A program supposedly designed to help girls thrive in sports now faces a glaring question with a simple answer: What is a girl?
CoachingHER, an initiative launched in 2023 through a partnership between Nike and the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota, aims to help coaches confront gender stereotypes and keep girls engaged in athletics.
There is just one problem. The program’s definition of “girls” doesn’t stop at biological females.
According to Fox News’ OutKick, CoachingHER defines girls as people under 18 who were assigned female at birth or who identify as girls. Its FAQ further states that the program includes “gender-expansive identities.”
For former coach Sarah Barker, that isn’t some insignificant piece of fine print. It strikes at the very foundation of a program claiming to advocate for girls.
Barker, who spent approximately 10 years coaching and now runs The Female Category, said she spent months digging into CoachingHER. She completed its training modules, researched the material supporting the curriculum and interviewed CoachingHER director Alicia Pelton.
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What she found left her deeply concerned.
One portion of the training encourages coaches to accept “ALL bodies and identities,” according to Barker. But when combined with CoachingHER’s broader definition of girls, Barker believes the program is moving beyond helping female athletes and into reshaping how coaches understand biological sex itself.
And that raises an even bigger question: Is this really addressing why girls are leaving sports?
OutKick reported that a current CoachingHER article cites 2024 research identifying low body confidence as the No. 1 reason girls quit athletics. Barker says her examination of research surrounding girls’ participation did not show coaches’ gender bias among the leading reasons girls leave.
“Why would they build an entire program around blaming coaches when they know that that is not true?” Barker asked.
In other words, the ideas at the center of this controversy could reach the very people being trained to shape the next generation of athletes.
Barker has a striking term for what she believes is happening: “girl washing.”
She argues that organizations can present initiatives as victories for female athletes while embracing policies that erase the biological distinctions that made women’s sports necessary in the first place. Barker went so far as to describe CoachingHER as an “indoctrination program for coaches” that she believes seeks to normalize biological males competing in girls’ athletics.
The underlying question belongs to every parent, coach and young woman watching where sports culture is heading.
If we’re going to fight for girls, shouldn’t we first be willing to say what a girl is?
Abby Trivett is a writer and editor for Charisma Media and has a passion for sharing the gospel through the written word. She holds two degrees from Regent University, a B.A. in Communication with a concentration in Journalism and a Master of Arts in Journalism. She is the author of the newly released book, The Power of Suddenly: Discover How God Can Change Everything in a Moment. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
