I’ve always had a bit of an interest in football and played for a local women’s team for a while but never thought I was good enough to coach anyone. It all really started three years ago when I was taking my youngest son to his football games at Ellington Juniors FC. I kind of fell into it really. The team coach left and one of the grandparents took over as team manager. I started to help out an…
County sports partnerships (CSPs) in the North of England embarked on an awareness campaign to encourage more women into coaching. Involving a total of 13 CSPs, #PassOnYourPassion rose the profile of women coaches, and inspired more female participants into coaching. Read the full story. Below are a collection of case studies shared by the CSPs involved to celebrate the campaign: Active Cumbria A…
Aksa Homes is part of the New Charter Group and manages housing stock in a highly deprived area of Oldham. The majority of our tenants are from BME communities and face many barriers to participation. These include financial constraints, lack of transport, language, and lack of knowledge or confidence in how to take that first step to becoming more physically active. GreaterSport has a dedicated o…
I got into running about 4 years ago. I had heard about the NHS couch to 5K programme and in the new year of 2013 after too many Cadbury Roses I was determined to complete the programme. I had never enjoyed running, I never had the fitness and stamina to be able to, and the horrors of school bleep tests and cross country in the mud were not exactly encouraging memories. In about week six of the pr…
Fionnuala Duhaney-Keown is the Basketball Senior Head Coach at Clapton Girl’s Academy. Fe, as she’s known to many, is employed by Greenhouse Sports and has been working at the Academy since 2012. As an employee of Greenhouses Sports, Fe is based at the school and coaches basketball to the girls six days a week. Coaching girls across the spectrum of first taste of the sport, through until they leav…
“I’m always at a club somewhere,” says Elan Mon Gilford as she starts listing her volunteering commitments, which take in lunchtime and after school sessions as well as weekends. Best described as a bundle of energy, it is no surprise that Elan has already given up over 400 hours of her time to coach pupils in schools and communities across Anglesey, in everything from netball and athletics to ru…
“I want to use my disability to help others. It’s a key to a door to help people who are struggling.” Debbie Bashford is 46 and lives with a rare spinal condition. Due to an infection in her leg in 2005 which left her fighting for her life, she is also an amputee. Despite the fact she is under doctor’s orders to take regular bedrest, Debbie’s passion for helping others is unstoppable. Under her di…
Nicola Stroud has been coaching golf for over 20 years. We found out what motivates the Welsh coach, who was the first female in Europe to graduate from the Professional Golf Studies course, as well as being PGA qualified. What made you get into coaching? “I was inspired by female golf coach Vivian Saunders when I was a child. As part of a national squad we were sent to her for weekends of coachin…
Helen worked as a qualified teacher for 20 years before opening her own business. She became a cycling instructor in 2014 and said: “it was a natural progression for me to continue teaching through cycling instruction and coaching. “My experience as a female coach has been positive, I believe the experiences of working with challenging young people in education settings brings qualities that enhan…
Kirsten coaches people of all ages, from 0-80 plus. As she has always been happiest when being active, particularly outside, Kirsten started coaching at school and has now been coaching for 30 years. “I wanted to pass on this enjoyment, the success I had and felt, to others and to get other people, especially girls, to be active,” said Kirsten. “I started running my own indoor hockey club at schoo…
