The FA has today announced the launch of a club placement coaching programme in the women’s game. A partnership with six FA Women’s National League clubs will offer female coaches from historically under-represented groups the chance to gain invaluable coaching experience in, and exposure to, a key part of the women’s football pyramid through a series of blended learning and developmental experiences.
Each of the six successful applicants will be placed at one of the six clubs across the country as part of The FA’s long-term commitment to ensure exceptional female coaches operating at all levels of the game are representative of our society.
Through the hiring of women from Black, Asian, Mixed or other ethnic backgrounds and lower socio-economic backgrounds, this initiative will help address a lack of diversity amongst coaches in the women’s pyramid. The women’s club placement programme will form part of The FA’s ongoing commitment to increase the diversity of the coaching teams, to help ensure that it is reflective of the current game, and broader society. A key area of work identified in the recently announced ‘Reaching Higher’ FA strategy from 2024 to 2028.
The programme has been successfully running in the men’s professional game for the last five years, growing year-on-year, and now The FA is extending the programme to include the women’s game, with the application process being open to female coaches who have or are currently undertaking a UEFA B Licence. Candidates also need to have safeguarding and first aid qualifications, and be computer literate. Coaches who want to be considered for the opportunity are required to complete an application form, which can be accessed here, with submissions to be sent to liz.ward@thefa.com by 11:59pm Sunday 17th November 2024.
Once coaches are matched to their partner club, selected applicants will take on a part-time volunteer role and start their season-long placements at a FA Women’s National League club. The full list of clubs is:
- Burnley – FA WNL Northern Premier Division
- Doncaster Rovers Belles – FA WNL Division One North
- Ipswich Town – FA WNL Southern Premier Division
- Lewes – FA WNL Southern Premier Division
- London Seaward – FA WNL Division One South East
- Norwich City – FA WNL Division One South East
The clubs involved will offer hands-on experience and aim to inspire the next generation of coaches, with each successful applicant working closely with and reporting to the club’s Head of Coaching.
Throughout this season-long structured programme, the group of coaches will gain experience of working in a high-quality coaching environment and supporting player development, as well as gaining other benefits to help progress and accelerate their coaching careers. This season’s cohort will have access to off-pitch mentoring and coach development opportunities, to support increased personal confidence as coaches.
Lucy Pearson, The FA’s Director of Education said: “We’re delighted to be extending our successful Club Placement Programme into the women’s game and providing six female coaches with a unique opportunity to develop their coaching skills, which we hope will help them compete for future coaching roles.
“This initiative is another step in our long-term commitment to provide high quality learning opportunities to female coaches and for us to address the lack of coaches from historically under-represented groups across all areas of the women’s and girls’ game. We are committed to being proactive in this area to encourage and develop a diverse pipeline of coaching talent.
“We’re very grateful for the support of the selected FA Women’s National League clubs to invest their time into this programme. Having seen a number of professional clubs across the men’s game reap the rewards of the Club Placement Programme over the years, we’re excited for the clubs to get involved and to see the selected coaches realise their potential.”
For further information on the Club Placement Programme head to: https://learn.englandfootball.com/ongoing-learning/Initiatives/club-placement-programme
With thanks to the FA
