Scott Parkinson: People, Purpose and the Power of Women in Sport

Scott Parkinson (0:03)

I think I've always just admired that probably the best people in my life, in almost all categories, have always been women. I think they've been underappreciated for too long.

It makes me proud to be a dude in women's sports. And, you know, hopefully one day, I get replaced by a woman, and there are more women, and I leave it in a better place than I found it. And that makes me really proud.

Darcy (0:33)

Hello, welcome to another episode of the Empowering Leaders podcast. Empowering Leaders is proudly partnered with Victoria University. VU is ranked number six in the world for sports science, training the next generation of athletes and coaches inside facilities that include Australia's only Altitude Hotel. It's the same pursuit of high performance we explore on this podcast week after week. Learn more at vu.edu.au.

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Scott Parkinson is the head assistant coach at Seattle Reign FC in the National Women's Soccer League, one of the world's leading professional women's football competitions. Scott's journey has taken him from Liverpool to the United States, where he spent two years as head women's soccer coach at Roger State University before moving into the NWSL. In 2021, he was appointed head coach of Gotham FC, leading the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2013 before joining Seattle in 2023, where he now works alongside head coach Laura Harvey, a long time coaching colleague and close connection. Scott has built a reputation as someone who genuinely champions women in sport, invests in the development of female athletes and coaches and is helping shape what the future of women's football can look like. Scott, it's great to spend some time with you.

Scott Parkinson (1:55)

Wow, what an introduction, eh? Best one ever, Luke.

Darcy (1:59)

Well, you've got an extraordinary reputation for the energy that you bring and the compassion and relationships. I want to get to that, but can I ask you this for the start, what have you learned about leadership from working inside elite women's sport that's changed the way that you lead?

Scott Parkinson (2:16)

Really good question. I think probably the thing that I know more now and I sensed it really early was the need for clarity and to be clear.

I think boys and girls, men and women, lots of similarities, lots of things that can be different. But I remember early in my career in college coaching, and I was an assistant at the time, and I was helping the men's team. I ended up venturing on to the women's team, as you mentioned. And at the time, I'm helping both coaches out, so I'm just an assistant. And I remember on the boys' side, the head coach would walk in and rip a strip off every one at half time. And I'd be thinking, oof, I'm not sure how the boys will take this. And they all thought he weren't talking about them. They all had this like teflon, he's not talking about me. And then on the women's side, a similar actions at half time.

And then on speaking to the players about it, they all thought that the coach was talking about them.

And it was a really, I've got goosebumps now talking about it, because it's one of them moments of, you know, how true is it across the globe for everyone? Probably not for everyone. But it started to try and make me understand if I'm gonna get into the women's game, they need to be given absolute clarity on who you're talking to, what you're talking about, and what the issue is and what the solution is. Because I felt that on the women's side, they're all so responsible and willing to solve the problem, that without clarity, without speaking to the two individuals or the correct group or the correct person, you can end up losing them all because they all believe that it could be them or they need to change something. So yeah, I think I'm not saying that men and boys don't need clarity, but I'm definitely saying on the women's side, it is the key to really helping them and making them understand who you're talking to, what you're talking about, and then the solution to the problem.

Darcy (4:41)

Fascinating insight that you've just given there. And in some ways, the art of coaching is always finding the right message for the right individual in every situation, isn't it? You bring together dozens of athletes all from different backgrounds, different learning styles, different emotional intelligence. But that as a collective, as you've said, that's not for, of course, 100 out of 100 But as a general rule, have you found that you've been able to apply that and has really been a real superpower for you?