- Published
The head of Britain's professional sports coach association Emily Handyside says female coaches "must work twice as hard as a man to be respected and credible", despite recent on-pitch successes and increased media exposure for women's sport in the UK.
asserted
coaches → publish → UK
A study from UK Coaching shows there has been a 6% decline in the overall number of female coaches in recent years.
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study → show → years
The decline is particularly steep at grassroots level, with a 10% dip in the number of female volunteer coaches - significantly affecting pathways in amateur sport.
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decline → affect → sport
"When people imagine a coach, they imagine a man first, people expect a man," Handyside, former Wales netball coach and lead at UK Coaching, told BBC Sport.
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Handyside → imagine → Sport
"These assumptions make people feel like they don't belong there.
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they → make → ?
Women must work twice as hard to be respected, to be credible."
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Women → work → ?
Additional research highlighted systemic barriers experienced by women coaches, including bullying, harassment and unequal opportunities.
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research → highlight → bullying
And the impact is passed down to young players, according to new FA data released this week.
uncertain
impact → pass → data
Half of all girls who play organised football say they would tell a female coach something they could not tell a parent or guardian, while for a male coach, the figure is just one in eight - but only 7% of the people coaching grassroots football in England are women.
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% → play → England
The study from Bloomsbury Football Foundation in association with the FA found 13% of teenage girls play organised football at least once a week, against 46% of boys.
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% → find → boys
Of the girls who play, 49% are mostly or always coached by someone of their own gender, against 85% of boys.
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% → play → boys
This tallies with what has been experienced by female coaches for years - while opportunities are increasing at the top level, for most there has been little change.
'Cost barriers are greater for women'
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barriers → tally → women
Now, eight out of 14 managers in the English top tier are women,, external including the managers of all three newly promoted sides - Amy Merricks at Birmingham, Crystal Palace's Jo Potter and Karen Hills of Charlton Athletic.
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managers → include → Athletic
A new Fifa quota stating women's teams must have a female head coach or assistant has also helped redress the balance in top-level football.
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teams → state → football
However, at grassroots level it is a different story, with barriers including cost and childcare, even for former Lionesses.
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it → include → Lionesses
"That number is a shock," said ex-England international Fara Williams, speaking on the BBC's Women's Football Fallout about the drop in coaching numbers.
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Williams → say → numbers
"The cost to do B and A licences, and the salaries or opportunities you will get from that investment, it does not quite marry up.
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it → get → investment
I tried it [the coaching pathway], it was not feasible to take up that opportunity.
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it → try → opportunity
Some can take that risk, but our generation of players, we were not paid enough to go mortgage free, bills must be paid.
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bills → take → players
I needed to do something that would pay the bills, and football coaching was not that.
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coaching → need → bills
"When I was playing, I was adamant I was going to be a coach, I coached all the development teams at Everton, Liverpool and Reading, but it is so different.
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it → play → Everton
When you are playing you don't have the opportunities to coach at a higher level, then when you come out the game you don't have the money."
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you → play → money
The Uefa Pro Licence, external - the qualification needed to coach at the highest level of English football - costs £14,000, and there are only 24 places per intake.
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Licence → need → intake
This can be subsidised, but only if the applicant is currently associated with an FA registered club, creating a chicken and egg situation.
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applicant → subsidise → situation
Handyside acknowledges that cost is a major barrier - for women and men.
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cost → acknowledge → women
"The top three barriers are the same for men and women, and cost was in there for both," she said.
"
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she → say → both
It is seen as a bigger barrier for women because when you must work twice as hard, the risk and reward balance is more outmatched.
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balance → see → women
"If you are a female looking at that cost and think you will also be overstretched and under supported, that £650 will have more of an impact."
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650 → look → impact
'To get club support, you have to stay for years'
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you → get → years
Handyside, who coached the Wales netball team for four years before leaving after last summer's Commonwealth Games, is fronting her organisation's new Women in Coaching Plan, alongside its signing of the Brighton Plus Helsinki Declaration, external - the international framework for advancing gender equality in sport.
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who → coach → sport
She says government intervention to provide greater access to coaching is required.
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intervention → say → coaching
"I would love for there to be more mandates from government about coaching metrics, including retention as a performance indicator with funding attached to that," she said.
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she → love → that
While Williams is shocked by the drop in coaching numbers, it comes as less of a surprise for those already involved in grassroots football.
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it → shock → football
Zoe Conning balances being a coach at community club Manchester Laces with her day job as disability access officer at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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Conning → balance → Wanderers
A Uefa B licence holder, she has been a coach for five years including a full-time spell with Macclesfield.
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she → include → Macclesfield
"There is an immense disconnect between top level and grassroot football, " she tells BBC Sport.
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she → be → Sport
"For your B licence, you need another 12 months in coaching in an elite environment.
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you → need → environment
How am I supposed to go to an elite club with no elite experience?"
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I → suppose → experience
Conning received help funding for her B licence - which costs £1,250, external - but had to fund her own expenses to travel between Wolverhampton and Manchester, where the course took place.
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course → receive → place
When it came to the A licence - which costs £4,150, external - she had to say no, and she could not even think about the Pro level course.
"
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she → come → course
…and 32 more, not listed.
The Aporia
