Number of women coaching in Olympic and Paralympic sport doubles since 2020
Through several proactive and collaborative programmes to support British coaches, the number of women coaching in Olympic and Paralympic sports in the UK has almost doubled since the Tokyo 2020 Games.
The data, collected from national governing bodies of sport, features coaches who are supporting athletes on their journey to an Olympic or Paralympic Games. Across summer Olympic and Paralympic sports, 20% of coaches are women, up from 10% in 2020.
Director of Performance at UK Sport, Dr Kate Baker, said, “A diverse workforce brings innovative ideas, broader perspectives, and stronger collaboration, which we believe is integral for the sporting system to thrive.
“Our ambition is not only to create gender equity but to build a more inclusive and diverse community of sports, staff, and athletes.
“It is vital we do this to ensure the ongoing success of British athletes on the world stage and beyond the field of play, not just at the top end of Olympic and Paralympic sports but across the talent pathway.”
Despite not reaching the ambitious target that UK Sport set back in 2020, increasing the number of female coaches in Olympic and Paralympic sport to 25% - significant progress has been made. This includes a deeper understanding of coaching environments to enable a diverse workforce to flourish.
As part of our ambition to grow a thriving sporting system, in 2021, the Female Coaches Leadership Programme was created. This work shadowing and mentorship initiative provided learning and development experiences to support and develop female coaches in high-performance coaching environments. The programme supported 44 coaches working across 20 sports.
The programme then evolved into the Women's Coaching CPD Initiative, which aims to support the ongoing development of female coaches and grow the breadth and depth of coaching talent across British high-performance sport. Coaches from the programme described notable impacts across several areas including confidence, connection, capability, and value within their sport.
The priorities, developed in collaboration with the coaches, were to connect coaches with one another, enable sharing of ideas, and facilitate joint problem-solving. The programme included a variety of workshops featuring Kate Howey (judo), Claire Morrison (boccia), Mel Marshall (swimming), Jane Figueredo (diving), and Jess Thirlby (netball), who shared insights from her historic journey to the World Cup final with the England Roses.
The next stage of our commitment to creating and supporting a diverse workforce is a research project in partnership with UK Coaching, Leeds Beckett University and national governing bodies to better understand the coaching environment within sports for women coaches.
