“Long ball” and “balls deep”: a critical reading of female coach-learners’ experiences of the UEFA A licence

In this article we present a critical reading of female coachlearners’
experiences of the Union of European Football
Association’s Advanced Licence (UEFA A), which at the time
of writing have been largely ignored. It comes at a point
when The Football Association’s policy, the 2017–2020
Gameplan for Growth Strategy, which focuses on the
women’s game, has been completed. We wanted to understand
better the challenges faced by female coaches as they
navigate their way through the male-dominated educational
programmes. We interviewed nine female UEFA A Licence
holders who had participated in differing cohorts across
a ten-year span. Interpreting the female coach-learners’
experiences through a critical and broadly poststructuralist
lens reveals how the language, structure and assumptions
inherent in the course impact female coach-learner experiences.
The data exposes a catalogue of androcentric assumptions,
toxic masculinity, sexualised language, dismissive
practices and an ignorance of the women’s game.