Henderson Participates in the IWLCA Students of Color Coaching Symposium

TAMPA, Fla. - Former University of Tampa women's lacrosse player Garlyn Henderson, participated in the first-ever IWLCA Students of Color Coaching Symposium on January 4th and 5th. The virtual Symposium is designed to empower and encourage student-athletes to consider coaching girl's and women's lacrosse as a possible career choice. 

A native of Chesapeake Beach, Md., Henderson was a graduate of the University of Tampa in 2019 and spent four seasons as a part of the Spartan program. During her career, Henderson appeared in 23 games, as she collected six groundballs and caused three turnovers. 

The symposium was started to improve access to the profession for women from underrepresented backgrounds. Women's lacrosse has one of the highest percentages of female coaches (86%) in all of collegiate sport. However, the number of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color coaching women's lacrosse at NCAA Institutions is extremely low. In 2019, 2.3% of head coaches identified as Black, and 5% of head coaches identified as Indigenous or People of Color. The numbers for assistant coaches follow a similar trend: 2.6% of assistant coaches identified as Black and 5.1% of assistant coaches identified as Indigenous or People of Color. More BIPOC student-athletes are playing lacrosse now than ever before (16% BIPOC/84% white), which presents us with a unique opportunity to facilitate their entry into our profession.

After her experience with the symposium, Henderson wrote a blog post for the IWLCA to speak about her experiences during those two days. Click here to read Henderson's post.