The Professionalization of Women’s Football in England and its Impact on Coaches’ Philosophy of Practice

Abstract

Women’s elite football is in a transitional phase where coaches and players are increasingly offered professional contracts. The current study examined the stories of coaches currently operating in a women’s football academy in England to understand whether and how the professionalization of women’s football has influenced their coaching philosophy. Narrative interviews with 10 coaches (aged 23–60 years, two women) were carried out and analyzed using thematic narrative analysis. Observational data were also obtained while the authors were immersed within the environment. Two high-order themes were identified: (a) the coaches adapted their philosophy to meet the new needs of professionalization and (b) there were novel moral challenges surrounding the coaches’ approach to a dual career. The findings illustrated that the individuals developed a coaching philosophy that was adapted according to the coaching environment, which was largely informed from their previous experiences in men’s football. Player’s stories highlighted conflicting expectations surrounding dual careers.

Reviewing Original Research Articles Published in the International Sport Coaching Journal

“…Inclusion criteria regarding participants' coaching experience varied with 3.0% of studies requiring experience with a current team or athlete (e.g., head coaches of current team for 5+ years; Westfall, 2020), 5.0% requiring sport-and level-specific experience (e.g., coaches at a soccer academy for 3+ years; Price et al, 2020), 8.9% requiring only level-specific experience (e.g., national/international-level coaches; Szedlak et al, 2020), 1.0% requiring only sport-specific experience (e.g., surfing coaches; Correia & Bertram, 2018), and 5.9% requiring general or unspecified amount of coaching experience (Camiré, 2015). The remaining publications included studies that did not require coaching experience (11.9%; e.g., Ryom et al, 2020), that did not mention inclusion criteria (60.4%; e.g., Sleeman & Ronkainen, 2020), or in which coaching experience was not applicable (6.9%; e.g., athlete-only sample, Spink & Fesser, 2018).…”

Análise dos gols do campeonato brasileiro de futebol feminino 2020

“…(Goellner, 2021). O crescimento e a profissionalização do futebol feminino também alimentaram pesquisas sobre o desenvolvimento de jogadoras e treinadoras (Sleeman & Ronkainen, 2020). Porém, existe uma escassez de estudos analisando indicadores-chave do desempenho para mulheres sendo observadas apenas as suas capacidades físicas (Unanue, 2020).…”