Reflection
The outward perception of coaching as an occupation is considered easy, but what most don’t see is what goes on behind the scenes. Aspects of coaching such as philosophy, culture, budgeting, travel, development, and management all play a vital part in the success of coaching. The ability to do all of those aspects simultaneously is quite difficult. Although every one of those aspects is important, the ability for a coach to manage and develop a budget is arguably the most important. Without a properly managed budget, none of the other aspects of coaching are possible because the players wouldn’t have the equipment or transportation necessary to perform.
In taking a deeper look into the nuts and bolts of budgeting I researched what the difference in cost would be to run a baseball and softball team. By using data from the Equity of Athletics data website, I formulated my budget based on their numbers from the University of Mary Washington. With the figures from Mary Washington’s athletic department, I developed my own budget to run both the baseball and softball team.
With that said, what I found was running the baseball team was more expensive, but not because of the reasons one might think. In fact, the primary difference in budget was in the food and jerseys for the teams due to the fact that baseball had over ten more people. Plus, baseball teams have three jerseys while softball has only two. In regards to my budget, the men spent a little over eleven thousand dollars on jerseys while the women spent approximately seven thousand dollars. In addition, per road trip, the baseball team spends three hundred and thirty dollars for one meal compared to softball spending a measly two hundred and fifty dollars. The difference between those two categories alone a lot for about four thousand dollars difference in budgeting.
Despite food and jerseys, the biggest chunk of the budget is in the coaches salaries. Per studies of today’s workforce, women are typically paid significantly less than men when performing the same job. In the case of my research, the studies shows the complete opposite. According to the Equity of Athletics statistics, Head coaches of women’s sports make over ten thousand more than the men’s coaches. That statement is only accurate for the data I looked at from Mary Washington. However, I still found the numbers shocking due to the modern pay scale in today’s job force. As for assistant coaches, the pay grades were within a thousand dollars of each other.
Furthermore, with differences come similarities. Although the similarities were few and far between they were there. For instance, renting a charter bus for a baseball and softball team costs the same because as long as their teams fit on the bus, the differences in players has no bearing on the cost of the bus for the trip. That saying is the same for the cost of the gas for every trip. Also, the cost of equipment such as balls, fungos, and more are quite similar for baseball and softball due to the fact that we as athletes, use similar stuff. Yet, one thing that was mind boggling to me was how much more expensive softballs are than baseballs when sold. For example, one NCAA regulated softball was ninety-nine dollars per Eastbay. Anyway there are in fact similarities in the budgets of softball and baseball teams.
In conclusion, as one could conclude, there are many parts to the budget of a sports team whether it be men or women. Even though the cost to run each team is steep, a coaches ability to have a well run team could change the life an athlete. The feeling of being taken care of and having a sense of family could be all that athlete has, so by taking a deeper look, a well managed budget could change the life an athlete forever. Despite the thoughts of most, coaching isn’t as easy as it appears to be and a lot of the difficulty in coaching is developing a budget that is molded to the betterment of the team.
The outward perception of coaching as an occupation is considered easy, but what most don’t see is what goes on behind the scenes. Aspects of coaching such as philosophy, culture, budgeting, travel, development, and management all play a vital part in the success of coaching. The ability to do all of those aspects simultaneously is quite difficult. Although every one of those aspects is important, the ability for a coach to manage and develop a budget is arguably the most important. Without a properly managed budget, none of the other aspects of coaching are possible because the players wouldn’t have the equipment or transportation necessary to perform.
In taking a deeper look into the nuts and bolts of budgeting I researched what the difference in cost would be to run a baseball and softball team. By using data from the Equity of Athletics data website, I formulated my budget based on their numbers from the University of Mary Washington. With the figures from Mary Washington’s athletic department, I developed my own budget to run both the baseball and softball team.
With that said, what I found was running the baseball team was more expensive, but not because of the reasons one might think. In fact, the primary difference in budget was in the food and jerseys for the teams due to the fact that baseball had over ten more people. Plus, baseball teams have three jerseys while softball has only two. In regards to my budget, the men spent a little over eleven thousand dollars on jerseys while the women spent approximately seven thousand dollars. In addition, per road trip, the baseball team spends three hundred and thirty dollars for one meal compared to softball spending a measly two hundred and fifty dollars. The difference between those two categories alone a lot for about four thousand dollars difference in budgeting.
Despite food and jerseys, the biggest chunk of the budget is in the coaches salaries. Per studies of today’s workforce, women are typically paid significantly less than men when performing the same job. In the case of my research, the studies shows the complete opposite. According to the Equity of Athletics statistics, Head coaches of women’s sports make over ten thousand more than the men’s coaches. That statement is only accurate for the data I looked at from Mary Washington. However, I still found the numbers shocking due to the modern pay scale in today’s job force. As for assistant coaches, the pay grades were within a thousand dollars of each other.
Furthermore, with differences come similarities. Although the similarities were few and far between they were there. For instance, renting a charter bus for a baseball and softball team costs the same because as long as their teams fit on the bus, the differences in players has no bearing on the cost of the bus for the trip. That saying is the same for the cost of the gas for every trip. Also, the cost of equipment such as balls, fungos, and more are quite similar for baseball and softball due to the fact that we as athletes, use similar stuff. Yet, one thing that was mind boggling to me was how much more expensive softballs are than baseballs when sold. For example, one NCAA regulated softball was ninety-nine dollars per Eastbay. Anyway there are in fact similarities in the budgets of softball and baseball teams.
In conclusion, as one could conclude, there are many parts to the budget of a sports team whether it be men or women. Even though the cost to run each team is steep, a coaches ability to have a well run team could change the life an athlete. The feeling of being taken care of and having a sense of family could be all that athlete has, so by taking a deeper look, a well managed budget could change the life an athlete forever. Despite the thoughts of most, coaching isn’t as easy as it appears to be and a lot of the difficulty in coaching is developing a budget that is molded to the betterment of the team.