‘I didn’t know girls could coach football that well’: the experiences of female football coaches in the South East of England

Martinez, Maria Mira, Magrath, Rory and Bullingham, Rachael ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1940-3008 (2023) ‘I didn’t know girls could coach football that well’: the experiences of female football coaches in the South East of England. Sport in Society, 26 (12). pp. 2073-2086. doi:10.1080/17430437.2023.2229261

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Abstract

Although women’s football has seen a significant growth of participation in recent years, this has not reflected in the number of female coaches. In this semi-structured interview research, we examine 10 female football coaches’ experiences in the South East of England. Our findings document three central findings: (1) participants were motivated to pursue a coaching career either due to a love of football, an alternative to a playing career, or were inspired by a recent increase of female role models in the game; (2) the institutional support networks (i.e. those established by the game’s governing body, the Football Association) were inadequate, forcing them to seek support from elsewhere, such as their family; and (3) consistent with previous research, all participants in this research had encountered some form of sexism in their coaching careers. Accordingly, this article contributes to a growing body of research centered on female coaches’ experiences of football.

Item Type:	Article
Article Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Sport in Society on 30th June 2023, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2023.2229261.
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Football; Coaching; Sexism; Discrimination; Support; Role models
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure > GV557 Sports > GV0711 Coaching G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GV Recreation Leisure > GV557 Sports > GV861 Ball games: Baseball, football, golf, etc.
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Education, Health and Sciences
Research Priority Areas:	Health, Life Sciences, Sport and Wellbeing
Depositing User:	Rhiannon Goodland
Date Deposited:	25 Jul 2023 14:32
Last Modified:	11 Oct 2025 15:15
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/12944

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