Coaching Issues
General coaching principles apply whether you are coaching male or female footballers. There are however some issues unique to female football environments.
Mixed gender teams
Girls in a mixed gender team may feel intimidated or excluded from learning the game to the level they would like. Implement ways to get the males to take some responsibility for the females learning the game, set up girls zones to ensure they get to play a variety of positions (such as key corridor positions) and against each other.
Inappropriate handling of females by male coaches
If you need to touch a player to help them learn a skill ensure it is with the permission of the player. Use their parent if they are present.
Male coaches need to develop changeroom protocols eg give players 15 minutes to get ready before moving into changerooms for prematch address
Player/coach expectations
Develop a Code of Conduct and expectations with the players so there’s a balanced approach between what they want and you hope to achieve in the season.
Players lack of football knowledge and understanding football terms
Use visual and verbal cues together to explain ‘why’ in a football context eg executing a set play kicking out from a point, stoppages etc
Culture issues – culture of the club/team and/or cultural background of players
Where sexuality issues/club culture can put some girls off being involved implement a Code of Conduct that players have developed.
For players from a different cultural background understand what issues may be culturally sensitive for them. For some Indigenous women it may be ‘shame’ for them to play AFL. For CALD women AFL will be foreign to them so explain unique football terms in context.
Socially "chatty" or opinionated female players
Open communication is valued by females. As long as they feel they have time to socialise or the coach listens to their ideas/opinions they will enjoy their football experience.
