UNE student breaks through gender barriers with football coaching internship

At a recent UNE football practice, one female student stood near the goal post on a field filled with young men.

Andrea Gosper (Health Sciences, ’19) is finishing up her first season as an intern with the team’s coaching staff.

“I love football,” Gosper explains. “I'm a huge New England Patriots fan. I was really interested in it, and I thought ‘why not?’ If you love something enough, there's no excuse; just go for it, no matter what your gender is.”

Her story was recently featured on WMTW and WCSH.

In the male dominated world of football, there have been few opportunities for females. That is beginning to change. Dartmouth College made national headlines this year when it hired college football’s first female full-time Division I coach.

“The way the sport is trending, and I think the way the world is trending, those types of gender roles are starting to fade,” says Mike Lichten, UNE head football coach. “People are looking at what's best for the program and are making decisions based on that.”

Lichten says he didn’t hesitate bringing Gosper on board after she expressed interest in the internship.

“Those who earn an opportunity are the ones who are going to be successful, regardless of gender, age, nationality, background or any of those things,” he explains.

Katie Hawke, M.S., associate clinical professor in the Department of Exercise and Sport Performance, encouraged Gosper to apply for the internship as part of her minor in coaching.

“I'm always looking for opportunities where women can actually break into male dominated roles,” Hawke states. “It's easy for men to coach women, but it's not easy for women to coach men.”

The internship calls for a lot of hands-on experience, working directly with the team.

“It’s so much more work than I thought it would be, but that's what I'm here to do,” Gosper says. “I'm here to learn how to be a part of our coaching staff.”

Coach Lichten says she’s handled the responsibilities well.

“She has had a lot on her plate,” he states. “Some assignments as small as organizing the equipment room or distributing jerseys prior to the game, and some as large as running the scout team, giving players assignments on the field or breaking down film. She's been very helpful and has made us a better program.”

Lichten says having Gosper as part of the coaching staff has not been an issue for his players.

“Having her be comfortable and do the job well is really important,” he explains. “I think our guys respond to people who care about them and to people who have their best interests in mind. She checked both those boxes.”

Gosper says the highlight of her season was seeing the team notch the first victory in program history when Rob Inniss Jr. kicked a 38-yard field goal with five seconds remaining on the clock to seal a 44-42 win over Curry College.

“I have never been so genuinely happy for a group of people before,” she says. “I started to tear up. Seeing them react to Rob's winning field goal was amazing.”

Gosper will soon turn her attention to a different sport. This spring she’ll being playing her fourth year on the UNE women’s softball team, but being part of the football team's inaugural season is something she won’t soon forget.

“Looking back on the year, I think this is the best thing that I've ever done,” she says.