{"id":1207,"date":"2025-06-03T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/sywf\/?p=1207"},"modified":"2025-06-08T11:21:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T10:21:14","slug":"the-sideline-divide-why-female-coaches-are-still-missing-in-south-yorkshire-womens-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/sywf\/2025\/06\/03\/the-sideline-divide-why-female-coaches-are-still-missing-in-south-yorkshire-womens-football\/","title":{"rendered":"The sideline divide: Why female coaches are still missing in South Yorkshire women’s football"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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SHCFA coach Molly Wilson (left) and Derby County First Team manager Samantha Griffiths (right)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On a Saturday morning in South Yorkshire, two women’s teams stream onto the pitch- but the coaches calling out from the touchline are both men. As the women\u2019s game continues to grow, there are still too few women leading the game off the pitch. In coaching and managerial roles from grassroots level to the professional game, it\u2019s still a rare sight to see a woman setting the drills, calling the subs and taking charge from the sidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While women’s player participation has surged \u2014 with teams in South Yorkshire growing by 22% since 2021 \u2014 just 12% of qualified coaches in England are women, and under 10% hold elite UEFA A or Pro Licences. In local girls’ grassroots teams, fewer than 15% of coaches are women across the region. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not because the talent isn\u2019t there. To become a qualified, confident coach, especially at the highest levels, takes money, early access and inspiration, and all these variables are clicking into place far too rarely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We spoke to women\u2019s football coaches working in Sheffield and Hallamshire, Barnsley<\/a>, and at national level, from grass-roots football right up to the England youth team, to better understand what obstacles an upcoming female coach may face given the current state of affairs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Molly Wilson, Samantha Griffiths and Hannah Wright shared their career experience, identified existing issues and suggested ideas for what can be done to improve the inequality gap between men and women in coaching roles in the women\u2019s game.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Molly Wilson explained how women struggle to find the time to coach, even at grassroots level. \u2018\u2018I think the biggest struggle is that women, especially Mums, have usually got other responsibilities, generally they do all the household chores, which prevents them from moving forward in coaching.\u2019\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Credit: Sheffield and Hallamshire FA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today, Molly is a Regional Coach Development Officer at the Sheffield and Hallamshire FA and leads the Stepping Over the Sidelines programme<\/a>, designed to bring more women into coaching. \u201cOne phrase we hear a lot is, \u2018I\u2019m just a mum\u2019, but we say no, you\u2019re a role model.\u201d The initiative gives women a supported route in, even if they\u2019ve never kicked a ball. Molly said that the entry level qualification helps women to realise that: \u2018\u2019You don\u2019t necessarily need to have all the knowledge of the game because you\u2019ve got a lot of transferable skills in your day to day job which can cross-over into coaching.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Representation, she says, is vital. \u201cIf girls only ever see men in those positions of leadership, they don\u2019t even consider that they could be a coach. But when they see someone like me \u2014 someone\u2019s mum, someone local \u2014 that can make all the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Hannah Wright, coaching became a mission forged from frustration. After being sidelined at a youth academy where \u201cif you didn\u2019t have connections, you were just making numbers up,\u201d she resolved to become the kind of mentor she never had. \u201cI thought, right\u2014I\u2019ll be the coach who changes that for someone else.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite earning her UEFA B licence and taking on coaching roles at Barnsley FC and as an FA Community Champion, she remains one of the few women in the room. \u201cEvery course, every qualification\u2014I\u2019ve been the only female. Even now, nearly 29, it\u2019s still men first. They get the most bursaries and typically they\u2019re the first to volunteer at grassroots level.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hannah is passionate about visibility and role models as catalysts for change. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to see it to believe it. I didn\u2019t even have a female coach to look up to until college. That\u2019s late.\u201d She also points to the quieter barriers \u2014 puberty, periods, awkward conversations with male coaches \u2014 as moments when girls drop out. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about fairness on paper. It\u2019s about making the space feel safe, human.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her work today is rooted in one goal: ensuring girls coming through now don\u2019t need to feel like they\u2019re the exception. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“It has to start young”: Why elite coaching depends on grassroots inspiration<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Samantha Griffiths, Derby County Women\u2019s first-team manager, on building the female coaching pipeline<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Samantha Griffiths, managing at a high level in women\u2019s football isn\u2019t just about tactics and matchday preparation \u2014 it\u2019s about legacy. As one of a small number of women in England to hold the prestigious UEFA A licence, she understands better than most what it takes to reach the top. But she\u2019s just as passionate about where that journey begins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t just wake up one day and decide to be a football coach at this level,\u201d says Samantha. \u201cYou need years of experience, qualifications, and support \u2014 and that starts when you’re young.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pathway to coaching elite women\u2019s football runs straight through grassroots pitches, and without opportunities and encouragement early on, many girls may never see coaching as something they can do \u2014 let alone thrive in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just about playing. It\u2019s about giving girls the confidence to lead, to take charge of a team, and to see coaching as a viable career,\u201d she explains. \u201cAnd that\u2019s where grassroots coaches have a huge role \u2014 they plant the seed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re young, you want someone you can relate to. Someone who looks like you, sounds like you, who gets it. That\u2019s why representation matters \u2014 because you have to see it to believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Credit: Derby County Football Club. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Samantha\u2019s story is proof that with the right support, commitment, and belief, women can rise to the top of the game. But for the next generation to follow, the foundation must be laid now \u2014 on the grass, in parks, and on community pitches where future leaders first fall in love with football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In South Yorkshire, initiatives like Stepping Over the Touchline are helping women overcome the practical barriers of cost, childcare and confidence. At the national level, the FA\u2019s Women\u2019s Coach Development programme is strengthening the pathway too \u2014 offering bursaries, mentorship, and dedicated support for women at every stage of their journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ MORE: Why are some women’s clubs affiliated with men’s? A women’s football club explainer – SYWF<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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