Giants: Alyssa Nakken hiring part of growing trend in Bay Area sports

Alyssa Nakken, San Francisco Giants

Similar to many coaches on Gabe Kapler’s coaching staff, Alyssa Nakken is light on coaching experience, but she has extensive experience and knowledge of the sport.

Nakken played softball, volleyball, and basketball while attending Woodland High School. After graduating high school in 2008, she attended Sacramento State University where she played softball while earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

On the softball field, she starred as the team’s first baseman while posting a .304 career batting average. She earned All-Pacific Coast Softball Conference honors in each of her four years.

Following her time at Sacramento State, Nakken attended the University of San Francisco and graduated with a Master of Arts in sports management in 2015.

Though she is new to the Giants coaching staff, the former Sacramento State Bee is not new to the organization. While she was in graduate school, Nakken latched on as a baseball operations intern for the Giants starting in 2014.

The 29-year-old filled a variety of roles as part of the baseball operations department, including developing and refining health and wellness programs.

Nakken’s role on Kapler’s coaching staff will emphasize creating a high performance clubhouse culture, so her previous work should carry over into her new role.

Giants manager Gabe Kapler voiced his confidence of Nakken as well as Mark Hallberg in their new roles while talking with reporters:

“Simply, I think she’s going to be a great coach. Merit and the ability to be a great coach trumps all… Alyssa and Mark are highly respected members of the organization and I’m delighted that they will now focus their talents on helping to build a winning culture in the clubhouse. In every organization, environment affects performance, and baseball clubhouses are no different. That’s why in addition to assisting the rest of the coaching staff on the field, Mark and Alyssa will focus on fostering a clubhouse culture that promotes high performance through, among other attributes, a deep sense of collaboration and team.”

Based on Kapler’s comments, it is evident that Nakken will play a daily role in improving the team’s success on the field.

In addition, she will also tap into her knowledge and ability of the sport. Teams are only allowed to carry seven coaches in the dugout, but Nakken will be in uniform while working with Giants players on hitting and fielding drills prior to games.

Nakken recognizes that in her new role, she will serve as a pioneer for future women in baseball:

Similar to Nakken, Katie Sowers is paving the way for women in the NFL with her work just 45 miles south of San Francisco in Santa Clara.

Katie Sowers, San Francisco 49ers

With the San Francisco 49ers recent Super Bowl appearance, Katie Sowers has operated in the spotlight of late. Given her work this season, the recognition she is receiving is much-deserved.

Though the 49ers fell short of their Super Bowl bid against the Kansas City Chiefs, Sowers put her name on the map.

The 2019 season was a success for the 49ers for a number of reasons, including the promotion of Sowers to the coaching staff prior to the start of the season.

The 33-year-old originally came over to the organization in 2016 as a seasonal offensive assistant. She previously worked as an internal scout with the Atlanta Falcons.

Her work and impact did not go unnoticed as she was promoted to an offensive assistant coach by head coach Kyle Shanahan after only two seasons.

Sowers joins Kelsey Martinez of the Oakland Raiders and Phoebe Schecter of the Buffalo Bills to form a growing group of women coaches who hold full-time positions in the NFL.

Despite the momentum being built for women in the NFL, Sowers recognizes that the progress needs to continue. In an interview with Market Watch, Sowers describes her goal for the future of women coaches in the NFL:

“We find it so odd when women lead men, but women have been teaching men for years. We have to normalize it.”

In addition to being a pioneer as a female coach, she is also the first openly gay coach in NFL history. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Sowers highlighted the importance of bringing diversity to the job:

“No matter what you do in life, one of the most important things is to be true to who you are. There are so many people who identify as LGBT in the NFL, as in any business, that do not feel comfortable being public about their sexual orientation. The more we can create an environment that welcomes all types of people, no matter their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, the more we can help ease the pain and burden that many carry every day.”

Sowers’ career is just getting started, and the 49ers on-field success this past season was due in part to her role on offense.

While Nakken and Sowers play a role on their team’s respective coaching staff, Chelsea Lane played an equally important role, albeit one that may have gone a bit unnoticed.

Chelsea Lane, Golden State Warriors

Chelsea Lane may not be on the Golden State Warriors coaching staff like Nakken is with the Giants or Sowers is with the 49ers, but her presence and absence have been felt.

Lane was born in Australia, where she graduated from Brown Mackie College with an Associate of Applied Science degree in 2014. Prior to joining the Warriors, she worked as a physical therapist in several sports, including rugby and track and field.

Lane joined the Warriors as a head performance therapist in 2015, and she was quickly elevated as the physical performance lead in 2016.

While her work on the training staff was mostly behind-the-scenes, she played a critical role in treating a number of Warriors stars, including Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Andre Iguodala and getting them back onto the court.

Her influence was so significant that she was often referred to as their “secret weapon.” Though, she was not a coach, the 39-year-old was one of the key figures on the Warriors sidelines every game.

Curry elaborated on what makes Lane special in an interview with Marcus Thompson ll of The Athletic:

“She’s great in both the physical and the mental, which is something that’s underrated. There are ways you can approach injuries and the rehab process that keeps you engaged as opposed to it being work. There’s always a positive to learning something about your body and how it functions. For me, at least, that’s something I appreciate the most. You’re going to ice. You’re going to (get stimulation treatment). You’re going to do this workout, do that workout, get this treatment. There is more to it than that. She’s big picture.”

The Warriors were dealt a significant blow following the 2018 season when Lane agreed to become the Executive Director of Athletic Performance and Sports Medicine with the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks gain was a noticeable loss for the Warriors. While the Warriors made it to the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors in 2019, they limped to the finish line.

Major leg injuries to both Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson late in the series proved to be too big of an obstacle for even the Warriors to overcome and the Toronto Raptors won in six games.

In addition, Kevon Looney and DeMarcus Cousins continuously battled injuries throughout the 2019 playoff run.

It is no coincidence that many key Warriors battled injuries and ultimately struggled to stay on the court at the end of the 2019 playoffs in the first season following Lane’s departure.

Due to her role, Lane was rarely in the spotlight, but she has nonetheless helped carve out a future for women in a male-dominated sport.

The Bay Area is quickly becoming a boon for women in professional sports. Nakken, Sowers, and Lane are leading the charge as teams are making a push for more diversity. And not just for the sake of diversity, but because they are the best suited for the jobs they currently hold.

In professional sports, males dominate just about every facet of an organization. However, a growing number of women are beginning to carve out their own niche. This is just the start, but this is what progress looks like.