Former Asheville women's coach discusses LGBT issues

By Margo Consul

Helen Carroll spoke on homophobia in athletics, sharing her background as a coach and how those experiences drove her to become an activist for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.

Carroll ranks second in all-time career victories at University of North Carolina, Asheville, starting as women's basketball head coach in 1983.

As the homophobia in sports project coordinator at the National Center for Lesbian Rights, Carroll works with athletic departments around the nation by running workshops and holding discussions with athletic directors, coaches and players about LGBT-related issues.

During an on-campus event on Wednesday in the California Mission Room, Carroll spoke about how she shared her sexuality with her team. She led Asheville to a 1984 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national championship, becoming the first woman to do so.

The event was sponsored by Santa Clara's women and gender studies department, Office for Multicultural Learning, Office of the Provost and Office of Student Life.

Carroll spoke about the moment she sat her team down and talked to them in hopes of bringing the team together.

Carroll believes that her support and celebration of differences on the team was what made it succeed, and she encouraged coaches to do the same.

"This is what I tell the coaches: 'It doesn't affect their play, doesn't affect their ability. This is what makes your team stronger. If it's not a safety issue, if it's not a health issue, then you let the individuality happen and even use it as a talking point,'" Carroll said.

After her four-year tenure at Asheville, Carroll took up the athletic director position at Mills College in Oakland, Calif., where she worked for 12 years.

"I wanted to be able to work with coaches, or to be an athletic director so I could work with coaches and pass on some of this information because I felt like it was information that no coaches were really getting," Carroll said.

"Coaches don't know how to talk about it. We're not taught how to talk about it, and you can't really approach a subject that you don't know what to do with," she said.

Carroll touched on how athletes have changed and are more proud of their individuality and expressions of their sexuality.

An athlete's sexual orientation is a huge part of his or her individuality, said Carroll.

"Of course, the other thing athletes are doing is around sexual orientation," Carroll said. "You've got athletes in high school who are out who have already been talking to coaches who are supportive of them being out, but what are they going to do, go back into the closet? No. So, coaches have got to be ready for that also."

Carroll encourages coaches to promote a movement toward the healthy recognition of homosexuality among athletes.

"This is really happening more at the emphasis of the athletes than by any other way," Carroll said.

Zoe Segnitz, an academic support manager for Santa Clara's athletic department, was there as the lone representative of the athletic department.

"I feel like there is a lot of freedom for students to be out in our sports programs, but that doesn't mean it is being handled as well as it could be," Segnitz said.

She added, "Sometimes players are put in charge of creating a comfortable environment, which is great because they are the team, but the coaches need to be included."

Contact Margo Consul at (408) 551-1918 or mconsul@scu.edu.