International Women's Day: Female coaches in the sport of luge

Salzburg (FIL/08 March 2023) On International Women's Day, March 8, we are celebrating female coaches in the sport of luge.

The FIL strives for gender balance among athletes, medical staff as well as coaches and trainers. In order to achieve top performances or the best possible results, the existing range of diverse competencies should be drawn upon, according to the German Olympic Sports Federation (DOSB). 

Unfortunately, it is still the case that the coaching profession is a predominantly male-dominated field of work and women are severely underrepresented. "The world of coaches in winter sports is still a male domain. From my point of view, this is mainly due to the fact that women with children and family find it difficult to reconcile the extensive travel activities," says FIL Sports Director Maria-Luise Rainer.

The 30-year-old Eunryung Sung was herself a luge athlete in the Korean national team and is now a coach of the national team. The Olympic twelfth-place finisher with the Sochi 2014 team relay team loves her job: "A coach or a trainer is the person who helps the athletes the most to “giving their all”. It's nice to set short- and long-term goals, work together towards those goals, and be able to see the results in clear numbers. The opportunity to travel abroad often is also very attractive to me. I consider myself very lucky to be able to make friends and connect with people from different countries through sports."

The Korean head coach Wolfgang Staudinger appreciates the work of the only female coach in the national team very much: " Eunryung is very important for our team. Maciej and I can work optimally as a team together with her. She is responsible for the athletic training of the team, supports me very much in the organization, is technically extremely competent and a likeable, young contact person for our athletes. Eunryung is a great asset and very important for our team. We are happy to have her as a coach".

But why are there not more female luge coaches if women like Eunryung Sung from Seoul are so appreciated by fellow coaches and athletes in the team? Eunryung Sung doesn't see the problem with luge: "I think the lack of female leaders is a global problem, not just in luge. It would be nice if there was a place for female coaches to be trained. I think there will be more opportunities if they strengthen their skills through education and training, create a community among themselves and communicate more with each other. More female coaches could be good for more than just female athletes."

Fellow German coach Katja Haupt adds, "In many cases, there is simply still an old image of women in society. This is not country-specific, this antiquated image of the role of a woman is common to all nations," explains the coach of the German national luge team. Katja Haupt has been working full-time as a coach in the sport of luge for 15 years and has spent many years as a national coach with a team consisting of three women managing young talent at the Winterberg base. Katja Haupt explains how she often feels: "Acquaintances often ask me what my husband says about me being on the road so much. No one ever asks a woman what she says when her husband is away on assembly or on a business trip all week.

Yet many female luge athletes show that it is possible to be successful in competitive sports even with children. Athletes such as six-time Olympic Champion Natalie Geisenberger, Sprint World Champion Dajana Eitberger and Olympic luge athlete Aiva Aparjode have also continued to successfully pursue the sport of luge with children. "Why shouldn't you be able to do that as a coach," says Katja Haupt and knows "you have to assert yourself as a woman against the many men in sports and against the old image of women in society. That's important, and it's the only way we women can be successful in the long run and hold our own in the coaching profession."

Eunryung Sung in Korea, Katja Haupt in Germany and Tatjana Hüfner for Italy, are currently the only female coaches in the national luge teams. There are a few more women in junior or youth luge. Corina Dragan in Romania, for example, Canadian Lindsay Forberg at the Alberta Luge Association, Sandra Lembert in Austria, Caroline Kannel at USA Luge, Claudia Holzhäuser, Marion Thees and Eliza Tiruma at bases in Germany or Svitlana Kravchuk in the junior team of Ukraine.

"It's very difficult for women to work as a trainer, especially when they leave their family and child at home, drive far by car, repair sleds, organize training and much more," says 30-year-old Svitlana Kravchuk. But she is sure she has chosen the right profession: "When I have to leave my 6-year-old son at home with his father, it is very hard for me. But I really like working as a trainer, I love my job and enjoy it. It's my calling. I am sure that women are pretty good specialists!!! We women are certainly not worse as coaches than men!"

The German Youth A national coach Claudia Holzhäuser tells that „often the earning potential is very different and it is too little appreciated that especially in the junior area female representatives and role models both are important for the young athletes – and not all female athletes want to talk to men about all topics," is her experience.

And Katja Haupt adds: "I can see that I basically tick differently than my male colleagues. I don't want to say that's better or worse. But I have a different take of things and sometimes have a different way of thinking in order to develop something further”.

Female coaches are expected to become a fundamental part of sports in the future, according to the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Many experts see the employment of female sports personnel as indispensable for the functioning of sports. Female coaches are role models who influence athletes. They are contact people and representatives, they take responsibility, they inspire and often form the basis of a successful and cooperative training and competition. In this sense, the International Luge Federation FIL would like to see more female coaches in the sport of luge and hopes that this will be achieved in the coming years. “The FIL has worked hard to bring gender equality to athletes and officials at competitions.  We have some work ahead of us now to also bring this to the area of coaching and administration.   To this end, we have formed a Gender Equality Working Group, headed up by Alex Gough of Canada. We look forward to helping women make strides in all areas of our sport and assist them to reach the goals they choose for themselves”, says FIL Vice President for Sport Claire del Negro.