Female coaches face tighter scrutiny, former D1 coach says; docUssist protects careers on the court

A new partnership between Overland Park-based docUssist and an “army of female coaches” will help the sports tech startup in its mission to protect the careers and reputations of women on basketball courts across the globe, said Marsha Frese.

“Female coaches are one of the most targeted groups with respect to Title IX violations and discrimination in the athletic environment,” said Frese, a former UMKC women’s head basketball coach who also is an accomplished TV sports broadcaster.

One hundred-percent bootstrapped, docUssist is a documentation tool that helps make preserving and organizing critical emails, text messages and social media screenshots easy and effortless, according to the company. 

Danielle Gratton and Marsha Frese, docUssist

“My co-founder [Danielle Gratton] and I are former Division 1 college basketball coaches frustrated with a problem only those in the coaching profession know about: the lack of software and digital resources for the mountain of documentation coaches are producing to cover themself liability wise,” Frese said.

Currently, all resources are university-based and not there to protect the reputation or careers of those doing the coaching, she said.

“We are giving control back to coaches to take their HR files into their own hands,” Frese said.

Click here to learn more about docUssist.

The strategic teaming with the Female Coaching Network — a global organization of female coaches all united in the support and advocacy of women coaches across all sports — will help docUssist score another win toward both partners’ goal to “empower, enable and inspire female coaches to be the best they can be whilst creating cultural change within sport and sports federations,” she added.

Frese own difficult experiences on the court help shape the platform and partnership’s authenticity, said Vicky Huyton, Female Coaching Network founder.

Marsha Frese, docUssist

“Through the creation of this incredible software tool, Marsha wants to ensure that no one else is put in the position she was, and many others like her. Being a coach in today’s world is no easy task,” she said. “Our roles and workload are continually expanding leaving little time or brainpower left for the coach to look after themselves.

“docUssist provides coaches with a tool to easily and quickly record vital information which may be needed for future reference,” Huyton continued. “I am very excited to be partnering with Marsha, and through docUssist, I hope we can prevent coaches from around the world from being hung out to dry.”

Click here to learn more about the Female Coaching Network.

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This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.

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