Natural Born Leader: Meet FC Harlem, Coach Jodie

This month, TONL partnered with Nike to profile various coaches and young women in soccer as they demonstrate why diverse representation matters in sport, coaching, and the athlete/coach relationship. Throughout this week, hear from the FC Harlem Lions, a specialized program for talented and committed youth of color ages 10- 19 who often do not get opportunities to pursue soccer development at the highest levels. The number 1 goal of FC Harlem is to help the youth meet their academic and professional goals. The women on this team are "Leaders n Our Neighborhoods" (L.I.O.N.S) so be sure to read the stories of these leading ladies. Now, meet one of the coaches leading the pack: Coach Jodie!

TONL: Soccer is a heavily dominated male sport. At what point did you decide that this was going to be a part of your journey?

Coach Jodie: So I always played just soccer naturally. I don’t really know why.

You have no idea why you started? You just picked up…

No!

Haha!

But, from where I lived loads of people played it. Mostly boys, all older than me and I just, for whatever reason, I wanted to join in. So yeah - I’ve always played for boys and always had to try and fit in and be accepted so, yeah it’s tough, but I sort of liked that challenge and I wanted to be as good as them. And then, yeah I went into playing with females um from quite an early age so maybe like 11 or 12.

That's amazing. Coach Jodie: [shouts at players “Well, done!”]

Has your gender played a role in how you coach women? Like, is that something you consciously think about, like “how can I make women feel more comfortable”?

Yeah, I think so. I’ve experienced bad coaches and good coaches. I always think about the experiences I have had with bad coaches and think, “why is that?” and "how can I make sure that I am not like them"? So, yeah I think for me as a female coaching females, you have to be a role model. Someone that can really relate to them and understand what they’re going through, because girls are naturally sometimes a bit anxious and scared to try things and push themselves out of their comfort zones so I think it’s about empowering them to go actually do it. Off you go!

Hah! That’s really good!

That’s real. What differences do you see in coaching young women of color? Do they have the same confidence? Do they like… we really want to..Nike really wants to zero in on.

I think I see the same level of confidence, yeah. I just think females and women and girls in general need that arm around their shoulder to go: “This is what I want you to do. Let me support you and help you”. Then, if you keep supporting them, they will continue to try it and slowly you will see the improvement.

So good. It’s very true. Next question is what is a common misconception you wish to dispel as a female coach? Maybe the respect. “It’s the female. She must be the physio. She can’t be a coach.” Or “She doesn't have as much knowledge” or "you don’t need to respect her as much" or even from boys particularly: “how can I relate to her?”. So that apprehension -“how do I speak with a female coach?” or “how do I interact?”. So I think that’s why it's really important that men coach the female games and girls coach male games because how can you otherwise interact with people in society? You know, it’s not about your age or your gender or your ethnicity; it’s “how do I interact with a black man?” “How do I interact with a black woman?” or whoever it may be. It actually doesn’t change; it’s about breaking down the barriers. People are people.

"People are people." That’s a really great message.

The next question is….second to last question is: who was your sports model growing up and why?

So, growing up female-wise, Kelly Smith and Rachel Yankey. Arsenal women were massive at that time and you always hear about the US national team as well. I watched “Bend It Like Beckham” and that story is all about these girls wanting to go to the states and get a scholarship, so growing up that was a realistic pathway. Like the fact that it was on TV (women’s soccer wasn’t broadcasted in the UK at that time) and now you look at like Alex Morgan…players like that - so many now.

It’s funny because I remember “Bend It Like Beckham” too.

Oh, don’t you?! It was my favorite movie.

It was a good film.

Haha! It was always like, before it’s time as well!

Yeah, yeah it was! Very much. NOW everything is ‘diversity’

Yeah and they had like Keira Knightley and she was really successful. If you cast it wrong it would be a completely different story so…

It’s so true though. The last question is… What’s the favorite part of your relationship with your players? I think when you’re already passionate about something, and then you see your players have that same passion, and try things that you know that they won’t try to start with or even improve after you’ve helped them with something, or just seeing them be really good, young people or adults, I think that’s the most rewarding thing. For example, today we’ve come at 3:30, we finished the shoot and the girls are wanting to stay until 7 o’clock/ 7:15. So they’ve been here for four hours. And that’s what you want; you want people to say, “actually, I really enjoy this”. It’s not necessarily about being good; it’s about enjoying playing it- having the opportunity.

Shop the entire TONLxNike Collection here and be sure to read the other compelling Narratives from the collection!