SSS Kick Off ‘Coach Like a Girl’

Female student coaches from across Scotland came together on Thursday to launch Coach Like a Girl: our new Women & Girls Coaching Project.

13 students from the group of over 30 on the programme joined us at the University of Edinburgh for an introductory session. Among them were students from a wide variety of sports who had travelled from as far as Aberdeen and Dumfries.

This new initiative, supported by Scottish Cycling and Scottish Rowing, was created by SSS to bring together and develop a heavily underrepresented group in Scottish sport through a series of masterclasses set to run throughout the academic year.

While 44% of students active across tertiary education identify as female, only around over 73% of coaches are male; limiting the opportunities for women and girls to benefit from female role models in sport.

During this introductory session, the cohort discussed what they wanted to get out of the programme, their own coaching experiences, and ended by coming up with a new name for the project.

The new name, Coach Like a Girl, draws on the themes of similar campaigns and showcases the personality behind this project’s participants. We aim to unveil some new branding for the project when the group next come together in January.

Commenting on the day, SSS Inclusion and Culture Coordinator Eilidh Gibson said:

“It was a genuine privilege to launch our coaching initiative yesterday in a room with the next generation of female coaches. Their energy, insights and immediate connection made it’s very clear that these women will be the trail blazers in Scottish sport over the coming few years.

“Jo [Foster, People & Learning Coordinator] and I are excited to build on what was discussed for the rest of the programme.”

This sentiment was shared among the participants. When asked to share their ‘key nuggets’ from the day, familiar themes emerged around being part of an inspiring, powerful group of sporty women and how this programme was a motivating factor for them to go out and dive into coaching. Above all, one participant stated that they were just proud to be part of this group.

The next session for the group will take place virtually in January with more sessions planned throughout the second semester.

Photos ©: Connie Chen