By Staff
Athletic Management, 18.6, October/November 2006, http://www.momentummedia.com/articles/am/am1806/qaweems.htm
They say everything is bigger in Texas, but the state’s count of female athletic administrators is still quite small. As the Mansfield (Texas) Independent School District Director of Athletics, Debbie Weems is one of just five women in the job among the over 100 high schools in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.
Weems came to Mansfield 19 years ago as a girls’ basketball coach, and she has also coached track and field. As the j.v. and varsity basketball coach at Mansfield High School she accumulated a 137-57 record over six seasons, before becoming Assistant Athletic Director for the district in 1993 and rising to her current post in 1996. While she’s no longer on the sidelines at Mansfield High, girls’ basketball is the school’s most successful sport, claiming four consecutive 5A state championships and being consistently ranked in the top 25 nationally.
Weems oversees athletics in a fast-growing suburban district, which has blossomed from two middle schools and one high school in 2000 to five middle schools and three high schools today, with a fourth opening next year. In this interview, she talks about gender equity, hiring the right kind of coaches, and helping athletes with their academics.
AM: Is it difficult to be a woman in a profession dominated by men?
Weems: I’ve never approached the job with that in the front of my mind. I’ve always wanted to do my best, but it’s never been, “I’ve got to do better than the guys because I need to prove myself as a woman athletic director.” That said, I do hope that by doing things right, I’m making it easier for women who will come after me. I do want to show that a female can handle the workload and the environment.
Are there people out there who think the job is only for men? I’m sure there are. But fortunately, I haven’t heard from them and I’m lucky to be in a district where the administration is very supportive of me because they know I can do the job. It’s difficult work, but that’s true for everyone in the profession, and I don’t think my day-to-day challenges are any different because I’m a woman.
Is gender equity a priority in your program today?
Equity is very important to me. I graduated from high school in 1971, right before Title IX went into effect, so I participated in high school sports when things were not at all equitable for girls. We didn’t have many opportunities to participate, and we weren’t treated equally when we did. In my program today, I want to guarantee that young girls have as many chances to benefit from athletic participation as we can possibly offer.
I tend to think of equity as helping the underdog. Whether it’s a girls’ sport that gets less attention than the comparable boys’ sport, or a minor boys’ sport that traditionally hasn’t gotten much support, I want to make sure everyone is treated fairly. They’re all kids, and they’re all important.
How do you make that kind of equity happen?
It starts with tangible things, like facilities. You have to make sure everyone has access to facilities of the same quality, and that they have equal time for practice and competition. When it comes to spending, of course it costs more to outfit a football player than a cross country athlete, but we make sure everything is comparable.
Beyond tangible things, I believe the most important factor in equity is the quality of the coaches we hire. In the end, the coach does more than anyone else to shape an athlete’s experience, so we want to have great coaches across the board. We spend just as much time looking for the right person in the so-called “minor sports” as we do looking for coaches in the higher-profile sports.
How do you approach the hiring process?
I don’t see hiring as something you do only when there’s an opening—it’s a 365-day-a-year job. I watch a lot of games throughout the school year, and as I’m watching our teams or attending a tournament, I’m also always observing the other teams’ coaches. I pay attention to how they interact with their athletes and with officials, and even sometimes how they deal with parents. When I go to clinics, I’ll remember who spoke about what. I’ll also periodically ask other athletic directors who they think the top coaches in the state are. It’s always part of my conversations, and that means there’s already a list of names on my radar when it comes time for us to hire someone.
And when that happens?
To me, it isn’t about the one-hour interview. That shows you some things, of course, but it’s a stressful time for the person, so it can be hard to find out what they are really like. I do a lot of homework, talking with references and my colleagues in other districts. The principal is also involved, because all our coaches are also teachers. And that in itself is important, because someone who’s chosen the teaching profession is likely to be committed to the development of young people into healthy, contributing members of society—as every coach should be.
How do you work with parents?
I always say, “The good news in our district is that we have parent involvement, and the bad news is that we have parent involvement.” But I’d much rather work in a district with parents who care the way ours do. They pay attention to what their kids are doing, and that’s a great thing. I think the key to succeeding in our type of environment is to have an open-door policy—to communicate well and always be ready to listen to parents’ concerns.
A big part of keeping parents happy goes back to the quality of coaches we hire. It’s essential to find people who know how to talk to parents and can make them understand why certain decisions are made. Our community expects that, and I feel they deserve it.
At our kickoff meeting at the beginning of the year, all the parents have a chance to meet me, the principal, and the coaches, and that lays the groundwork for open communication. Then, after our coaches select their teams for the season, they’re all required to meet with the parents to talk about the program and outline how things will be run, from team rules to practice times to booster meetings. After that, I encourage coaches to meet one-on-one with parents if they have concerns, and that helps them maintain healthy relationships.
I think the vast majority of parents are very reasonable. They just want to know that their child’s program is being run the right way and that someone will listen when they have a concern.
In a very demanding job, how do you keep some balance in your life?
I wish I were better at it! It’s much too easy to get caught working 24/7 in this job, but I know that’s not healthy. My strategy is to make a schedule and stick to it—almost every minute of my day is planned out, even the evenings. I try to schedule time in there for myself, my family, and my social life, and some weeks I do better than others. I love to read books by John C. Maxwell, who writes wonderfully about things like time management, organization, and leadership. He suggests that you plan out your entire month in advance. I can’t always do that, but I find that the more planning I do, the smoother things go.
Your district is currently working on two major facilities projects—a football stadium and a natatorium—both funded by a bond. How did you help the bond proposal succeed?
Our department’s philosophy about open communication, with parents and the community at large, went a long way. There were many meetings when community members could come and voice their opinions, and that made a big difference. We conducted a thorough needs assessment at the beginning of the process so we could show the public how our district had grown, why these new facilities were necessary, and how they would benefit students in our area. The community was very responsive to that, and we passed the bond for both projects with 62 percent of the vote.
How do you make academics a priority among athletes?
In Texas we have a no pass-no play policy, and that’s big motivation for our athletes. But we’d like kids to focus on their academics before it gets to the point where they need to raise a failing grade to stay on their team. Our athletes perform best in the classroom when they’re in-season, so one thing we do now is year-round monitoring of grades.
I’ve also challenged our coaches to talk to their kids about getting help when they need it. They’ll hold athletes out of practice if they’re struggling academically so they can spend extra time with a tutor.
Another thing we’re doing is giving every athlete a little handbook about all the basics of getting good grades. It talks about how to take tests, study effectively, and take notes in class. It also discusses how to be organized and develop time-management skills. The advice is nothing out of the ordinary, but the reinforcement really helps some kids.
What’s the one issue in high school athletics you wish more people were talking about right now?
I think school finance has to be at the top of the list. With all the mandates coming down from states and the federal government, schools are dealing with a lot of budgetary issues, and I think a bigger part of that discussion should involve how extracurricular activities are going to fit into the picture. I hope it never gets to the point where schools feel they have to choose between academic needs and activities, whether it’s sports or band or drama or anything else. But in some places, it seems like that’s already happening.
How can athletics come out on the winning side of that discussion?
It’s so important for people in athletic administration to focus on all the positive things sports programs do for kids. We know how much athletics can add to the educational experience of high school and the huge role it plays in teaching kids how to grow into responsible, mature adults. Well, we need to demand it and expect it and get it from every single program, and make sure people in our communities know about it.
If people think school athletics is just about kicking, catching, or hitting a ball—or if they think it’s only about winning state championships—we’ll have a hard time arguing that it’s worth the cost. But if the community sees that sports are about the growth and development of young people, everyone will realize the value in that.
I’m confident we can be convincing with that approach, because I know how hard coaches work, how much they care about the future of young people, and how they have a tremendous impact on the lives of their athletes. I see the ways students are learning really important life lessons when they’re participating in athletics. I see it every day.