Amber Lilley: Women needed in coaching roles to continue boost of girls in sport

Each Thursday afternoon, I ditch the desk for the soccer pitch. Before I pull on my boots for my own senior training, I spend an hour wrangling eight seven-year-olds into what I hope is a beneficial training session — knowing I’ll spend 45 minutes each weekend just watching them run in a pack around the ball with another set of kids in different colours. When I was that age, I didn’t see many female coaches. I grew up around the sport, watching my brother be mentored by men he could look up to in a team mostly full of boys. When I started in the top league, I had a male coach. Between my time here in Bunbury and Kalgoorlie-Boulder, I’ve only had one female coach, and she is now also our club president. A new report by Victoria University has found the representation of women in coaching, and officiating roles in community sports can challenge attitudes and positively influence gender bias among children. Out of 75 children — aged between four and 17 — 96 per cent had exposure to men as coaches, while only 65 per cent had exposure to women as coaches. Those who had a female coach in the past were more keen to have another in the future after being shown that women could be great coaches, too, even within male-dominated codes. For the youngest players at my club, there’s a strong mix of female and male coaches. However, the older the kids, the more likely it seems — across the association — that men will coach boys, women will coach girls, and then later on, men will coach men and women. It’s great to see the rise of girls and women in sport and the recognition of that from a player’s perspective. But, in the leadership space, it’s about more than just having women coach girls. It’s having women coach or officiate boys and men, too. It’s about having that structure across codes at both a grassroots community level and in professional sporting arenas. Women are more than physios, team managers, timekeepers, kit washers and assistant coaches. They’re capable of the top jobs, and there’s proof that it’s good for kids’ mental and physical health. Now, while you ponder that, I better go and plan what I’m going to teach these tiny teammates this afternoon.