Of all the uniforms she’s had, the coaching uniform was not something Hofstra University volleyball head coach Emily Mansur thought she’d ever wear.

That all changed after she finished playing for the Iona University Gaels when she had an opportunity to coach at Downstate Volleyball, not far from her alma mater, from which she was able to springboard herself into a collegiate coaching career. 

“That’s when I saw that there is an opportunity here,” Mansur said. “And it just opened up to me a whole new vision about women in athletics.”

Mansur didn’t grow up with women coaches.

“[Coaching] was just a male dominant professional back home,” Mansur said. “I’ve never really had female coaches in Brazil. I never thought I could be a coach when I lived in Brazil; it was not in my mind at all.”

Courtney Veinotte, the Hofstra field hockey head coach, had the complete opposite experience and was surrounded by and accustomed to seeing women in leadership positions in athletics. Coaching felt like a natural progression, to some extent, to her and her peers.

“The high school program that I grew up in, the group of women, including my mom, have been coaching together for about 35 years,” Veinotte said. “When I was in the youth program, the high school girls were coaching the young group, and so you saw that there’s this pipeline of opportunity and that sport could connect you to that college experience.”

Women’s basketball head coach Danielle Santos Atkinson had a similar experience to Veinotte, where she was taught by women during her high school years and onward. This made all the difference in the world to her.

“Now as a collegiate coach … I do appreciate having a female collegiate coach because I feel as though my experience was different,” Atkinson said. “My coach was very nurturing; you felt like she understood you a little bit more.”

Carolyn Peck was that central figure for Atkinson and her team during her college career. On top of a robust coaching career, Peck is now a sports broadcaster at ESPN.

“She was the first female Black coach to win the national championship at Purdue; she coached in the WNBA and so there was so much about her that I did look up to,” Atkinson explained. “I feel like a lot of who I am as a coach now, I got from her, and I’m able to emulate some of that, I hope.”

No matter how much of Peck she tries to emulate, time and again Atkinson has experienced moments where her value was questioned in her profession.

“I mean, it is, for sure, a male dominated profession. As you work your way through as an assistant coach to a head coach, at times there are all sorts of question marks that are put over you, and you feel as though you have to prove your worth at times,” Atkinson said. “As an assistant coach with male assistant coach counterparts and peers, at times their voices are heard a little bit more than yours until you’ve really worked and worked twice as hard to earn that respect.”

In her tenure as a coach, Atkinson has been a part of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Women’s Coaches NEXT UP Program, the Villa 7 Leadership Conference, Next Chair, Step Up Assistant Coaches Symposium, NCAA/BCA Achieving Coaching Excellence Program, Coaching U Live Conference and the NCAA Women’s Coaches Leadership Academy. Bottom line: she’s not alone in the male-dominated field of coaching.

“It doesn’t matter the sport; we all have the same challenges,” Atkinson said. “It doesn’t matter the program or the level; we all have very similar challenges, and we were able to take away such great ideas from all the women that were there because everybody had very similar goals.”

Just recently, when it came to making a human connection for a new international recruit, Atkinson had Mansur’s help. 

“We’re recruiting a Brazilian player, [the volleyball team] has Brazilian players, Emily’s from Brazil and speaks Portuguese, and so does the player we’re recruiting, so why not get her in the mix?” Atkinson said. “I think from a women’s sports standpoint, all of us women’s head coaches, I think all of us really do a great job of communicating, supporting each other and uplifting each other when we need it.”

Uplifting each other is something that Mansur takes to another level in her personal coaching philosophy.

“I think the courage to stand up to anyone and be able to have a conversation with anyone, doesn’t matter it’s a man or a woman; I hope to be able to teach [my players] to leave here a leader that can work for anyone and can lead anyone,” Mansur said. “I have two kids, and for sure, I encounter certain things that maybe males in coaching don’t … I want to show our ladies that you can do it.”

“Something I’ve always learned and preach to our players is to bet on yourself; too many times people second guess themselves,” said Hofstra women’s lacrosse head coach Shannon Smith. “Fight for what you deserve, and fight for that right.” 

With increasing exposure of women’s sports in social media and pop culture, the coaches of Hofstra University are optimistic about what the future holds. 

“It’s still different, but we see women’s basketball gets to have a good amount of the exposure that the guys get,” Mansur said. “And I think it’s nice to see, for me, as a female in sports, in volleyball, we get the support we need. But we’ll continue to fight to get more, of course.”

“When I was playing, social media wasn’t huge, and now, everything is instant access off your cell phone,” Smith said. “I think men’s lacrosse always had the game on TV. The big conferences are putting forward the women’s sports and putting a push [for that].”

“The world of coaching is changing, for sure,” Atkinson said. “But I love more of the diversity that’s coming. I think it’s only going to help athletics, [and] it’s going to help continue to drive and show that we deserve a seat at the table, that we’re very qualified, that we bring a lot to these programs and that we’re capable.”

Photo courtesy of Hofstra Athletics