Pat Summitt Quotes

I know that us girls aren't the easiest to coach.

When it comes to women, there has been a tendency to define women in sports in the context of their relationships - they watch games because their husbands watch. They're interested because their kids play a sport. They buy tickets to a sporting event because it's a way to spend time with family.

I'm not one of those women who's like pro women. I'm an individual, and I'm in an individual sport. So I see everyone as individuals, not as male or female.

When I was in school, there was no such thing as girls' athletics.

Every time a male coach berates his players by referring to them as “ladies” or tells them to “hike their skirts” while playing, we’re perpetuating an atmosphere where women are not men’s equals.

If a man can coach a female, why can't a female coach a male? When I was looking for a coach, the gender of the coach never occurred to me. It was about who I thought was good and who I could get along with and listen to.

That's the trouble with the women's game. Those women think they're men, and they go off hitting all over the place. They'd be better off if they'd played like women.

Gender is irrelevant. Certainly the tennis ball doesn't know what the gender was of the tennis coach.

I think it's kind of silly, actually... I've been coached by men the majority of my career. It hasn't ever been an issue. They have never walked in on us. So I don't - I think it's a nonissue when you really reverse the conversation.

You look at the sports pages and you'd often be forgiven for thinking women didn't do sport.

If you speak to girls who play football alongside lads, they'll tell you that you almost have to earn the right to play with them. It's annoying that you have to do that, but once you've done it, the barriers are down.

I didn't realize the difference between coaching college and coaching the NBA. It's a totally different animal.

An all-women championship is giving up on the mission of eventually making girls compete on a high level and against the boys in Formula One. It is undermining what girls are able to achieve.

I've played for boys' teams.

Usually men, usually a guy, a casual fan of maybe the NBA and somebody who then watches the WNBA, their instinct is quick to kind of size us up or put themselves against us.

Before, I was a little bit skeptical about women coaching, because I don't know if maybe they are different, and not every woman can be strict to take the best out of you. I was worried about this, but so far I see that some women can be much stronger than men, actually.

A level of negativity around women working in men's sport is still present in the U.K., but I keep reminding myself that I'm there to do a job and add a different perspective.

Most people think that girls can't play because they're girls.

If my girl ends up playing football, we probably got a lot of problems. I'll encourage her to do whatever, but playing football ain't one of them.

When women play men, it brings out our better game.

We just do not get the recognition or the opportunity to play against these men, so obviously you don't see it that often.

Women face discrimination in sport the world over. The reason we don't have more Serena Williams is because we don't really have the same facilities and coaching for women that we do for men.

I can't really see women in football, I don't like to say it but that's how it is.

Whenever people say 'women's soccer,' I want to correct them to say 'soccer.' Every girl has had their sport diminished because they're girls.

My coach never looked at me as a female fighter, but just as a fighter, as someone he was training. I had to work just as hard as the guys, or harder than them.