“There’s a huge pool of mums out there who want to coach” – but how do we get them involved in women’s football? | OneFootball

Following a sharp drop in the number of female volunteer sports coaches across the country, new research unveiled by UK Coaching has shed light on an overlooked demographic: mums.

More than 80% of mums in the UK have no involvement in their child’s sporting activities outside of school – and while 1 in 3 are keen to get involved, they cite a number of barriers including lack of knowledge about the sport, a lack of confidence, or struggling to balance work and home life.

Many of the 2,008 mums surveyed by YouGov Sport highlighted practical solutions that could make a difference, with 1 in 3 suggesting that ‘financial support for qualifications’ could help them to have a ‘better knowledge of the sport/activity’ and a ‘better understanding of what is involved’.

The survey, released during UK Coaching Week, comes at a time when women’s sport is enjoying an unprecedented boom across the country. But it’s not all rosy, with the proportion of female volunteer coaches having plummeted 25% since 2022 according to UK Coaching’s Gender Spotlight Report.

One club looking to push those numbers back up is Faversham Strike Force FC. Having recently launched the ‘This Mum Can’ campaign, the club were joined by Emily Handyside, the Coaching Lead at UK Coaching, and former England international Anita Asante.

The campaign aims to understand the barriers to entry that mums face and help them to overcome them by providing guidance and support as they become volunteer coaches, which Handyside labelled as “brilliant work.”

“The recent decline in the number of female volunteer coaches is a worrying trend but this research shows that there’s clearly a huge pool of mums out there who want to coach if those barriers can be overcome,” she explained.

“We’ve seen how this can be done with the brilliant work at Faversham Strike Force FC and UK Coaching is committed to providing the support and help that mums and women need to take that first step into coaching as a volunteer.”

Asante, who won 71 caps for the Lionesses during her playing career, highlighted “how important female coaches are as role models for girls, especially when it comes to staying in sport and being active into their teenage years, so it’s vital we find ways to halt this decline in female volunteer coaching especially at a time when more girls than ever are inspired by the Lionesses and other female sporting heroes.”

The 40-year-old, who has a young daughter of her own, added: “I’m passionate about creating more opportunities for mums and women to coach, especially at volunteer level. In what will be another huge summer of women’s sport, it’s really important that women feel inspired to coach and get the support they need.”