coaching – 4 The Love Of Sport

The Fa Launches Female Coaching Club Programme

Jennie Powell — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 14:10:59 +0000

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 17^th 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

First all female cohort for UEFA A licence course announced

Jennie Powell — Fri, 24 May 2024 11:03:34 +0000

The Football Association, in collaboration with UEFA and The PFA, has today announced the first-ever all-female cohort for the UEFA A Licence course.

The cohort consists of 17 current and former players from the women’s professional game, who are taking part in the 12-month programme, as The FA pledges a long-term commitment to providing high-quality development opportunities for Barclays WSL and Barclays Women’s Championship players to start their coaching careers.

More females than ever are able to participate in this occurrence of the UEFA A Licence course, which has been tailored to fit around the playing schedules of professional players.

As the highest practical coaching award available, the UEFA A Licence aims to develop technically and tactically proficient coaches capable of nurturing players to perform effectively in the modern game. Building on the content of the UEFA B Licence, this course extensively covers the principles of play in the 11v11 game, enhancing understanding of modern trends, strategies, and tactics, whilst all tailored to the unique characteristics of the women’s game.

Representing clubs from across the country, the full group includes Karen Bardsley, Izzy Christiansen, Cheryl Edwards, Lisa Evans, Sophie Harris, Steph Houghton, Sophie Howard, Kim Little, Sandy MacIver, Aoife Mannion, Beth Mead, Vivianne Miedema, Zećira Mušović, Samantha Tierney, and Lia Wälti. This pioneering female cohort of A Licence coaches aims to inspire others within the professional women’s game to consider a career in coaching.

The course, fully funded by The PFA, UEFA and The FA is part of a collective commitment to increasing female coaching opportunities. It began this week with a two-day residential ‘camp’ at the home of English football, St. George’s Park, consisting of practical and classroom-based learning. On the pitch, a variety of FA and PFA tutors guided players through a live coaching session before allowing them to plan and execute sessions themselves. In the classroom, experts from The FA led sessions on sports psychology, self-awareness, and social toolkits.

The opening days of the course offered the all-female cohort the chance to come together, share ideas and experiences and benefit from peer-to-peer support. As the course progresses, participants will have regular opportunities to regroup and engage in tailored professional development activities carefully designed by FA coaching education experts to meet their individual needs. These learnings combined with the unique perspective and expertise they hold as current or former elite players, will equip each participant with a versatile framework applicable to any coaching context.

Zećira Mušović, Chelsea and Sweden goalkeeper said: “Taking the UEFA A Licence course is part of me becoming a leader. I want to develop every aspect of myself, become the best version of myself and the best possible leader I can be.”

Scotland international, Lisa Evans added: “My biggest motivation, pure and simple, is love of the game. I want to bring everything I have learnt as a player into being a coach or some other aspect of football. Having done my UEFA B Licence I was keen to progress to my A Licence, and the fact that this is available has been a huge incentive to do the course, so I’m forever grateful for that opportunity.”

The FA is committed to increasing employment opportunities for a diverse range of female coaches at the highest levels of the women’s game by providing targeted individual development opportunities to meet individual needs to accelerate their progress.

Partnering with UEFA and their Coach Development Programme for Women is part of this wider goal, supporting elite female footballers through the process and offering financial support and scholarships to help them study for their coaching licence. This financial support makes coaching more accessible and affordable, enabling more female players to explore coaching opportunities after their playing careers. The FA also have a continued commitment to providing professional game grants for females to take their UEFA A Licences from 2024 onwards to ensure these opportunities are accessible and affordable.

Mark Swales, Senior Women’s Coach Development Lead at The FA said: “The senior pro’s course is for current and former players to obtain their qualifications alongside coaching and playing. The players on this course have worked hard to obtain their qualifications whilst playing and when ready, will be suitably skilled and qualified to make the step into coaching post-career, supporting the future generations of young female players.

“It’s brilliant to see so many players on this course who have had respected playing careers who can give back so much to the next generation of players. I hope this inspires many more current and former pros to take one of our courses.”

Lucy Pearson, Head of FA Education added: “We’re proud and excited to collaborate with UEFA and The PFA in our shared commitment to growing the number of female coaches in the women’s game, with this work a signal of our long-term pledge to provide uniquely tailored, affordable and accessible opportunities.

We’re delighted to be providing these 17 current and former professionals with this high-quality educational experience that we hope will help them on their coaching journey. We also hope their involvement will pave the way for many more players to consider a career in coaching. There’s a new generation of coaches with a huge amount of experience and expertise across the women’s professional game waiting to imprint their influence on the sport.”

With thanks to the FA

Step over the Sidelines – interview with Bex Garlick

Jennie Powell — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 12:41:37 +0000

Our interview with Bex Garlick, National Coach Development Lead in the Women’s Game at The FA during the England Football Learning’s ‘Stepping over the Sidelines Weekend’ and her valuable insight into making that step over the sideline from supporter to coach.

Stepping over the sidelines event

4TLOS: How would you actively encourage the transition from Stepping over the Sidelines and a supporter to coach role?

Bex Garlick: I think just taking that step and getting involved. It can be hard sometimes because you’re not always asked, which can be a barrier, but if you think that you might be interested in helping or you think you have something to offer, just stepping forward and offering, just to help out, it can start with anything.

It doesn’t have to be that all of a sudden you’re fully involved in delivering the whole session, it can just be something really small, like taking the warm-up or, you know, helping get all the players in and getting them started on an activity or something.

Just starting by offering your help if you feel that you’ve got something to offer because most people definitely have!

4TLOS: Do you think it’s better to help by going to the local team or to pursue your coaching credentials first?

Bex Garlick: I think people will go down different paths to be honest. Some people do have connections with their local clubs or providers and that’s always a really good place to start because local clubs are usually crying out for volunteers and people to help.

If you haven’t got that connection with a club that can be quite overwhelming so it might be that you reach out to your local County FA and ask for them to put you into contact with clubs and providers that might be looking for volunteers.

Our first courses are online, and Playmaker by EE is free to do so that’s definitely a starting point before you’ve kind of, it might just give you that bit of confidence to go out.

I’ve actually done the Playmaker course, and I feel more confident and like I know a bit more about it. I’m currently on a break from coaching at the minute, my job requires quite a bit of travel and traveling around. But I’ve been involved in coaching since I was 16 and started off taking my cousin’s under-17 team.

We often hear a similar story for a lot of females taking that step. They take that step into coaching because they take on their son or daughter’s team. For me, it was my cousin.

I started when I was 16 and then coached right through really in a variety of different environments, grassroots like we are here.

My full-time role at The FA was at one stage a full-time coach for 5-to-11- year-olds. And I’ve also worked in the talent pathway as well.

4TLOS: When I was involved with colts football, there weren’t grassroots coaching courses available, so as a woman in football and wanting a bit of credibility I did a referee’s course. Is this a route that you would recommend?

Bex Garlick: I think it depends what you want to do and what you enjoy about the game.

Some people go down the refereeing route, but a lot of young people go down that route because it is usually a paid role in the game so you get something back in terms of monetary value.

But I think it depends what kind of drives you.

I wanted to get into coaching because I loved working with kids, I loved helping and helping people to get better and helping people to develop.

That was my opportunity to give something back, but other people might be inspired by the role of the referee in the middle of the pitch and there’s lots of different avenues.

I know that within The FA there are opportunities similar to what we offer through coaching, there’s more opportunities for female referees as well. We’re trying to diversify our workforce across a variety of roles, not just coaching.

So any opportunity can seek to get a more diverse workforce in refereeing and volunteering is of value to us all.

4TLOS: If someone was coming in as an experienced coach, would you recommend that they started working with younger age groups or do you think it doesn’t really matter?

Bex Garlick: I think people do start with a younger age group, but again it depends what experiences you’ve got.

If you’ve played the game but you’re just taking the step into coaching, you might feel comfortable taking an adult’s team, or an open age team or an older team.

If you’ve maybe not had as much experience, but you might be a teacher or you might be a nurse or in your role you might work with young people that might be naturally where you feel more comfortable working with those younger age groups.

So I think it depends, we do get a lot of parents taking that step into coaching and they naturally take on their children’s age group. You do see newer coaches working with younger players but that doesn’t have to be the case.

I think our offer across football, through The FA is so varied and so broad and just because you are taking adults, it doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily a competitive team playing in a league where you need to know absolutely loads about the game because there’s opportunities through just play for adult recreation.

4TLOS: And finally, what piece of advice would you give someone interested in trying to get involved?

Bex Garlick: I think just be yourself. There’s a view that you have to have certain qualities or you have to be a certain type of character or person to take that step into coaching. And often we do see coaches who are vocal, who are confident, who are strong leaders.

Because they’ve got lead the team and deliver the sessions, but you don’t have to change yourself to fit into that role.

I think some of the best coaches I’ve worked with are just really calm, really relaxed, approachable, really caring people. Not one to be doing lots of talking and being vocal. I think just be yourself, recognise why do you want to do it.

And what is it that you think you can bring and, and really cling on to that, and sell that to the club or provider that you’re going into.

Most clubs and providers are crying out for volunteers because volunteers are what keep our game going, especially at the grassroots level so they will always be open to any extra help that they can get.

We also received a few further contributions from Natalie Mulvihill and Andrea Ellis, participants at the event:

“I have always wanted to get involved and do coaching but I thought I would
never be able to as I don’t know the rules and the A-Z of football. But when I
look at the qualities in front of me, I realised that I can actually do it and do
have the qualities to be a coach”
Natalie Mulvihill

“It doesn’t matter who you or how old you are you could be out there
inspiring someone”

“I took time off now we have so many volunteers but when I returned I was
skipping off the pitch because they were all so happy for me to return and it
felt so lovely and rewarding” – Andrea Ellis, coach and community champion
for Kent

With thanks to Matchfit

Step over the Sidelines

Jennie Powell — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 15:08:47 +0000

England Football Learning hold community events with County FAs to give females chance to ‘Step over the Sidelines’ into coaching roles.

On Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd July, England Football Learning’s ‘Stepping over the Sidelines Weekend’ will take place in partnership with 20 County FAs. With sessions running from Cornwall to Lancashire, the weekend will be a celebration of female coaches and role models across grassroots football.

With all eyes on the Lionesses as they depart for Australia for the FIFA Women’s World Cup this summer, The FA’s education department is driving participation in the grassroots game by growing its network of female coaches and volunteers on home soil. Taking place just three weeks before the Lionesses play their first fixture of the tournament, the weekend looks to inspire the next generation of coaches and mentors to help the players of tomorrow.

With more than 285,000 girls taking part in the Biggest Ever Football Session earlier this year, the need for positive role models to inspire young girls and show them they have a place in the game has never been greater – whether that be at school, after school, at local clubs, or anywhere else.

‘Stepping over the Sidelines’ is a free local workshop, designed to offer mums, female guardians, helpers, assistants, and young leaders the opportunity to have a first look at how they could get involved in football in a friendly and relaxed environment. The workshop also gives a flavour of the next steps for anyone who might like to consider getting involved, including the entry level EE Playmaker and Introduction to Coaching Football courses.

A prize draw will be running at all venues hosting workshops over the weekend, with 150 prizes available offering free access to popular England Football Learning courses including its Safeguarding Children, Introduction to First Aid in Football and Introduction to Coaching Football courses. Every attendee across the weekend will have the opportunity to enter the prize draw, with each winner gaining access to all three courses which are worth £160.

Bex Garlick, National Coach Development Lead in the Women’s Game at The FA said of the event: “Coaching can drive such incredible and positive change within the sport, and with girls’ and women’s football increasing year-on-year participation wise there has never been a better time to get involved.

Since October 2021, there’s been a 17% increase in female affiliated players across all levels of the game, a 30% increase in female registered football teams, and a 15% increase in female youth teams –made up of girls aged between 5-18 years old – so ‘Stepping over the Sidelines’ is hugely important.

With the support of the County FAs the weekend will help us not only shine a light on the role of coaching, but also celebrate female role models in the grassroots game as allies to anyone wanting to take their first steps into the role. Thank you to everyone helping to make it happen, and to those who come along to find out more.”

To find more about the weekend, and how you can get involved head to https://learn.englandfootball.com/ongoing-learning/Upcoming-Conferences/stepping-over-the-sidelines-weekend

With thanks to MatchFit

Riz Burhani by day a sonographer and by evening a football coach

Jennie Powell — Wed, 17 May 2023 10:00:42 +0000

The One Show recently featured England Football Learning, The FA’s education arm promoting their aim to increase the number and diversity of coaches in line with the increase of women and girls [from all backgrounds] playing football, through their online Playmaker coaching programmes.

The show shone a spotlight on Riz Burhani, who was encouraged to get involved with coaching by members of her son’s club, who rightly felt that she had the potential to contribute hugely to the club. You can catch the programme on BBC iPlayer – The One Show – 25/04/2023 – the feature is the first one on the show.

A lifelong Aston Villa fan, in 2021 Riz did the online coaching course Playmaker which is run by The FA’s education arm England Football Learning and sponsored by EE.

Riz currently coaches a mixed team in the week, under-13s side Birmingham Impact FC, and having dreamed of playing as a child now wants to progress as far as she can with coaching qualifications.

Riz said: “With Birmingham Impact I had an opportunity to be a parent support from the sidelines. Unfortunately our coach at the time started getting unwell so I had an urgency to step up. I thought if I wanted to do coaching, I wanted to give justice to the children and do it properly. I wanted to be a qualified coach and really know what I was doing.

I found the EE Playmaker online when I was searching for football courses, I knew it was a stepping stone to doing my Level 1. Even though they’re football courses, they’ve made me think a lot more about communication, child psychology, how to deliver information so that it’s received well by the other person. I’ve had so much support from The FA, it’s made me a lot more ambitious.”

Playmaker by EE is a free completely online course, which can take between four and five hours to complete. You have up to a year to finish it, with the timescale in place to help people with busy family and work lives navigate other commitments.

The course itself covers all the basics of coaching plus how to structure sessions and make them fun.

Since 2021 there has been a 17% increase in the number of female players, with an ambition from The FA to see the number of female coaches increase too. Diversity amongst the playing population should be reflected amongst the coaching community, hence the importance of visibility around Riz’s journey into coaching.

To find out more, head to https://learn.englandfootball.com/courses/football/ee-playmaker

With thanks to the FA via MatchFit

Ireland’s Sophie Spence to join Wales as RWC 2021 coach intern

Jennie Powell — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 09:21:14 +0000

RWC 2021 Coaching Internship Programme creates quality deployment opportunities for aspiring female athletes
World Rugby targeting 40 per cent of all coaches at RWC 2025 to be women
Wales set to face reigning champions New Zealand, Australia and Final Qualification Tournament winner in Pool A at RWC 2021
Rugby World Cup 2021 set to take place from 18 September-16 October

World Rugby and the Welsh Rugby Union today announced that former Ireland international and WRU Player to Coach Programme candidate Sophie Spence will join the Wales Women management team as their selected Rugby World Cup 2021 coach intern.

Spence represented Ireland 40 times, featured in two Rugby World Cups (2014 and 2017) and was also part of the Women’s Six Nations title-winning sides in 2013 and 2015.

While still playing, Spence began coaching at Dublin University and Leinster Rugby, and set up her own rugby academy to inspire girls. Since hanging up her boots and moving to Wales last year, she has held the position of forwards coach at Division 1 West men’s side Penclawdd in Wales.

Spence will join newly-appointed head coach Warren Abrahams and skills coach Rachel Taylor as Wales prepare to compete in Pool A at Rugby World Cup 2021 alongside defending champions New Zealand, Australia and the winner of the Final Qualification Tournament.

The Rugby World Cup 2021 Coaching Internship Programme is an outcome of the comprehensive Women’s High-Performance Coaching review, with the report’s findings highlighting a significant lack of female representation at high-performance coaching level.

The ground-breaking Coaching Internship Programme aims to address the lack of female coaches at high-performance level across men’s and women’s rugby through the creation of quality deployment opportunities for aspiring elite female coaches in high-performance environments.

In line with the ‘developing inspirational leadership’ strand of the Women in Rugby 2017-25 strategic plan, World Rugby is committed to supporting the development of female coaches in the sport and has set an ambitious target of a minimum of 40 per cent of all coaches at Rugby World Cup 2025 to be women.

World Rugby General Manager for Women’s Rugby Katie Sadleir said: “Excitement is building with less than 10 months to go and the pools now decided for Rugby World Cup 2021. We want to wish Sophie and the newly-appointed Wales coaching team, Warren Abrahams and Rachel Taylor, all the best as Wales prepares to compete in the ninth edition of the tournament.”

WRU General Manager, Women and Girls, Charlotte Wathan said: “Sophie brings a wealth of experience ad rugby knowledge into our international women’s programme. She’s currently progressing through our Player to Coach Performance programme along with the likes of Rhys Webb, Scott Baldwin, Liam Williams, Gareth Anscombe and Elinor Snowsill. World Rugby’s Coaching Internship Programme is a fantastic boost to female coaches around the world at all levels of the game.”

Spence said: “This is a great initiative by World Rugby, not only for rugby but for women in sport and I’m really looking forward to getting stuck in as we work towards the Rugby World Cup next year. Wales Women have a really inspiring new coaching set-up and I’m pleased to be starting alongside them at the beginning of their journey.

“I’ve met the management team and I can see what path Warren has planned. I’ve been watching some Allianz 15s clips which is a brilliant standard of rugby but it will be good to meet the players and get started. I’m keen to be as involved as possible. I’m looking forward to learning from Warren, and Rachel, who I’ve played with for the Barbarians. I’ll observe and I’ll also deliver whenever I’m needed as part of the team.

“We have an exciting Rugby World Cup draw. It’s fantastic to have the opportunity to play New Zealand in their own back yard and with Australia also in the pool, the focus will surely be all on those teams, which is great for us. We can work hard, focus on ourselves and show up as prepared as possible.”

Spence says coaching was always her aim after hanging up her boots.

“After coaching at University level in Dublin and with Leinster Rugby, I was always keen to keep progressing as a coach.

“I contacted the Welsh Rugby Union when I moved over to Wales to see what opportunities were out there. I knew what path I wanted to take and looked for a senior men’s team as a new challenge. I’ve really enjoyed coaching at Penclawdd. We are on an upward spiral and having moved up from Division 2, we were sitting around sixth place when the season was suspended.

“Then the WRU’s Player to Coach programme came up which is aimed at elite level players in Wales. We are on our fourth session and it’s been really positive sharing experiences and learnings from coaching and, as far as the professional players are concerned, playing at the highest possible level.

“And now the World Rugby internship is a huge opportunity for me and the rest of the interns. I’m sure we will learn so much from each other and the experience.”

Courtesy of World Rugby

Rugby World Cup 2021 coaching intern confirmed for Fiji

Jennie Powell — Wed, 18 Nov 2020 11:36:56 +0000

RWC 2021 coach interns to be fully embedded with national squad management teams
RWC 2021 Coaching Internship Programme is supported by World Rugby, as part of IOC international development grant
Fijiana prepare to compete in their first ever Rugby World Cup

World Rugby and the Fiji Rugby Union today announced former Australian international and Melbourne Rebels head coach Alana Thomas will join the Fijiana 15s squad management team as Fiji’s selected Rugby World Cup 2021 coaching intern.

The appointment comes as part of a unique collaboration between the Fiji Rugby Union and Rugby Australia.

Thomas will join newly-appointed Fijiana head coach Senirusi Seruvakula and the wider management team, taking on the role of defence and skills coach under the RWC 2021 internship as Fijiana prepare to compete in their first-ever Rugby World Cup.

The Rugby World Cup 2021 Coaching Internship Programme is supported as part of the International Olympic Committee’s international development grant awarded to World Rugby.

The programme is an outcome from the comprehensive Women’s High-Performance Coaching review, with the report’s findings highlighting a significant lack of female representation at high-performance coaching level.

World Rugby General Manager for Women’s Rugby Katie Sadleir said: “It is fantastic to see both the Fiji Rugby Union and Rugby Australia working in collaboration in providing Fiji with a suitable elite female candidate to take up the Rugby World Cup 2021 coach internship position with Fijiana 15s. We wish Alana and Fijiana well as they prepare to compete in their first-ever Rugby World Cup.”

Simon Raiwalui, Fiji Rugby Union General Manager High Performance said: “Fiji Rugby Union is extremely excited to confirm that Alana Thomas will be joining the coaching staff of our Fijiana XV in preparation for next year’s Rugby World Cup

“Our newly-appointed head coach Senirusi Seruvakula has assembled an exciting diverse young coaching staff and we are very fortunate to be able to have someone with the skills and experience such as Alana.

“One of the main priorities within the Fiji Rugby Union is the development of women’s rugby within the country and Alana’s involvement will assist in the growth of our pathways for our women and girls.

“I would also like to acknowledge and thank World Rugby and Rugby Australia for allowing us to participate in the World Rugby Coach Internship Programme for RWC 2021, without their support a programme such as this would not be possible.”

RWC 2021 coach intern Alana Thomas said: “I am extremely excited to be appointed as an assistant coach of the Fijiana 15s team and take part in the World Rugby Coaching Internship Programme.

“Fiji Rugby has been creating a great pathway for women and girls and to be a part of their first Rugby World Cup is going to be a great experience.

“I’m looking forward to working with Seni, he is an experienced coach having coached the Fijian Drua within Australia’s National Rugby Championship, winning the premiership in 2018, as well as working with the Flying Fijians.

“I would like to thank Rugby Australia for their support throughout my coaching journey and the development which they have been able to provide. Their ongoing support has given me a great opportunity heading into this new role.”

Click here to view full list of RWC 2021 coach interns

Hosts New Zealand and Wales will confirm participating female coaches at a later stage, and the remaining three teams to qualify for Rugby World Cup 2021 will also be afforded the opportunity to identify female coaches to participate in the innovative programme.

Amy Turner earns Rugby World Cup 2021 coaching internship

Jennie Powell — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 10:35:55 +0000

Amy Turner will link up with the Red Roses having been selected for World Rugby’s coaching internship programme.

The former England scrum half will be fully embedded into Simon Middleton’s England Senior Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021 national coaching team for the next 12 months, where she will gain meaningful professional development opportunities and experience leading up to and during the tournament.

Having represented Wasps, Richmond and Harlequins at club level, seven-time Grand Slam winner Turner earned 59 international caps and was a member of England’s 2006 and 2010 World Cup squads.

World Rugby launched the transformational placement programme which provides talent identified female coaches with a unique 12-month placement opportunity with a team competing at the showcase women’s 15s event in New Zealand.

The programme aims to address the lack of women’s coaches at high-performance level across men’s and women’s rugby and is funded as part of the International Olympic Committee’s international development grant awarded to World Rugby.

Turner, who retired from playing in May 2018 and was England Women’s U20 head coach before the early curtailment of the 2019/20 season, will continue working in the pathway alongside her role with the seniors.

Turner said: “I’m absolutely thrilled and really grateful for this opportunity.

“There are so many talented coaches in the domestic leagues and to be given this opportunity, knowing those coaches are out there, I was completely taken back, very surprised and grateful.

“I’m looking forward to getting started. There will be so many different facets that I’ll be able to impact and learn from.

“I’m excited to go on a year-long journey of helping to prepare a team for a World Cup campaign.

“Being a part of that is pretty special. I’ve been there as a player and to be part of the coaching staff is something completely new.

“World Rugby recognising that we need to be exposing coaches to this experience is important and will hopefully open doors in the future for female coaches into high performance jobs across the board.

“I can’t wait to get started.”

RFU head of women’s performance, Nicky Ponsford said: “We’re delighted that Amy will be linking up with our senior team coaching set-up for the build-up to and during next year’s World Cup.

“We were seeking a young, aspiring coach, in the early stage of their career and Amy was the outstanding candidate.

“Amy is a dedicated, talented young coach with an infectious personality, enthusiasm and willingness to develop.

“We’re really looking forward to her joining the environment.”

World Rugby announces innovative Coaching Internship Programme

Jennie Powell — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 17:33:50 +0000

Transformational Rugby World Cup 2021 Coaching Internship Programme opens for all RWC 2021 participating unions
Programme will create quality deployment opportunities for aspiring elite female coaches in high-performance environments
Selected participants to be fully embedded for 12 months in RWC 2021 national squad management teams
Programme aims to address the lack of female coaches at high-performance level across men’s and women’s rugby
Rugby World Cup 2021 Coaching Internship Programme is funded as part of the International Olympic Committee’s international development grant awarded to World Rugby
World Rugby targets a minimum of 40 per cent of all coaches at Rugby World Cup 2025 to be women

World Rugby has launched a transformational Rugby World Cup 2021 Coaching Internship Programme, providing talent identified female coaches with a unique 12-month placement opportunity with a team competing at the showcase women’s 15s event in New Zealand.

In line with the ‘developing inspirational leadership’ strand of the 2017-25 Women in Rugby strategic plan, World Rugby is committed to supporting the development of female coaches in the sport and has set an ambitious target of a minimum of 40 per cent of all coaches at Rugby World Cup 2025 to be women.

Internship participants will be fully embedded into each competing Rugby World Cup 2021 national coaching team, where they will gain meaningful professional development opportunities and experience working in a high-performance sporting environment, leading up to and during Rugby World Cup 2021.

Fully underwritten by World Rugby and International Olympic Committee development grant funding over the 12-month period, the innovative Coaching Internship Programme supports that mission by enabling Rugby World Cup 2021 qualified unions to nominate an aspiring elite level female coach from their union to avail of the internship opportunity.

The programme is an outcome from the comprehensive Women’s High-Performance Coaching review, commissioned by World Rugby in 2018 and conducted by World Rugby Hall of Fame inductee Carol Isherwood, to understand the level of women coaching at high-performance level across both men’s and women’s rugby, and the challenges and barriers.

The ground-breaking report findings highlighted a significant lack of women’s representation at high-performance coaching level, with only one female head coach and three women’s assistant coaches part of Rugby World Cup 2017 and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

As part of the review several recommendations were put forward to address real barriers for women aspiring to coach at the highest level in both elite men’s and women’s rugby. One of the recommendations was to improve the diversity of coaching teams and critical to this was the ability to create meaningful deployment and professional development opportunities for women who aspire to work in a high-performance environment.

World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “We acknowledge that there are disproportionate levels of women in high-performance coaching environments across the men’s and women’s game and are committed to making impactful change in this area. Through the International Olympic Committee development grant that was awarded to World Rugby, we can deliver and amplify deployment strategies that provide female coaches with opportunities to gain meaningful experience in relevant high-performance environments. We are promoting and instilling change that will ultimately result in the diversification of the high-performance coaching landscape in rugby.”

World Rugby Women’s Advisory Committee Chair Serge Simon added: “We continue to sustain momentum in relation to developing inspirational leaders both on and off the pitch in line with the women’s strategic plan and addressing the area of coaching, where there is a severe lack of female representation. Building on the successful launch of the women’s coaching toolkit earlier this year, this unique Coaching Internship Programme will remove some fundamental barriers for aspiring female coaches in attaining head coach positions across both the men’s and women’s game.”

World Rugby General Manager for Women’s Rugby Katie Sadleir said: “We have set an ambitious but achievable target to have a minimum of 40 per cent of all coaches at Rugby World Cup 2025 be women. Through our women’s coaching network, of which there are 110 female coaches, we know there is a lot of talented female rugby coaches globally who are lacking opportunities to gain demonstrable experience in high-performance environments. This programme will provide the participants with an excellent opportunity to gain top level experience.”

Earlier this year World Rugby launched a new, online women coaching rugby toolkit, developed to assist unions and regional associations in recruiting, developing and retaining more female rugby coaches at every level of the game.

World Rugby launches Women Coaching Rugby Toolkit

Jennie Powell — Sun, 10 May 2020 10:31:56 +0000

World Rugby launches Women Coaching Rugby Toolkit to recruit and retain more female rugby coaches at every level of the game

The World Rugby toolkit aims to assist unions in increasing the number of female rugby coaches globally
The Toolkit is designed to create a robust framework and pathway to address barriers facing women in rugby
Women currently make up 25 per cent of the rugby playing population worldwide
Women coaching rugby toolkit is available for free download on www.women.rugby

World Rugby today launched a new, online women coaching rugby toolkit, developed by World Rugby to assist unions and regional associations in recruiting, developing and retaining more female rugby coaches at every level of the game.

As part of World Rugby’s ambitious and transformational strategic women’s plan to accelerate the global development of women in rugby 2017-25, a core pillar is to develop inspirational leadership on and off the field, including the areas of coaching and refereeing.

In 2018, World Rugby undertook a review of the status of women in high performance coaching, led by World Rugby Hall of Fame inductee Carol Isherwood, with the report finding many of the challenges and barriers influencing a lack of women in high performance coaching positions are complex and inter-linked, requiring integrated and holistic solutions.

The World Rugby Women Coaching Rugby Toolkit, available on www.women.rugby, is designed to create a robust framework and pathway for unions and regional associations to address challenges and barriers in four core areas:

Planning: Developing a plan to increase the quantity and quality of female rugby coaches through workforce audits, mapping out future state, gap analysis and monitoring and evaluation
Recruitment: Understanding motivations and complex value systems, promoting coaching to women and open, transparent requirement processes
Development: Providing and promoting support networks, education and review of organisational culture that values women in the workforce.
Retention: Support, connection and recognition strategies to engage and excite women

While the toolkit is aimed at increasing the number of female rugby coaches, the information and tactics can equally be applied to generic coach and workforce development across the game at every level.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW WOMEN COACHING RUGBY TOOLKIT>>

World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: “Women currently make up 25 per cent of the rugby playing population and so should be represented in all areas of the game worldwide. We understand that, at present, there are disproportionate levels of women in coaching and we are committed to making change in this important area, working with our member unions to increase diversity in coaching at all levels globally.”

World Rugby Women’s Advisory Committee Chairman Serge Simon said: “The new World Rugby Women Coaching Rugby Toolkit is a practical, multi-language resource which identifies barriers and challenges faced by women around recruitment and retention in coaching and sets out a clear roadmap for member unions to assist them in delivering increased diversity among coaches across all levels of the game.”

World Rugby General Manager of Women’s Rugby Katie Sadleir said: “The development of the toolkit was one of the key recommendations in the 2018 Women in High Performance Coaching report, led by World Rugby Hall of Fame inductee Carol Isherwood, with its purpose to assist unions in creating more global diversity in coaching teams and increase the number of women coaching rugby at elite level.

“However, the toolkit can also act as a ‘cultural change kit’ to create pathways for unions to start understanding their organisational unconscious bias and the steps necessary to make constructive change. The interventions, approaches and innovative ways of working can be applied to the whole game.”

The new World Rugby Women Coaching Rugby Toolkit is an adaptation of the UK Coaching SCORE toolkit, developed with support from the European Union and Erasmus Foundation.