What is it about?
This study interviewed 21 rugby coaches across the UK and Ireland. All study participants were women, involved in the game across all contexts from grassroots to the elite levels. All participants had attended a minimum of a level 2 coach education programme in either the UK or Ireland. As such they were asked to reflect on their experiences whilst attending these to highlight positives and negatives. Several positive experiences were identified which contrast to existing literature. Nevertheless areas of improvement were identified and theorised using Bourdieu's sociological framework as well as LaVoi's Ecological Intersectional Model to offer recommendations for future provision in this area.
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Why is it important?
Rugby union is growing as a sport both in the provision of the men's and women's game. Importantly, women's overall participation in rugby union is on the rise and the profile of the professional and semi-professional game for women is accelerating. However, although athlete participation numbers are increasing, the same cannot be said for the number of women coaches in the game at all levels. Therefore, this project sought to identify both positive and negatives associated to attendance on formal coach education in rugby union to help offer insight into how women's experiences on these courses can be improved and thus facilitate more women to become coaches.
Perspectives
This paper identified some unexpected results; namely that women only coach education courses were not preferential. This particular result contrasted to the majority of literature in this area. For us as three male researchers, the study was illuminating and yielded several clear recommendations for national governing bodies of rugby union and other sports to take note of to help support the presence of women in coaching roles. The authorial team are keen to continue this line of research and would welcome any thoughts and reflections the readers have after reading this manuscript.
Dr Alex D Blackett
Staffordshire University
Writing this article was a great pleasure as it has co-authors with whom I have had long standing collaborations. This paper was an important study that offered the opportunity of delving into the rugby coaching landscape and retrace the lived experiences of women rugby coaches. It provided a deeper insight to better understand what, how, and why there are barriers and supports for women rugby coaches within their coaching environments. It further identifies what changes can be made to be more inclusive to women coaches in the future.
Mr Gareth Michael Barrett
Staffordshire University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Women Rugby Union Coaches’ Experiences of Formal Coach Education in Ireland and the United Kingdom: A Qualitative Study, Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal, April 2021, Human Kinetics,
DOI: 10.1123/wspaj.2020-0056.
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