Male Educators & Coaches are Invaluable To Their Communities

Alex Araiza and Coach Yvan Salazar ( Picture by Leah Jokinen)

The coaching profession can be a rewarding endeavor for the student-athlete and the athletic coaches. When done correctly, coaches will build-up their athletes’ personal and scholastic profile and forge the community while doing so. But did you ever think about them being the father you never had? In Texas education, male coaches are the father-figures that shoulder the load of paternalistic nurturing. Here is why they are an invaluable asset to their community.

Father-Figures needed to stifle fatherlessness: The popular sitcom show aired on ABC called Modern Family speaks to the complexity that the United States has a variety of family dynamics. However, there is a dark-side existing in the family dynamic that is the concept of fatherlessness homes. There are stark realities that face many of our youth today. Being without a father can affect one’s future in a multitude of ways; poverty, drug abuse, physical and mental health, sexual activity, crime, and educational attainment are significant aspects of a child’s life that can be adversely affected.

How can male coaches stifle the consequences of fatherlessness homes? Coaches have the reputation for practicing Servant Leadership. The level of involvement in an athlete’s life usually extends beyond the classroom, building camaraderie through practice, games, and team building functions. This is especially true with coaches who work in the inner-city schools due to their commitment to extend their coaching into their athlete’s personal lives.

According to Stan Laing, Executive Athletic Director of Northside ISD in San Antonio, TX, Athletics and Extracurricular programs have a positive effect on student achievement, especially attendance. When kids are enticed to participate in a sport, this is an opportunity for a coach to make a life-long impression that will positively impact the young men and women they work with. The paternalistic nurturing of their pupils with establishing proper etiquette and instilling confidence provides a balance to their student’s life that builds on important intangibles. Present fathers are natural cultivators of confidence, risk taking, and positive self-esteem. Yet, fatherhood has progressively gotten worse for the United States to the tune of 1 in 3 children living without a father or father-figure at home. With the fatherlessness epidemic running rampant and the affect of such a state of emergency, what can male coaches do to help? The answer lies in the numbers.

Running the Numbers:

According to the Texas Education Agency (TEA), the 2019-2020 Texas Academic Performance Report (TAPR) indicates there is an immense need for males in the education industry. There are 5,479,173 students on record for the 2019-2020 school year; of that number 48.8% of the students were female and 51.2% were male. This number encompasses grades Early Childhood through 12th grade. When the student data is correlated to the number of teachers, the number totals to 363,121. Yet the representation of Male teachers to Female teachers is 23.8% to 76.2% respectively. The percentages has marginally changed in the last six years.

Does the Culture Relate?: Ethnic Distribution of the students reflects a large representation of Hispanic students in the State of Texas sitting at 52.8% of the nearly 5.5 million students. The White demographic of students is sitting at 27% followed by the African American student population sitting at 12.6%. This is vital to acknowledge because the ethnic distribution of teacher sits at 57.7% White, 28.1% Hispanic, and 10.8% African American teacher representation. The disparity in representation continues with other ethnicities such as Asian, American Indian, Pacific Islander, and Two or More Race. The challenges of meeting the demands both of gender and ethnicity are complex. It is not enough to just recruit males to the profession, but to have equitable representation across ethnicities. According to Laing “What we’re doing in coaching is the most important missionary work of our time with our young people.” The psyche of a child is delicate, so taking actions to establish a pipeline of quality men to fill the needs of education are essential to the psyche of an entire nation. The call to action is simple, the service of men is required in the education industry. Attrition is on the horizon with the influence of COVID on the economy and the state of education. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the University Interscholastic League (UIL ) must team together to promote a need for quality male, diverse educators that want to be involved in a child’s life beyond the classroom. The health of the Great State of Texas needs a father’s touch to be its hero.

The Image Represents the Gender & Ethnicities of 363,121 teachers in Texas Public Schools. There are a total of 5,479,173 students in Texas. 51.2% Male; 48.8% Female. The largest Ethnic Group within the student population is 52.8% Hispanic, followed by 27% White & 12.6% African American. Information was retrieved from TEA’s Texas Academic Performance Report.

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