New Coaching Hub
Women’s Sport Collective launches new Coaching Hub
Networking group to support female sports coaches
The Women’s Sport Collective, an inclusive community for all women working in sport, has today announced the creation of a Coaching Hub to provide cross-sport networking for female sports coaches working in elite sport.
The new Coaching Hub is being launched as part of an industry wide initiative funded by Sport England and led by Women in Sport, in a growing movement to drive systematic change for women in coaching. The Hub will be operated by the Women’s Sport Collective, a not-for-profit network that supports almost 10,000 women working across sport.
Sue Anstiss MBE, co-founder of the Women’s Sport Collective, comments: “We are excited to see the impact this new group can have. It will bring together female coaches from across sports, enabling them to share learnings, inspiration and challenges, fostering belonging and increasing visibility, something that research shows is vital for women in coaching to thrive.”
Explaining the importance of the new Coaching Hub, Ciara Grogan, Women in Coaching Lead at Women in Sport says: “Research shows that a key contribution to women leaving coaching is that they feel like they don’t belong and are not supported enough as coaches. This is perpetuated by lack of strong networks for female coaches.”
The creation of the group comes as new research has revealed a sharp decline in the number of female coaches across the UK at all levels. Research conducted by YouGov, on behalf of UK Coaching, shows the percentage of female coaches has dropped from 44% in 2022 to 38% in 2024, a dramatic 6% drop in just two years.
Ciara reflects: “We hope that the new Coaching Hub can help address the decline in female coaches by ensuring women in coaching feel they belong, they are valued and can thrive. The group will provide a safe space for valuable, authentic conversations about being a woman in coaching. The experiences of members will also drive research into the coaching landscape and establish the Coaching Hub as a powerful, unignorable voice for women in sports coaching – one that helps to transform the culture of coaching.”
Membership of the Coaching Hub is free and open to all women coaching at regional or national level with athletes in the talent or performance pathway, or who are coaching elite or professional athletes.
Members will have access to online networking sessions with other coaches, a dedicated WhatsApp group, newsletters and personal development webinars within the Women’s Sport Collective’s new female leadership programme. They will also have the chance to hear from six incredible Patrons of the Coaching Hub:
Hope Powell CBE (football) former Manager of the Lionesses and GB team
Jess Thirlby (netball) Head Coach of the England Roses
Jenny Meadows (athletics) BBC Coach of the Year and coach to Olympic Champion Keely Hodgkinson MBE
Giselle Mather (rugby) Head Coach of GB Women’s 7s
Judy Murray OBE (tennis) former Fed Cup Captain
Mel Marshall MBE (swimming) former coach to triple Olympic Champion Adam Peaty OBE
For more information, please contact Sue Anstiss or Kate Hannon at the Women’s Sport Collective:
sue.anstiss@fearlesswomen.co.uk
kate.hannon@fearlesswomen.co.uk