The inequality in rugby jobs that no one talks about
Let's talk about it...
I talk about alot of inequality, in particular ones that I have experienced as a cis white woman. I want to discuss one inequal opportunity that appears every year.
We’re approaching the time of year when my feed is flooded with coaching roles and opportunities at clubs.
Alot of them will be coaching roles within men’s teams, often they are the jobs that come with renumeration.
Alot of them will be player-coach job roles.
I hate seeing rugby coaching roles that are advertising for a player-coach. It’s a common job posting for men’s teams.
Advertising for a player-coach within a men’s team automatically means I cannot apply, and have no chance of getting the job. The job will either outright be listed as player-coach or there will be a seemingly secondary option on an advert for the successful applicant to be a player-coach.
I don’t apply for any jobs that are player-coaches with men’s teams, as I can’t fulfill the job requirements. I also don’t apply for jobs that list player-coach as an option.
Although I’m not instantly prohibited from applying, the fact that player-coach is an option makes me think they’re expecting a male coach and there’s no point for me to apply.
Due to the potential differences between budgets in men’s and women’s rugby, player-coach roles are predominantley seen in the men’s game. Therefore it is more likely to disadvantage any coach who can’t play within the team they’re applying to coach. This includes female coaches as well as older or disabled coaches.
I understand that there’s a potential budget problem that can be solved by having a player-coach, however it restricts the pool of potential applicants. (As well as being a tricky job for anyone to complete to the best of their ability - player-coaches have their focus split between being a coach and their own role on the pitch)
Player-coach roles also mean there’s a progression privilege that happens at the grassroots level. Player-coach roles often go to those who are still playing the sport and often at the early stages of their coaching career.
This means that, compared with women, male coaches of a similar age may have an additional coaching job or a ‘step-into’ coaching role that enables an easier progression in their career. A female coach doesn’t get the opportunity and therefore misses out at that rung of the ladder and has to fight to gain the experience another way.
I’m calling for player-coach roles to be phased out. I want equal opportunities for all.
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