August 28, 2023 – The BIG EAST Conference has upgraded their membership with WeCOACH to a league-wide, unlimited group membership for the 2023-24 academic year, as announceced Monday afternoon by both The BIG EAST Conference and WeCOACH. The membership is active immediately, allowing each of the conference’s 11 institutions to enroll an unlimited number of women coaches to benefit from the year-round programs and resources offered by WeCOACH, including several new programs and initiatives that will be unveiled this fall.
“The BIG EAST is pleased to expand its partnership with WeCOACH and continue to provide our female coaches with the necessary tools to enable professional growth,” said Katie Willett, Sr. Associate Commissioner/SWA, Compliance, Governance and Student-Athlete Development. “We are grateful that our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group continues to support this program on behalf of our female coaches at all of our institutions. We are pleased that our coaches can take advantage of WeCOACH’s extensive offerings.”
The recent data published in the August 1 Tucker Center report demonstrates a new era of slow and steady incline for women in coaching. For the first time, all seven conferences featured in the report increased in the percentage of women head coaches, marked by the BIG EAST improving an entire letter grade (+2.3 percent).
“Kudos to Commissioner Val Ackerman and the BIG EAST leadership who are committed to investing in professional growth opportunities to elevate their member coaches. We are excited to expand our partnership with the BIG EAST to impact more women coaches in their conference. Together, we will MOVE the NUMBERS to support and increase women in coaching,” said Vanessa Fuchs, CEO of WeCOACH.
To learn more about WeCOACH membership options, including group memberships, visit
wecoachsports.org/membership/membership-options/, or email
memberships@wecoachsports.org.
About The BIG EAST Conference
The BIG EAST Conference is an association of 11 nationally prominent colleges and universities that foster healthy athletic competition, community service and the pursuit of excellence in academic environments. The BIG EAST-sponsored athletic programs of our institutions provide national-caliber participation opportunities for more than 3,800 student-athletes on over 200 men’s and women’s teams in 22 sports. Established in 1979 and headquartered in New York City, the BIG EAST’s members are located in eight of the country’s top 38 largest media markets and include Butler University, University of Connecticut, Creighton University, DePaul University, Georgetown University, Marquette University, Providence College, St. John’s University, Seton Hall University, Villanova University and Xavier University. For more information, visit
www.bigeast.com.
About WeCOACH
Founded in 2011, WeCOACH is a one-of-a-kind 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to recruiting, advancing, and retaining women coaches in all sports and levels through year-round professional growth & leadership development programs. Prior to Title IX, over 90% of women’s collegiate sports teams were coached by women. Today, over 50 years later, the data indicates that number has decreased to 46% in Division I, 41% across all three NCAA Divisions, with only 6.2% women head coaches of color (Division I). Only 5% women coach men's teams. At the youth level, the data is hard to estimate, approximately less than 20% of teams are coached by women. WeCOACH launched MOVE the NUMBERS in 2022 to help change the landscape for women coaches and the student-athletes they lead. If she can see her, she can be her. For more information visit
MOVE the NUMBERS.