Take a chance, give a chance and give a real chance: experiences and perspectives of volunteer women coaches in ladies Gaelic football

Abstract

The voice of volunteer women coaches is underrepresented in coaching literature. This research explores the experiences of volunteer women coaches at the non-elite club level within the sport of Ladies Gaelic football.

To explore the experiences of volunteer women coaches the Ecological Intersectional Model (EIM) (La Voi 2016) was used. The EIM consists of four layers – individual, interpersonal, organisational, and socio-cultural - and was used to underpin all phases of the study. Phase 1 centred on the lived experiences of fourteen women coaches through semi-structured interviews. The coaches highlighted the importance of the interpersonal layer and specifically support from home, alongside contextualised, club-based education. Consequently, Phase 2 explored the influence of the club environment on eleven women coaches, from three clubs, that were participants in a Community of Practice (CoP), designed and facilitated by the researcher across a playing season. The EIM informed the interview guide and analysis with the results presented as a creative non-fiction account profiling three coaches and their club-specific experiences. The final phase comprised of three focus groups with women coaches upon the completion of the CoP. Reflexive thematic analysis was used in all phases and so the researcher’s position, and interpretation of the findings were considered through an autoethnography.

Overall, a combination of the interpersonal and organisational layers are most significant for volunteer women coaches. Subsequently, this research implores club members to consider their perceptions and biases regarding the role of women in clubs. Such awareness will aid a move from traditional liaison and administrative duties to coaching roles. Additionally, those interested in coaching should commence, while existing coaches must give new coaches a chance. Moreover, those in decision-making positions must put the structures in place to give women coaches a real chance. Hence, this study can be summarised to ‘Take a chance, give a chance and give a real chance’ to women and girls in the domain of volunteer coaching.