Power and biases: a female pathway coach shares their story
The next article in a series with anonymous contributors. A female coach working within pathway rugby speaks about their experiences of power and bias within rugby.
I think the perceptions of female coaches can depend on the environment. Typically I've found that the perception can be that you don't have the same knowledge or experience and you can only coach in the womens game.
I’ve experienced gender bias. I’ve seen a male coaching counterpart getting more responsibility and engagement despite being a more experienced coach. I’ve also not been paid, but been doing the same role and within the same programme as a male coach who was paid.
It makes me feel insignificant and not good enough.
It feels like you have to do more to earn respect, especially if you're a non capped female coach. You're disadvantaged or not good enough, regardless of your coaching experience.
I found that despite working hard, building trust and connections with coaches (predominantly my coaching allies have been male not female), I’ve been overlooked and not given the same opportunities or challenges.
Female coaches that haven’t played at a high level are often seen as not knowing as much or not as good.
There’s a lack of respect and understanding towards a coach who’s not an ex-pro player. It does depend on the environment, some places have been very supportive whereas aren’t. People often don’t want to build an understanding with you if you didn’t play at a high level.
It feels like the door is closed before you even turn the handle.
I’ve seen coaches who are ex-players use their playing experience, not coaching experience, to influence decisions on future players, and even suggest how things should be done.
When I challenged things based on my experience, it’s often been ignored or pushed to the side or even told: well you've not been capped so what do you know.
I wish respect was the biggest currency. It feels like coaches need to use their playing experience, and instead we need to be open to different ideas or learning.
I would love to see more education and maybe mentorship to allow coaches to fail/learn. That would help create an environment where coaching experience and learning is valued more.
We need to allow coaches to fail and not expect them to be perfect.
A more robust pathway for coaches would allow people to gain more experience before becoming a performance coach, so they learn how to respect and build relationships.
Having a recruitment policy that ensures theres a coaching team with mixed backgrounds and develop a culture that recognises the benefits of that approach.
If you’re unable to sign up for regular paid subscription, you can still buy me a coffee.