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England anounces a program to encourage and develop women coaches

The Football Association today welcomed a new programme designed to encourage and develop top women coaches which was launched at its Soho Square headquarters.
Four sporting bodies - The Football Association, Rugby Football Union for Women, EnglishCricket Board and the Rugby League Policy Board - have signed up to Women Into High Performance Coaching and are committed to the representation of more women at the elite end of sports coaching. Twenty-six women coaches are already involved including England's National Coach for Women's football, Hope Powell.

It is widely acknowledged that women are under-represented in all spheres of coaching, umpiring and sports administration. The National Coaching Foundation (NCF) has, since its inception in 1983, worked with partner organisations to develop programmes to increase the number of women entering coaching. The NCF is developing the programme in partnership with the Women's Sports Foundation, the only organisation in the UK dedicated to promoting the development of women in sport.

"In football, we recognise that women are under represented in all spheres of coaching, playing, officiating and administrating, "said The F.A.'s National Football Development Manager Ros Potts,"WomenÆs football is the fastest growing sport in the country and to cope with the increase of participants it is vital that we ensure that we encourage more women to come into the game at all levels. We have made great strides in the past six years in terms of increasing the numbers of women going into coaching. There has been a 360% increase in the number of female coaches to 16,717 since The F.A. took over in 1993 (quadrupled on 3,622 we inherited)."

The F.A.'s recent initiatives in this field include:
1. Women-only coaching courses alongside the usual courses to try and create an environment where a woman may feel more at ease picking up coaching skills.
2. A coaches mentoring programme through the 31 Girls Centres of Excellence and Academies aimed at women
3. A focus on the top end of qualifications and how the top players and
coaches can be retained within the game.

The "Women Into High Performance Coaching" is one such initiative to help develop the top players and coaches around the country and is an integral part of our coaches mentoring programme led by Hope Powell, England National Coach. It is part of the F.A.'s Talent Development Plan launched by Howard Wilkinson in 1997. The first six coaches to take part in The F.A.Æs programme have been selected by Hope Powell. They include the current England captain Mo Marley, and Marieanne Spacey û one of the best known women footballers. The coaches have had individual programme tailored to suit their requirements.

Hope Powell said: "The Football Association is committed to providing opportunities for our top female coaches to develop as coaches at a pace and to a level which best suits their individual needs. The F.A. is delighted to be involved in this programme which will enable coaches to benefit from the expertise and knowledge of specialists in this field.

"In the long term, we see this scheme as an integral part of our coach mentoring programme for women who will coach at the highest level of the women's game." Kate Hoey, Minister for Sport welcomed the initiative: "This launch helps to highlight the issues identified in the Sports Strategy concerning a lack of women involved in High Performance Coaching. I am personally committed to ensuring that we enable women with the necessary skills and competences to move into coaching in a High Performance environment. Congratulations to all the Governing Bodies involved, the Women's Sports Foundation and the National Coaching Foundation for taking forward these initiatives.