It Takes A Team! Director, Pat Griffin, organized and participated in a panel at the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Conference in Tampa on April 5 entitled “Seeking Common Ground: Conversations Among Lesbians, Christians and Christian Lesbians.” The panelists included women from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Athletes in Action, The National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Women’s Sports Foundation. The purpose of the panel was to explore areas of common ground among women in sport who hold divergent views and beliefs about homosexuality and the role of religion in sport.
The panel conversation was deemed an important first step toward identifying ways that women from diverse backgrounds and identities can participate on sports teams respectfully and successfully by the 40 coaches who attended and by the panelists. staffer, Melanie Bennett, video-taped the one hour panel discussion which will be posted on the ITAT web page in the near future. The panelists will be scheduling a phone conference soon to identify what the second step will be in continuing this important dialogue.
After the event Griffin interviewed Bridgett Williams, the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Wright State University, about bridging the gap between Christian and lesbian athletes.
What is your athletic background? I played for Southern Illinois University Carbondale (84-88). I am a hall of fame member.
What is your current position? Head coach. I have been coaching for about 18 years at various level.
As a Christian coach, what was your overall reaction to the WBCA panel on Seeking Common Ground Among Christian and Lesbian Athletes and Coaches? I absolutely loved it. I attended a lot of meetings over weekend, hearing this panel was top priority for me. It was much needed and long overdue in my opinion. I applaud the person who put this together.
As a coach, have you encountered Christian athletes or parents who have difficulty accepting lesbian teammates or coaches?
I have never had a encounter as a coach with anyone who had difficulty with accepting lesbian athletes or staff in my program.
Have you encountered lesbian athletes who have difficulty accepting Christian teammates or coaches?
So far I have not encountered any difficulty. (We have a very liberal campus and environment.)
What specific strategies do you use to make your teams safe, respectful and inclusive for lesbian and Christian athletes? What is the key to your success in creating a team climate that is inclusive and respectful for diverse groups of athletes?
We do a lot of team building activities together, this allows us to focus on working together and pulling from each other strengths in challenging situations. So I believe this provides the trust we need to accept each other.
How would you describe the relationships among Christian and lesbian athletes on your teams?
Have not had this encounter that I know of. But, what I would want it to look like if the encounter happened is what I felt like listening to your panel...reaching out and making it peaceful for all involved.
Find out more about this event on
Pat Griffin’s blog.