Do you know 1 Female Coach working in the top? It is a recognized fact that although there is a gender balance among participants, hockey is still not the same when it comes to the number of coaches who work in the game?
1 Female Coach
With just 1 female coach (the Dutch head coach for women, Alyson Annan), who works in the top division, and a few female head coaches, who work with national teams in the second division of the world rankings teams, there is an obvious gender gap.
Although there are many theories explaining this, one of the most sustainable is planning and time. In order to become a qualified coach, traditionally many weekends and evenings have to be spent in coaching courses or assessed by coach mentors and educators. Taking this time away from home, especially when a young family is involved, is difficult, if not impossible, for many women.
If an aspiring coach is still playing the game, it is difficult for men and women alike to give extra time to follow a coaching path.
For this reason, more and more coaching providers are turning to technology to offer a different type of education and training for coaches.
One such provider is Coach Logic, the video technology platform specialist who worked with the FIH Academy, as well as a number of trainers who work with national teams and clubs and are involved in the coaching mentoring process.
By using Coach Logic technology, much of the coach learning process can be done remotely. In addition to coaching webinars in which important theoretical information can be exchanged, there is also the possibility of filming the coach in action and then reviewing it. A coach can videotape a session in his own club, send it to his coach mentor, and get feedback on his coaching performance.
This is far from the traditional coaching course in which a coach is rated while working with a randomly selected group of players. By giving coaches the opportunity to work with their own team in their own environment, they work in a context that everyone understands, and they deliver one session at a time that works for them.
In this way, the trainee and the mentor can also set a time for feedback – also remotely – that fits both schedules and can be carried out in a relaxed manner.
The use of technology can help trainers define their own style, evaluate their own performance and be self-critical. Mark Cairns is one of the founders of Coach Logic and says: “When it comes to coach development, Coach Logic is often used to generate discussions between coaches and mentors so that coaches can think about their own practice. A coach might say that I mostly use a discussion style, but the video shows that the coach uses a completely different style.
“Conversely, we can also use the videos to show great coaching practice. By playing, the coach can see what interaction they had with the players. What was the body language like? Did the players enjoy the session?
“It is important that coaches are more authentic because they can train in their own environment instead of in a simulated coaching environment with players they have never met before and all the mentors and colleagues who are watching them. It also improves their self-confidence as best they can. ” Watch your session and let your mentor ask you to think critically. “
A new approach certainly meets the approval of FIH board member Marijke Fleuren: “I am glad that we have taken a step from awareness to the acceptance that far more men than women are hockey coaches, while our hockey game numbers are equivalent. This makes us ready for action: How can we improve the situation? “
Fleuren is something of an expert in the field of gender equality in sport. She is a member of the IOC Commission for Women in Sport and heads the FIH Committee for Women in Sport.
“If you listen to the trainers who are already doing their job and after they, as an EHF partner, have received a lot of knowledge from the Erasmus + project SWinG [a project that supports and supports female managers in sport], it is clear that This has to change In this situation, some big steps have to be taken, both by the trainers themselves and by external stakeholders. Trainers need to learn to overcome their fears, and trainer trainers need to learn new methods of delivery.
“I was delighted to see that Mark Caims [during an FIH webinar] was fully committed to supporting a change in approach to attract more women to coaching. The webinar itself has shown that new shipping methods are very possible. A training course, which is offered, for example, via a webinar, offers women more opportunities to participate in meetings and to participate in coaching discussions. This is all the key to breaking down barriers. “
By changing the conversation around coaching and expanding the opportunities for providing coach development and training, Coach Logic and other technologies like this may be one of the most important tools for eliminating gender differences.