Ex-Lioness helping mums get into football coaching
BBCA former Lioness star has teamed up with a grassroots football club in Kent to encourage more mothers into volunteer coaching.
Anita Asante, who made 71 appearances for the Lionesses and used to manage Women's Championship side Bristol City, is backing the This Mum Campaign with Faversham Strike Force FC.
It comes as figures show that 83% of mothers were not involved in their children's sports clubs.
Asante, won the quadruple with Arsenal in 2007, said: "We know how important female coaches are as role models for girls, especially when it comes to staying in sport and being active into their teenage years.
"It's vital we find ways to halt this decline in female volunteer coaching, especially at a time when more girls than ever are inspired by the Lionesses and other female sporting heroes."
New research by sports charity UK Coaching revealed the proportion of female volunteer coaches fell by 10% between 2022 and 2024.
Mum-of-two Ally Walters coaches the women's team at Strike Force. She started coaching at university and returned to it after having her daughters.
"Particularly since I've had girls, I want them to see women in sport," she said.
"I also want them to see that as a parent, as a mum in particular, you can also have your own hobbies.
"If women aren't volunteering, you're missing out on 50% of all the people who could be."
UK Coaching provides resources and advice to support women and mums taking their first steps into volunteer coaching.
The drop in coaches, however, comes amid a huge increase in the number of people watching women's sports, with the Women's Euro due to kick off next month and the Women's Rugby World Cup in August.
Emily Handyside, a coach developer at UK Coaching, said: "The recent decline in the number of female volunteer coaches is a worrying trend.
"But this research shows that there's clearly a huge pool of mums out there who want to coach if those barriers can be overcome."
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