Postgame Interviews in Girls’ Sports Start With a Coach Who Makes Room
A student reporter knows who scored. She wants to know how the forward got open. A coach who invites the midfielder to explain what she saw shows why postgame interviews in girls’ sports matter.
Written by Linda Herron
Women Sports USA®
Imagine a high school field hockey game that ends 1–0. A student reporter waits near the sideline with a notebook. She has the scorer’s name and the goal's time. What she hasn’t figured out is how a forward who was covered most of the afternoon suddenly had room to take that shot. She walks over to the coach.
As a former field hockey player, I’d want to read about that part of the game, too. When I played for Coach Betty Marquis at Pilgrim High School, the Warwick Beacon covered our games every week. I still remember what it meant to see our names in print. A coach could give a perfectly good sideline account of the play. But suppose the coach asks the midfielder who started it, “Would you like to tell her what you saw?” The reporter can now hear how the play unfolded from the player’s on-field perspective.
Athlete Perspectives: The Story Behind the Play
From the midfielder’s angle, the opening might have taken shape several possessions earlier. Every time she carried the ball wide, the same defender followed her. After watching that pattern through much of the second half, she used it: this time she took one more step toward the sideline, waited for the defender to commit, then sent the ball back inside. The forward had room because her teammate had figured out how to draw the defender away.
That detail changes what the reporter can write. The forward still gets credit for the finish. The midfielder gets to explain the decision that made it possible. A parent watching from across the field might ask on the ride home, “How did she get that open?” The reporter’s story can answer that parent.
For the coach, hearing the midfielder’s answer can matter at the next practice, too. After weeks of encouraging a young player to look up before she passes, the coach can hear how she’s putting that lesson to use. Her explanation offers a glimpse of how she’s beginning to read the game for herself. That’s another reason to stick around for her answer.
Postgame Interviews in Girls’ Sports Give Players a Choice
For a young athlete, one of the hardest parts of postgame interviews in girls’ sports can be finding the words to explain a play she made on instinct. The athlete is still catching her breath. Her teammates are packing up. Before making the introduction, a coach can check that she’s comfortable talking and let her know how much time there is before the bus leaves. Once the conversation begins, someone she barely knows is taking notes on her answers. The coach’s job changes: leave the answer to the player. That may take discipline from an adult accustomed to giving instructions.
If she pauses, give her a few seconds. She may be sorting out whether the defender stepped toward her before or after she looked up. That time can help her find the detail that matters. Whether she declines the interview or decides to end it and join her teammates, respect her choice. An invitation means more when she gets to decide whether to take it.
Athletes can get comfortable with these conversations during an ordinary practice. After a drill, ask two players involved in the same play what each saw or heard. The passer may have seen a gap. The receiver may have heard a teammate call for the ball. Each noticed something the other missed.
A coach can carry that exercise one question further. Ask the receiver when she knew the pass was coming. Suppose she says she could see it in the way her teammate turned her shoulders. The passer may have spent the whole drill worrying about whether she'd hit the ball hard enough. Hearing what her teammate actually read gives her something to try on the next repetition. It also gives both girls practice putting an instinct into words, with a stick still in hand and time to try the play again.
When the Interview Follows a Loss
Now consider the other side of that 1–0 game. A reporter may want to speak with the defender who followed the midfielder wide. The defender has just come off the field knowing where the winning pass went. Her coach can give her time for the team huddle and then ask privately whether she wants to talk. She might welcome the chance to explain the assignment she was trying to carry out. She might want to get on the bus. She can decide once she’s had a moment with her teammates.
If she does want to talk, the question matters. Asking why she left the forward open assumes the reporter already knows who was supposed to cover her. Asking what the defense was trying to take away gives the player room to describe the problem from her side. Maybe the opponent had beaten her down the sideline twice, and this time she was determined to close that route. A reader can understand why she made that choice, even as they see how the midfielder found a way through.
Athlete Interviews: Include More Players and Guide Student Reporters
When a reporter is on deadline, it’s easy to focus on the captain or leading scorer. Over a season, though, a coach gets to know players whose insights a reporter might otherwise miss. The reserve goalkeeper who tracked the opponent’s penalty corners—set plays taken near the goal—could explain a pattern the team adjusted to at halftime. The forward who moved to defense three weeks ago could describe what surprised her about playing at the other end of the field. Each has something specific to contribute when the right question comes along.
The student with the notebook is learning, too. If she asks a broad question and gets a short answer, a coach can suggest a follow-up: “You might ask what she saw just before the pass.” The reporter gets a starting point, and the athlete still gets to answer for herself. A small courtesy makes room for both young people to learn.
There’s one more courtesy the student reporter can offer before she closes her notebook. She can read back what she understood about the pass and ask if she has the sequence right. If the midfielder says she heard the forward call before she looked up, that changes a detail in the story and gives the forward credit for asking for the ball. Then the reporter can check the spelling of both players’ names. Those few seconds matter to the girls who will see their names in the school paper and to the families who will save the clipping.
I keep coming back to that midfielder. She saw the defender move. She knew why she held the ball for one more step. When someone asks how the goal happened, I want to hear her tell it.
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Linda Herron is the Founder and CEO of Women Sports USA®. She is a former Division I field hockey athlete and coach, an author, and a business finance executive with over 40 years of experience.
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