building female leaders through sport: a sense of vocation

Group Leaders: Julie Shockey and Jane Hildebrand

Many of our female athletes come from homes where both parents work, allowing an evolving view of being a woman and gender roles. Many of the “traditional” gender roles are coming into question. Some of our female students are struggling with what it means to be a strong woman in today’s society, and are having a hard time developing the leadership skills necessary to become a positive role model for future generations. Many are attempting to define a new sense of vocation through leadership. It is the hope that with readings focused on leadership skills, femininity and gender roles, as well as frank discussions that create a safe place to relay thoughts, ideas and feelings on the subject matter, we can begin to articulate a new vision of vocation and leadership for women.

The group, comprised of coaches and athletes from each female sport at Luther, have expressed interest in joining together during January Term 2008. Our plan is to read three books during J-Term, meet weekly with structured questions and to discuss and reflect our thoughts regarding the books each week. We would also like to utilize the web through Jeff Jansen’s “Team Captains Network.” In addition, our primary goals are:

Increased understanding of the female athlete:
Because of shifting gender roles, much has changed as our female students have grown up with two working parents, and are now faced with much more uncertainty in their gender role than before. As an athletics staff, we need to come to a better understanding of what it means to be a woman in a sport today and develop those skills that encourage young girls and women to fill the leadership roles that are becoming available. How can we ever expect men to understand our roles if we don’t understand them ourselves?

Developing a plan for future projects/possibilities:

What did we learn from our time together? How can we put a plan into action? How can we be positive female leaders and role models for our teams, our school, our world? Can we make a difference through vocation?

Book List:

• You Go Girl: Winning the Woman’s Way by Kim Doren, Charlie Jones, Kristine Lilly$22.95
• Team Captain’s Leadership Manual by Jeff Jansen $19.95
• Whale Done! The Power of Positive Relationships by Kenneth H. Blanchard $16.80

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