Coach Like a Girl

Your Coaching Journey, Your Way

Coach Like a Girl, is one of our key development programmes designed to support female students develop their coaching skills, gain qualifications and explore opportunities within the coaching workforce in Scotland. Introduced in 2024 the programme places a focus on reducing barriers for female students amidst our clear commitment to improving equality, diversity and inclusion across the wider sector coaching community. Through this programme, we provide individual students with access to grant funding which they can use to support their coaching development.

Whether you’re taking your first steps into coaching or looking to build on your existing experience, Coach Like a Girl aims to make coaching development more accessible by helping reduce the financial barriers to gaining qualifications and accessing relevant training.

Apply for Funding

To be eligible to apply for this funding, in addition to the criteria outlined above, applicants must also meet/agree to meet the following conditions at the time of submitting their application:

  • Be a current student at a Scottish Tertiary Education institution which holds membership of Scottish Student Sport.
  • Be actively involved in student sport in Scotland whether that be participating, running activity or delivering coached sessions.
  • Not have received a subsidy or funding grant from another institution or body in the past 24 months.
  • Be in the process of booking, have booked or exploring booking a course with a governing body or other appropriate provider which will complete before the 30th April 2027.
  • Be willing to share feedback and experiences of the attended course with SSS and engage with requests for further information.
  • Complete all relevant monitoring information as requested by both SSS and the awarding body.
  • Attend all booked course dates and satisfactorily completed all relevant course work within the time set out by the awarding body. These will usually be outlined within the relevant courses’ terms and conditions.

  1. Identify an eligible course or training opportunity.
  2. Check you meet the relevant funding conditions outlined.
  3. Complete and submit the application form.
  4. Receive a decision from SSS. If successful, we will contact you to arrange the most appropriate payment process. If unsuccessful, we will contact you to discuss alternate opportunities and pathways that may be suitable and applicable.
  5. The application window for the 2026/2027 academic year will close once all funding has been allocated or by the 28th February 2026 whichever comes first.

We may occasionally through this programme decide to focus on particular sports, coaching pathways or groups of students who may face additional barriers to access. For the 2026/2027 academic season there will be no areas of priority focus.