What’s it like to be a female coach in a man’s league? Ask Irene Skanderis

November 12, 2020 · 0 Comments

Irene Skanderis has always loved baseball. She’s played the game since her high school days in Toronto.

As a young athlete and the eldest of four children, Skanderis has always had a lot of male friends. She was an athlete in a man’s game. She not only knew how to play baseball. She was good at it. That earned her respect while playing in the Princess Margaret baseball league, setting the tone for the co-ed division.

She watched the Toronto Blue Jays and praised the energetic persona of club legend Joe Carter. She says that’s her in a nutshell when on the diamond. Her energy and competitive drive define her everyday living.

Skanderis always wanted to remain a part of the sport. She signed up to be a coach, and studied in her applicable courses. She completed 13 courses and has trained to be a regional and provincial coach under the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) through Baseball Canada.

There was no caveat, no document to headline what was to lay ahead. She signed up for the Aurora-King house league program six years ago and there began to experience her first count of discrimination.

“It happened in King during a house league game,” Skanderis began to explain. “They were chirping me from the bench. Saying such things such as, ‘what does she know about baseball?’ I was on the field as a third base coach. The opposing coach stood directly behind me near the base while I was coaching. My players were confused because he was wearing a blue jacket as I was. When you’re coaching, and you are on defense, you should be inside the dugout, and definitely not in the other coach’s way when they are coaching. This is an unwritten rule. I called timeout. I didn’t even want to engage with him. I knew how to handle such situations, and personalities. I proceeded to discuss the situation with the umpire and he was told to move.”

Coaches swore at her. Even worse, parents would throw in their two cents following the coach’s remarks. She filed a complaint to the president of Aurora-King at the time and no action was taken.

She isn’t the retiring type. Not the one to be toyed with. She has an earnest conviction on being successful and these incidents motivated her to be a better coach and a better role model.

She became an assistant coach with the Select program (now disbanded) three years ago and transitioned into head coach of the rep program the year after with Aurora-King. It was an easy one. The children knew who she was and her coaching style: have fun.

She told “lame jokes” according to some of her players, but they were jokes nonetheless. She believed that rep ball needed to be fun. It can’t be taken seriously all the time.

In house league, Skanderis thought the remarks were all left behind. In Aurora-King they were. A lot of the coaches in the York-Simcoe division became her friends. Everything rolled in the right direction. There was respect in her two years as manager.

That didn’t discount other leagues and in a west Mississauga tournament last year, one coach didn’t shake her hand before the game.

“I was shocked. It’s 2019. A mother on our team who took all the photos for our team said ‘Coach, come look at this.’ I knew something was going on.”

Skanderis didn’t take it to heart. Her team won the game.

In her two years of head coach in the rep division, Aurora-King remained in the top two or three position in the standings consistently throughout the season during the Minor Bantam/Bantam levels.

Last year, the Aurora-King Jays lost in the York Simcoe championship game after a hard-fought round robin of elimination games throughout three very tiring days.

Yet, in all three years of working in a higher level of baseball, something eluded Skanderis’ eyes the entire way.

“I’ve never coached against a head coach that was female in my three years as head coach across Ontario.”

It’s not something she was surprised about. She feels a lot of women are intimidated to join a man’s league. Skanderis says programs should be placed for women to get into the game. She encourages women to be more involved. If it can happen professionally, why can’t it happen here?

Becky Hammon has been with the San Antonio Spurs with Gregg Popovich since 2014. Katie Sowers has been an offensive assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers since 2017. Alyssa Nakken has been an assistant coach with the San Francisco Giants since 2017, becoming the first full-time female coach in Major League Baseball history.

Skanderis is unsure what lies ahead.

As a teacher and real-estate agent, she’s always had a “go-getter” mentality; hustling to succeed. Winning it all in anything she does is what drives her to be better. Winning it all in anything she does is what drives her to be better. And, as a coach, she’s learned she can do anything she puts her mind to.

Right now, however, she has most enjoyed watching her son with the Aurora Titans this past year. Finally, she gets to know the parents from a different angle and spend time with her husband (who was previously her score keeper).

She is thankful for her time in the dugout and glad to of had an influence on many young lives along the way.

By Robert Belardi