Courtesy of North Carolina Central Athletic Communications
DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central Department of Athletics announced on Friday it received a Tara VanDerveer Fund for the Advancement of Women in Coaching grant from the Women's Sports Foundation (WSF).
Grants were awarded to institutions to support collegiate female coaches on the rise, assisting with living expenses, professional development and mentorship. NCCU is one of 10 universities and colleges to receive the grants, which will be designated for female coaching fellows across all three NCAA divisions in a wide variety of women's sports as well as strength and conditioning.
"It is extremely important that we continue to increase the number of women in the pipeline to become head coaches, particularly for sports that have been traditionally underrepresented by women," NCCU Director of Athletics Dr. Ingrid Wicker McCree said. "This grant will enable us to provide a young woman, aspiring for a career in intercollegiate athletics, to be able to work with not only our current men's golf program, but be instrumental in starting our women's golf program. We are thankful to the Women's Sports Foundation for allowing NCCU Athletics to be a part of enhancing opportunities for women in sports through the VanDerveer Fund."
WSF began awarding grants from the VanDerveer Fund in 2019 to address the lack of women in coaching positions at all levels of sport. Since the passage of Title IX in 1972, the percentage of women in head coaching roles for women's NCAA sports has steadily declined from 90% in 1970–71 to 41% in 2019. Black women are particularly underrepresented, comprising a mere 3% of all NCAA women's head coaching positions. This underrepresentation is systemic and cannot be attributed to just one sport or division. With the fellowships created through the VanDerveer Fund, WSF aims to create a pipeline that will give women the mentorship and experience needed to pursue a career in coaching.
"We are so inspired by the great work that our past VanDerveer Fellows have done within their respective institutions, and we are excited to continue supporting talented young women in the coaching pipeline," Deborah Antoine, CEO of the Women's Sports Foundation, said. "Coaches play such an important part in young people's lives and development, and it is imperative that girls in sports have strong women role models to look up to. WSF is proud to honor Tara VanDerveer's legacy with these impactful grants."
Inspired by legendary Stanford University women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer, WSF designed the Fund to honor her history of trailblazing in the coaching space. Fellows continue to embody this legacy in a unique way amid the impacts of COVID-19. Undaunted by the challenges brought on by the pandemic, the inaugural class of 2019-20 WSF VanDerveer Fellows, used these transformative circumstances as an opportunity to learn and develop their coaching skills.
To learn more about the VanDerveer Fund and meet the 2020 grant recipients, visit:
https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/wsf_programs/tara-vanderveer-fund/
About The Women's Sports Foundation
The Women's Sports Foundation exists to enable girls and women to reach their potential in sport and life. We are an ally, an advocate and a catalyst. Founded by Billie Jean King in 1974, we strengthen and expand participation and leadership opportunities through research, advocacy, community programming and a wide variety of collaborative partnerships. The Women's Sports Foundation has positively shaped the lives of millions of youth, high school and collegiate student-athletes, elite athletes and coaches. We're building a future where every girl and woman can #KeepPlaying and unlock the lifelong benefits of sport participation. All girls. All women. All sports. To learn more about the Women's Sports Foundation, please visit
www.WomensSportsFoundation.org.