The new leadership programme will involve six of the best female coaches in the UK providing key support and development opportunities for the next aspiring generation of elite coaches.

Paula Dunn (para athletics), Kate Howey (judo), Mel Marshall (swimming), Bex Milnes (para triathlon) and Tracy Whittaker-Smith (trampolining) will, over six months, provide a unique opportunity for other female coaches to learn from them, observe them in their environment and develop understanding of high-performance coaching, while Karen Brown, who spent over 15 years as a coach for Great Britain Hockey and England Hockey, will act as a mentor throughout the programme.

UK Sport is working with Performance Directors, Coach Developers and Talent Pathway Managers within the high-performance community, as well as UK Coaching, to nominate female coaches who the group collectively agree have potential to coach at the Olympic and Paralympic Games at Paris 2024 and beyond. The nomination process will close shortly and coaches will be finalised by the end of the year.

The leadership programme forms part of UK Sport’s long-term plan to address the current under-representation of female coaches at all levels of the talent pathway within the high-performance community. Significantly increasing the number of female coaches available for Paris 2024 is the first target of this long-term plan.

CEO at UK Sport, Sally Munday, said:

“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:

“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:

“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’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.”

UK Coaching's Head of Coaching Nick Levett, said:

“For several years, we have run our own signature Women into High Performance programme to support female coaches who have the potential to transition into high-performance coaching. A diverse coaching workforce enhances athletes’ experience of sport and physical activity with new ideas, skills and knowledge.”

UK Sport is the nation's high-performance sports agency. You can read the full press release here.