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Canadian university coach responds to the gender equality debate

CIS XC
Canadian university coaches voted down a motion for gender equality at the 2015 university cross-country championships (CIS) two weeks ago in Guelph, Ont.

After reaching out to coaches who voted either in favour, were opposed, or abstained, Canadian Running posted their responses in regards to each of their voting rationales.

Responses from coaches.

What coaches allegedly said.

Dick Moss, the head coach of cross-country and track and field at Laurentian University, located in Sudbury, Ont., explains his reasons for voting against the motion in this op-ed response to our coverage.

Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.


First of all, I don’t believe there’s a coach in the CIS who is sexist. Personally I’ve worked with female athletes for 30 years and know they’re every bit as tough and capable as male runners (in many cases, more so). And of course, I know that female runners can race 10K or farther. I don’t know a single CIS coach who feels differently.

The question isn’t “can” they. It’s should they, do they want to, do they care what the guys do, and what will be the effects on the league if they do.

In this discussion, there are divergent opinions about what “equality” truly means, what the optimal distance is for women’s participation and development, and what effects a change will have on the teams in the CIS. I’ll explain further.

Equality

I believe that equality for women runners doesn’t necessarily mean being identical to men. I believe it means having the right to be different if that’s what’s best. In our case, it may not be ideal for CIS women to race the 10K just because the men do it. For example, there are different opinions about whether the 10K is an optimal distance for male runners, especially those coming out of high school.

Female Athlete Input – The OUA Poll

The OUA [Ontario University Athletics] coaches have already discussed the race distance issue and in 2014 conducted a poll of our female athletes. In response, 152 athletes replied with an 80 per cent response rate, which is a significant sample size. The results indicated the following:  

  1. Female runners in the OUA don’t care what distance the guys are doing and don’t feel their race distance has to be the same as the men’s.
  2. The optimal race distance is 6K: 68 per cent felt the distance should be 6K or shorter, 29 per cent wanted the 8K distance and only 12 per cent wanted to race 10K.
  3. Twenty-one per cent of the respondents would drop out of cross-country if the race distance were increased to 8K or 10K.
  4. Over 70 per cent of our cross-country runners also race indoor track.

 
I should mention that I conducted an informal survey with my own athletes and alumni (and repeated it with my athletes at the CIS championships). The results were similar. Quite telling was a runner who personally preferred the 10K but voted for the 6K because she felt it was better for the league.

While this poll was not conducted nation-wide, it does indicate the feelings of the athletes within our conference and I feel obligated to represent their opinion. These women are not beginners. They are confident, intelligent, experienced athletes, some of whom have five years of collegiate running under their belt. Who better to listen to when deciding on race distances?

I strongly believe that female athletes who will live with our decisions deserve to have their voices heard. And I find it ironic that those coaches who have taken our women runners’ opinions into consideration are being labelled “sexist pigs” for doing so.

The IAAF and FISU

A trigger for this push for identical race distances is that the IAAF cross-country championships will now feature 10K race distances for both men and women. However, I don’t believe the IAAF distances should be our focus when designing women’s CIS running. In fact, very few of our athletes will immediately participate on one of those teams (only one competed at the world senior championships last year).

While there are many exceptions, our world cross-country athletes tend to be post-collegians with extensive experience. For example, the Canadian women’s team’s finishers from last year were 34, 29, 27, 26 and 23 years of age. Plus, that race takes place once every two years. Should our entire system be devoted to producing athletes for this competition?

Actually, our athletes tend to have a greater presence at the FISU cross-country championships (World University Championships). The distance run at that competition is 6K, not 10K.

However, I don’t think FISU should be our primary focus either. I believe we should design a system that allows for maximum participation among university women while still allowing our elite runners to develop. I believe that 6K or 8K distances do just that.

You also have to remember that the CIS cross-country season is only two months. Canadian university runners needing to race 10K for a world championship race in March have ample time to adapt their training.

Athlete Development

Most of the athletes in the CIS begin running at the age of 17 to 18 and graduate by the time they are 22. That makes them junior or espoir athletes, not true seniors.

There are different philosophies about developing athletes through the junior/espoir years. Some believe that a steady diet of 10K-based training is optimal for both middle distance and distance runners. Some believe that it’s better to maintain faster running speeds while young, and move to 10K-based training later. Both are valid but neither system is best for every runner! My personal preference, with the type of athlete with whom I typically work, is the former. Other coaches might have a different athlete population and prefer the opposite.

However, these are matters of coaching philosophy, not human rights issues.

Participation

I believe that an increase to 10K would reduce our cross-country numbers and would make it difficult for some teams to field a full squad. Why? Certainly, the OUA poll indicated that it would happen. But also, because the jump from high school distances to 10K is large and some runners will have to sit out a year while increasing their mileage levels; a high percentage of our cross-country runners are track athletes; it’s just not as much fun to be on the course for 35-plus minutes with a strung-out field. These aren’t philosophical questions about equity, they are reality.

The reality is that there won’t be a huge infusion of 10K type runners if we switch to a 10K race distance. The 10K runners are already on our squads. What will happen is that our faster-twitch runners will drop out. While the OUA poll might be a slight exaggeration, it indicates that as many as 21 per cent will quit cross-country if the race distance was increased. Some teams can’t afford that.

In contrast, the 6K or 8K should maintain current participation. At this point, cross-country in the CIS is thriving. Why mess with it?

Our Mandate

We have to remember that 95 per cent of our CIS athletes will not make an IAAF national team (that’s a guess – it might be even lower). For most of our runners, university competition is the pinnacle of their career. After their eligibility is completed, they will go on to graduate school, careers, and paying off their student debt. Many will keep running, but not at a highly competitive level. I believe our responsibility is to provide the majority of our athletes with a good experience while still allowing the elites to develop. I believe the 6K or 8K distances do that for both populations.

Personal opinion and my vote

I believe either the 6K or 8K can do a good job of developing athletes for higher levels of competition. The 10K can do the same, but the side-effect of moving to the 10K will be a reduction in participation and the possibility that some schools will be unable to field a full team.

As I mentioned in the meeting, I don’t mind the 8K, but I would currently vote for the 6K because that’s the distance that’s preferred by the majority of my own female athletes and those in the OUA. I believe female athletes should have a say in determining their own system – to me, that’s a better signal of equality than simply copying what the men do.

For the motion in question, voting for the 8K was not actually possible. I voted “against” the motion because it would have automatically forced our women to run 10K next year. Also, because I believe that our female athletes shouldn’t be tied to the men’s distance if they feel that distance isn’t optimal.

I also believe that the point about “what distances would we choose if we were starting from scratch,” should be amended to “what distances would women choose if they were starting from scratch…regardless of the men’s distance.” It might very well be 6K.

Dick Moss,

Cross-Country, Track and Field Head Coach,

Laurentian University

Photo: Cross-Country et athlétisme

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