Riggins & Wallace Set for USTFCCCA Female Coaches Mentorship Program

Murray State's assistant track & field and cross country coach, Kelsey Riggins, and assistant cross country coach Jordan Wallace are participating in the USTFCCCA Female Mentorship Coaching Program this fall. The program was instituted to foster change in the track & field and cross country community to create more opportunities for women to be coaches.

In the NCAA, female coaches are underrepresented in head coaching positions across the country. Per the NCAA demographics database, only 19% of women's track & field and cross country programs are headed by women. Additionally, only 36% of assistant coaches are female in track & field and cross country programs.

Initially when Rhonda Riley, Janine Kuestner and Angelina Ramos started the program, it was designed to retain women in track & field and cross country programs. The numbers were falling off dramatically across all levels. Riley, Kuestner and Ramos were interested in keeping women involved with the sport whether it'd be coaching or holding administrative roles.

Riggins has been there since the beginning of the FCMP. She started out in a peer mentorship the first year of the program and became a mentor in her second year. Now in her third year, Riggins has joined the committee along with Melissa Ferry from Virginia Union and plays an active role in the pairing of mentor and mentees.

"One of my bigger passions is having women, whether it be in athletics or the female student athletes, feeling empowered," said Riggins.

Riggins brought fellow Murray State assistant track & field and cross country coach, Wallace into the program last year.

"Not everybody's as fortunate as Jordan and I. We have each other. Some women are the only female on their entire staff. This program provides you with other women doing the same thing you're doing. It's nice to be a part of a community on a bigger scale," says Riggins.

The numbers of participants in the FCMP increased from 30 pairs of women last year to over 100 pairings this year with women representing every division and age level. Pairings include coaches who have been around for 30 years and coaches who are just getting their start.

Wallace began as a mentee last year. She will be a mentor this year.

Each month a prompt goes out to the pairings with different topics to discuss. The prompts cover various aspects of coaching that mentees can discuss with their mentors. If a mentee is out at practice and sees something in their athlete's form, they can send videos to their mentors to get their opinion.

The FCMP goes beyond sharing coaching techniques. The program builds comradery and a professional network of female coaches. It has opened conversations about salaries and contract negotiations, being a coach and a mother and the work/life balance as a woman in coaching.

"It's really nice to be able to learn from each other and be an advocate for each other as well," states Wallace.

Even after the one-year program is done, mentors and mentees continue to stay in touch. Riggins and Wallace continue to keep in contact with their previous pairings.

In addition to Riggins being a mentor to other female coaches, she is empowering student-athletes at Murray State. In 2019, Riggins started the W.E.E. Program, which stands for Women's Empowerment and Education. The program promotes female student-athletes, teaching them to be leaders in the community and discusses different professional development topics, including interviewing and life skills.

While COVID-19 has cancelled the spring track & field season and has postponed the fall cross country season, Riggins and Wallace say it's especially important to keep connecting with coaches from other schools, learning how they are handling the situation. The Females Coaches Mentorship Program has made a network of female coaches that will continue to grow.

Murray State University Athletics

Riggins & Wallace Set for USTFCCCA Female Coaches Mentorship Program

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