the way to provide insight into what can be done at Campolindo.
The first consideration is the use of space and aesthetics of the weight room at Campo. Both Ray and I agreed, along with other coaches who have provided feedback, that there isn’t necessarily a difference in the type of equipment used for female athletes vs males. Sports performance training for male and female athletes is very similar. The physical skills a female soccer player needs vs a male are no different - and therefore their training should be similar as well. Of course, there are a few differences that should be addressed (females more susceptible to knee injuries and generally have less upper body strength on a relative bodyweight basis for example). But that doesn’t affect the equipment needed in the weight room.
So this lead to the idea that maybe the weight room can be intimidating for female athletes, especially ones that have never trained. After all, a typical high school weight room is utilized by the football team more than any other program, so the connotation that it is only for big football players can certainly be a real issue. With limited space in the weight room at Campo, there is not a lot that can be done to make it more open and inviting, while also being able to effectively train large groups in one session. But things like highlighting sports teams or individual players up on the walls would go a long way to show that ALL athletes are welcome in the weight room. The potential addition of more lighter weights and medicine balls could help as well.
The second concern is access and scheduling for the weight room for female sports. This is a 2 part issue in that 1) there is limited space and only 1-2 teams can get the ‘prime’ after school weight room time. And 2) someone needs to run the sessions, whether that is the sport coach or an outside coach or trainer.
Of course the priority will go to the teams who are invested in utilizing the weight room to train their athletes - but those are generally also the teams that do a great job with fundraising and can afford to pay a coach or trainer to run those sessions. Several teams would like to supplement their program with strength and speed training, but they don’t have funding available to pay a coach, or their coach doesn’t have the time to essentially volunteer more of their personal hours to oversee that type of program. This can be a complicated issue at the high school level, as public school coaches are paid a very meager stipend, which only covers their sport season. And adjusted on an hourly basis relative to the time it takes to run a program, it can make you cringe.
The solution to this issue is not an easy one. Each sport is essentially responsible for providing (or not providing) these additional opportunities. So it’s up to the sport coach - or the Booster Club or a private foundation, to create a program that supplements their ‘on-field’ practice.
Ultimately, it is an interesting issue that can be a challenge to address within the context of the current public high school system of underpaid coaches, small weight rooms, and no ‘strength/performance’ coach on staff. But Ray and I have had a few good conversations and, at the very least, hope to make progress toward equitable opportunities in the weight room in the future.