Coaching scholarship for coaches in women’s football

Given the lack of qualified female coaches working in women’s football, providing an adequate supply of females in this sector is without doubt a challenge that many countries face.

The FIFA Women’s Football Survey 2014 showed that the number of female coaches in football is very low, with only 7% of registered coaches from the 177 associations that participated being female, while the results also showed that successful member associations in women’s football have a higher level of participation of women at coaching levels. On the other hand, the UEFA Women’s Football Survey 2013-2014 showed that coaching in women’s football remains dominated by male coaches, with 78% of the coaches of the national Under-17, Under-19 and senior teams being male. Within most national associations, male coaches outnumber female coaches.

The MFA has been encouraging our clubs to employ female coaches within the girls’ sector, and we are very pleased that some clubs have increased the number of women in their administrative and coaching sectors. The MFA wants to further invest in the increase and growth of female coaches and is embarking on a new programme where it wants not only to provide education opportunities for promising female coaches but also to financially sponsor their courses.

This is an exciting time for women’s football and the MFA wants to really invest in instilling excellent work ethics. The association would like these women to pass on their knowledge to others while assisting in the development of women’s football in Malta.

If this pilot scholarship programme is successful, it will be followed up by a National C Scholarship course and the successful Coaching Young Footballers (CYF) scholarship participants will be encouraged to apply as coaches.

Course space permitting, paying applicants (male or female women’s football coaches) will be considered to follow this CYF course.