Participation by Women as Coaches in
the United States
Lauren Meehan
June 25, 2014
Pioneer Coaches Symposium: Paying It Forward
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Nationwide data
National team program
NWSL
WPSL
W-League
Head coaches
4/7
1/9
14%
22%
Assistant coaches
0/1
3/13
24%
Goalkeeper coaches
0/1
1/9
14%
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NCAA data
Head coaches: 27%
Assistant coaches: 48%
Volunteer/grad coaches: 60%
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NCAA data
Head coaches: 28%
Assistant coaches: 47%
Volunteer/grad coaches: 65%
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NCAA data
Head coaches: 37%
Assistant coaches: 56%
Volunteer/grad coaches: 68%
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ECNL data
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ECNL data
% of teams with a female head coach
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Colorado data – Youth club
• 20% of girls U11 – U18 state competitive league (CYS) and ECNL teams had
female head coaches in the 2013 – 2014 season
Distribution by clubs with > 10 teams
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Colorado data – Youth club
% of teams coached by women by level of team
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Other research
• More states below average than above average female participation as ODP
coaches and coaching education instructors
Sam Snow, personal communication, February 14, 2014
• Intimidation, expectation of displaying ‘male’ characteristics, and patronization
limit women’s coaching education participation
Schlesinger, T. & Weigelt-Schlesinger, Y. (2012). ‘Poor thing’ or ‘Wow she knows how to do it’ – gender stereotypes as barriers to women’s qualification in the education of soccer coaches. Soccer
& Society, (13.1), 56 – 72.
• Women take blame for coaching inequalities – ‘not good enough’
Fielding-Lloyd, B. & Mean, L. (2011). ‘I don’t think I can catch it’: Women, confidence, and responsibility in football coach education. Soccer & Society (12.3), 345 – 364.
• Reasons for low participation – women’s sports are not widely recognized or
respected, coaches are not paid well, bias against female coaches, few female
coaching role models for younger athletes to follow
Demers, G. (2007, May/June). To coach or not? Female athletes considering coaching careers discuss perceived drawbacks. Soccer Journal, 24 – 30.
• More women are assistant coaches than head coaches
Kerr, G., Marshall, D., Sharp, D., & Stirling, A. “Women in coaching: A descriptive study.” Petro-Canada Sport Leadership Sportif, November 3 – 5, 2006, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
• More women coach at resource rich institutions
Welch, S. & Sigelman, L. (2007). Who’s calling the shots? Women coaches in Division I women’s sports. Social Science Quarterly (88.5), 1415 – 1434.
• Softball (65.2%), women’s basketball (62.4%), volleyball (57.1%) have more women
coaches than soccer; in soccer, women head coaches more likely to have women
assistant coaches
Sagas, M., Cunningham, G.B., & Teed, K. (2006). An examination of homologous reproduction in the representation of assistant coaches of women’s teams. Sex Roles (55), 503 – 510.
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Next steps
• Empirical data explaining why women choose
to coach or not coach
• Further data analysis on different trends in
coaching participation – digging deeper
• Creation and implementation of actionable
strategies to promote greater involvement by
women as coaches at all levels of the game
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