Women in coaching project

scottishathletics is committed to supporting the development of all coaches across our sport. We recognise that each individual coach brings a variety of qualities and attributes to their coaching and that therefore each coach’s development needs are unique.

A recent scottishathletics review of the number of women involved in coaching in Scotland found that, although women make up 58 per cent of those certified at Leaders’ Award level, this drops dramatically for more senior coaching qualifications – only 11 per cent of Level 4 coaches in Scotland are women (see table below). The number of women attending coach development opportunities in Scotland is also low.

As a result of this review, scottishathletics is committed to exploring the introduction of a targeted programme to support women in achieving their coaching ambitions at all levels and raising the profile of women coaching in athletics in Scotland. This project is in its early stages, but we will update this page as it develops.

In the meantime, please contact Julie Mollison for more information.

Background

In 2010, recognising the need to support the development of Women in Coaching in the UK, British Athletics established the Women’s Coaching Advisory Group – a representative group of female coaches, with a range of coaching backgrounds and qualifications, from across each of the four Home Countries.

The aims of the WCAG are to ensure the continued development of female athletic coaches within the UK Coach Development system with a particular focus on raising the proportion of female coaches working with athletes in the top 10 UK rankings across U17, U20 and Senior Levels and beyond.

The WCAG vision is to create opportunities to raise the standard, number and profile of female coaches working with athletes at every level.

Up until 2012 the WCAG main focus was on delivering the Annual Women’s Conference with the aim of raising the profile of female coaches, celebrating success and in turn indirectly increasing female numbers and standards by motivating those attending to strive to achieve more.

Its focus has since widened and now includes the British Athletics Female Coach Legacy Programme. Now in its second year, the primary aim of the FCLP is to support the development of female coaches, providing them with the confidence, knowledge and skills to help develop athletes at the high performance level.