UK Athletics and the Female Coaching Network are inviting all coaches to attend a ‘Let’s Talk About Gender in Coaching” webinar series in August 2021.

UKA and FCN are hosting a number of webinar discussions for all coaches who have not had the opportunity to feed into the Female Coaching Network research published in February, or been involved with a number of discussions following the publication. We want to hear first-hand about your experiences coaching in the sport, and your thoughts on how your gender shapes your coaching experiences.

In order to move our sport and organisation forward in becoming the world leader for equitable coaching, we want to understand the different experiences male and female coaches have within our sport and understand how these differences shape our coaching landscape.  We want to be at the forefront of coaching development by removing barriers and changing practices, so that all coaches have the chance to be the best coach they can be, whoever they are.  We want to redefine who is considered the ‘norm’ when it comes to coaches and leaders.

Jackie Newton, Head of Coaching Development, said: “We are keen to speak to more coaches to hear about your feelings and experiences and to uncover assumptions made of what a coach can do and be according to gender. We know that change is needed and that this is not about fixing the coaches – it is about fixing the system and improving the culture and we are committed to doing exactly that. Your contributions to the focus groups will help us to put the plans in place that will bring about that change.”

Coaches are not simply vehicles for athlete success, they require similar care and investment as our athletes do.  Through these webinar discussions, we hope to truly understand your motivations, challenges and needs for your coaching career.

To ensure everyone has the opportunity to speak, we will limit the spaces to 10 people per session and these will be booked on a first come first served basis, with sessions running in throughout the middle of August between 18:00-19:30.

If we are over-subscribed, we will arrange further sessions to accommodate. To register, please email dutyofcare@uka.org.uk with the subject ‘Let’s talk about Gender in Coaching’

The Female Coaching Network research paper “Achieving Gender Equity in High Performance Athletics Coaching” was published in February 2021, and you can read UKA CEO Joanna Coates’ reaction to the paper, here.

If you would like further information about the FCN research “Achieving Gender Equity in High Performance Athletics Coaching”, or to discuss gender equity before attending one of our meetings, please email info@femalecoachingnetwork.com