Chapter 3: Suggested Actions

Suggested actions summary

Write a set of guidelines encouraging clubs to establish coaching networks, or opportunities for coaches to connect, network and learn from one another within the club. For example, monthly coaching forums online or in the clubhouse where certain topics are discussed.

Establish a coaching network for all female coaches in your sport. For example, this may involve four online forums a year where they hear from a guest speaker. It also means the sport has a contact group when sending out the latest information on coach development and other news.

Link up with another sport and establish a joint coaching network. This can provide an opportunity for coaches to be exposed to different ideas and concepts when it comes to coaching.

Write a set of guidelines for clubs encouraging them to try and establish mentoring between their experienced coaches and others.

Establish a women in coaching mentoring programme in your sport. Coaches can nominate themselves via an application form. The sport provides opportunities for all coaches to meet and learn while also pairing them with a mentor

Collaborate with other sports to create joint mentoring programmes.

For those who are just starting their coaching journey – prior to any course starting, appoint a mentor to work with a small group of interested women, doing some pre-course work and mentoring the whole group, before, during and after the actual course. This is cost effective and has the added benefit of starting to develop a peer mentoring group which can transition into a wider network for the female coaches.

Coaches with potential to progress to the next level or who are aiming to coach at HP level, will benefit enormously from having a mentor for a period of time.

Review all conferences and events to ensure a diverse range of speakers and deliverers thus resulting in a more inclusive and welcoming environment.

Host an annual Women in Coaching Conference in your sport.

Host a coaching conference for coaches of female teams (mixed gender but all involved with similar teams).

Host online coaching workshops for women coaches.

Host online coaching workshops for coaches of female teams.

Offer to pay for coaches to attend International coaching workshops/courses. This also highlights how much you value and support the coach if their sport is willing to invest in their upskilling.

Ensure all promotion and communication for conferences and events is welcoming and appealing to women, i.e. females are visible and pre-event information is sufficient.

Encourage clubs to use a ‘shadowing/co-coaching’ initiative when looking to support female coaches in their club. Coaches could be paired with coaches of slightly more experience in the club.

Offer a ‘shadowing/co-coaching’ programme to coaches with potential to coach at higher levels. Theycould be paired up with the representative (National, Provincial, County) teams/athletes in your sport.

Put together a ‘Co-coaching Plan’ to share with clubs. This plan can be very simple and outline to clubs the concept of co-coaching, and encourage them to use it with their coaches.

Provide opportunities for coaches to observe one another. This might be in the same sport, or cross sport collaboration.

Create an annual Women in Coaching survey for your sport as a way of providing a mechanism for female coaches to provide feedback.

Host a number of focus groups each year to further explore feedback. Focus groups might target different levels of coaches, e.g. Beginner/foundation, coaches of adult athletes/teams, coaches of kids, coaches of teens, etc.

Host a number of club coaching events, e.g. all female coaches in the club are brought together to discuss club support structures, etc.

Examine your communication and promotional methods when advertising coaching workshops and events. Do you use language that would encourage females to sign up?

Create an email contact database of all relevant female coaches and send a bespoke email to them promoting the event and including the information provided above.

Create a Communication Checklist using the points in the toolkit when developing marketing material to promote coaching courses/workshops.

Think about how you currently deliver training to your coaches. Does the format of the delivery of the course suit their lifestyle and timing commitments? How often do you check if your training courses are effective?

Always record webinars and online workshops. Circulate these with your coaches so that those who were unavailable can watch back at a time that suits them.

If recording coach education webinars, release the audio format via podcast. This way coaches can listen to it while driving, exercising, etc.
Vary the location for training, for example, bring the workshop to the club rather than all the time regional, etc. Make it easy for coaches to attend.

Ensure the Women in Coaching Action Plan developed by the sport has measures in place to address the challenges faced by females (e.g. a lack of support by NGB/club).

Issue a statement from the organisation outlining the value placed on women coaches or create a campaign for the organisation and clubs to celebrate women in coaching.

Review your own organisation’s pricing structure for coaching courses.

Establish events to recognise and reward female coaches where applicable.

Write a set of guidelines for clubs suggesting ways in which the clubs can ensure coaches are supported,developed and feel valued, including for example:
- Equal access to training facilities and equipment.
- Improved communication practices within the club to all coaches.
- Fair and equitable budgeting practices with all training groups.
- Fair and equal representation of all coaches/training groups at club meetings.
- Subsidised costs for those attending coaching courses.
- Establish a coaching network in the club.
- Host a coaches awards/recognition night in the club.
Establish additional CPD training for coaches that focuses on personal growth rather then just technical/tactical skills.

Link up with other sports to create joint bespoke programmes focusing on the personal growth. Learning opportunities for coaches from different sports can increase the knowledge gained.

Explore how your sport can make Training Needs Analysis (TNA) and Personal Development Plans (PDP) the norm, as well as accessible for female coaches to learn more about it.

Host a webinar with female coaches on TNAs and PDPs (perhaps only applicable to coaches at a certain coaching level)

Make the decision to establish an ‘Internship/Placement Initiative’ with your high performance teams/athletes for women coaches. The initiative will probably work best if it has an application process attached, a set timeline for duration of the placement /internship, etc. and clear roles/responsibilities for both the coach, the Head coach and the NGB. E.g. all National teams/squads have a women coach included.

Develop a mailing list for all women coaches so that information can be shared directly with them.

For large organisations, stressing the importance to other staff and development officers on the information in this toolkit is vital. Host a staff webinar to outline your Action Plan for Women in Coaching or to simply make them aware of the key points highlighted in this toolkit or in the Sport Ireland Women in Coaching Research Report.

Audit your current Coach Developers, tutors, trainers, to discover the gender breakdown within your organisation. If there are significantly less females, explore the possibility of hosting a workshop to upskill female only Coach Developers.

Examine your communication and promotional methods when seeking to recruit new Coach Developers. Do you use language that would encourage females to sign up?

Proactively ensure that there is a minimum number of female Coach Developers involved in every coaching course/workshop that the organisation runs.

Review all your coach education material to ensure there is a gender balance on all images used.

Review the coaching section of your website to ensure there is a gender balance on all images used.

Discover ways of promoting female coaches in your sport, e.g. a weekly blog on your website profiling a new coach each week.

Establish ‘Coach of the Month’ awards within the organisation.

A self-assessment of your workforce/staff can be beneficial to discover if a gender balance exists.

Run annual surveys to discover the public’s view of the organisation.

Try and discover if women coaches in your sport have ever experienced issues relating to gender and sexism mentioned in this resource. That way you can take proactive measures to address it.

Establish and promote a coaching awareness week, targeting males in sport and their attitude towards women coaches.

Add a segment to coaching courses that highlights the fact that women coaches can feel disrespected and disregarded due to their gender. This may create an awareness and self-consciousness in all those on the course.

Host a staff webinar to outline your Action Plan for Women in Coaching or to simply make them aware of the key points highlighted in this toolkit or in the Sport Ireland Women in Coaching Research Report.

Use Codes of Conducts or ‘zero tolerance policies’ in the organisation, or encourage the use of them in clubs, to help overcome sexism or gender related issues cited by women coaches.

Host club workshops to provide feedback to clubs on challenges stated by women coaches and ways of improving them in the club.

A self-assessment of your workforce/staff can be beneficial to ensure a gender balance exists.

Host a staff event such as, team building, a values workshop and unconscious bias training.