Hey, that’s a woman! – Lunch Bunch Speaker

Sports fans are seeing a lot more women suited up as coaches and referees in NCAA and professional teams. Numbers are growing off the playing field, too, in logistics, PR, psychology, human relations and more. A Lunch Bunch presenter tells why these women add value to all aspects of teams’ organization.

Jacquiline Roberts, a recent guest at Lunch Bunch, served a three-year stint managing OSU Women’s Basketball while studying industrial and systems engineering. She came to realize she could combine her three-sport athletic background with her new-found academic field, which encompasses human interaction.

She also saw the wave of change coming to sports, one that benefited from women’s participation off the playing field. She took advantage of one such situation, reaching out to the Cleveland Browns’ logistics and operations administrator, who is a woman.

“I saw her being interviewed (about her position) and decided to get in touch,” Jacquline recalled. “I got out stationery and a pen and wrote a note.” Her decision to reach out resulted in a summer internship with the Cleveland Browns.

Since graduating from Ohio State with her bachelor’s degree, she is working a second internship with the Browns in logistics and operations management. The National Football League post gives her an opportunity to use “a passion for system processes.” That involves the huge job of making sure players, coaches, support staff and equipment managers can rely on a smooth season.

Women’s interest in professional sport careers is rising, and hiring managers are responding, she said. The NCAA and professional leagues like the NFL have come to realize the value of women’s contributions.

• Female employees bring backgrounds in multiple sports, like Jacquiline expanding her basketball management experience to the Browns organization. The new hires also may have varying educational and cultural differences.
• Women’s way of thinking, life experiences and skills give them skills to connect communities, such a tribe of elite athletes, the people at home who support them, and the organizations that direct them.
• Women teach collaboration as a strength. Male players may not have considered the value of working together on skills rather than only as individuals.
• Sometimes, women’s insights can heal rifts in a high-stress situation, literally played out in the public. For instance, disputes may arise between players and the front office or family conflicts may distract from concentrating on winning.

Roles are being established, so it is time to prove women’s value to winning, Jacquiline said. Executives are catching on. High level hires total 223, a 141 percent since 2020, including fifteen coaches for male teams. Also, the fan base is rapidly increasing, for instance the 18.7 million viewers of the Women’s NCAA basketball final – the most watched game ever.

Jacquiline is passionate about boosting and maintaining the pipeline to sports careers. She urges enthusiasts to advocate increases in free or low-cost training, equipment, and contests. She said local government should take on public financing of clubs and teams, including building playgrounds and fields. Individuals can donate to individual teams. The most obvious way to support girls and women is to go to contests and cheer them on.

Her goal is to show young people that women can succeed and contribute to every sport operation.