“There are currently far too few female coaches operating at the highest level of performance and we are committed to addressing this reality and, working with our stakeholders, driving the change we want to see.”
The programme arises from UK Sport’s People Development Team, working in partnership with sports and stakeholders to address diversity and inclusion ambitions, removing barriers and introducing bespoke programmes with gender the first characteristic and other initiatives to follow.
At present, approximately only 10% of coaching positions within the high-performance community in the UK are held by women. The first target of UK Sport’s long-term plan is to ensure that by the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024, the number of female coaches available to Team GB and ParalympicsGB has more than doubled to 25%.
Working with key stakeholders, UK Sport has a responsibility to play a part in closing gender gaps by focusing on diversifying the high-performance coaching community and increasing opportunities for female coaches to take up senior and leadership roles.
Deputy Director of People Development at UK Sport, Debbie Jenssen, said:
“UK Sport is delighted to be announcing this leadership programme and our first step in addressing what needs to be done to increase the number of female coaches across the talent pathway in our high-performance community.
“We have some outstanding female coaches already, as demonstrated by those great coaches contributing to the leadership programme, and we can be extremely proud of their achievements, but more needs to be done to increase the number that get to coach at the very highest level.
“UK Sport is committed to leading the change for female coaches in our high-performance community, and through a collaborative approach with our stakeholders, we believe we can inspire, promote and create the working environments that will allow for more female coaches than ever at Paris 2024 and beyond.”
Sports Minister Nigel Huddleston said:
“I’ve been clear that it is a priority of mine to support women's sport at every opportunity, pushing for greater participation, employment, commercial opportunities and visibility in the media.
“Key to this is having an infrastructure in place that delivers a pipeline of talent, whether that be athletes, coaches, officials or administrators.
“I welcome UK Sport’s ambitious leadership programme, which I hope will mark a turning point in greater diversity at the highest levels of coaching in elite sport.”
Para Athletics Head Coach at British Athletics, Paula Dunn MBE, said:
“I am very proud to be part of the inaugural leadership programme, and I am fully supportive of UK Sport’s target to increase the number of women in the high-performance coaching pathway by 2024.
“I’ve always said, ‘you have to see it to be it’. Initiatives like this are so important in supporting the development of female coaches in the elite pathway. There are so many female coaches out there who have really good and innovative ideas, so I am looking forward to sharing experiences and engaging with other female coaches over the coming months.”