This Scottish Women & Girls in Sport Week, Scottish Student Sport (SSS) are thrilled to unveil a new project designed to support female coaches across Scotland’s universities and colleges.

The SSS Women & Girls Coaching Project will run for the first time, bringing student coaches, and aspiring coaches, together for a series of masterclasses aimed to support a heavily underrepresented group in sport.

Developed alongside coach development experts and with the support of Governing Bodies including Scottish Rowing, this is a first of its kind project which will foster learning and collaboration across coaches from multiple sports and backgrounds.

Across Scottish tertiary education, 44% of students participating in sport identify as female. However, between 2015-20, only 27% of coaches were female. You can learn more about the need for the project, and its aims here.

Commenting, Project Leader Jo Foster said:

“We hope that this project will allow Women and Girls to not only develop tangible skills to add to their coaching repertoire, but also a safe space for personal development alongside like-minded individuals that will outlast the initial project year.”

This is a hugely exciting opportunity for female student coaches to come together for the first time. Skye Ballance, a postgraduate student at the University of Strathclyde and rowing coach, said:

“I’m really excited to meet other coaches of a similar age and in a similar position. There’s not always people you can speak to who have similar experiences so hearing from them and their strategies in other sports will be really interesting.”

This programme wouldn’t be possible without the support of Scottish Governing Bodies. Kevin Moran, Coaching Development Manager at Scottish Cycling said:

“Scottish Cycling is thrilled to partner with Scottish Student Sport and other governing bodies to deliver the new Women & Girls Coach Development initiative. Following the launch of our Scottish Cycling Women and Girls strategy, one of our key focus points is to develop and nurture ‘Role Models’ in cycling. We believe this programme will play a vital role in supporting, upskilling, and inspiring more female coaches to excel within their university and local clubs.”

Ronan Welsh, Pathways Manager at Scottish Rowing said:

“Scottish Rowing are excited to partner up with Scottish Student Sport to create development opportunities for female student coaches. Working with a national partner to tap into new networks and enhance the experience for all participants is a fantastic opportunity and I can’t wait to see how this programme develops.

“Coaches are at the core of all activity we deliver and investing to empower and diversify the next generation of female coaches is a key priority for us as well as the sector so its great to see Scottish Student Sport championing this area of development.”

How to Apply

Registration is open now for the first SSS Women & Girls Coaching Project. Students from all sports are encouraged to apply, and the project is open to those aspiring to become a coach alongside individuals already qualified.

Session dates will be finalised after sign-ups have closed, though they are expected to be run over the end of Semester 1 and start of Semester 2. There will be a mixture of in person and virtual sessions.

Students from all SSS member institutions are encouraged to apply. Questions can be fielded to Jo Foster and to apply, click below. Applications close 25th October.

Sign Up Here