The FA announces new Women’s Professional Game cohort for Coaching Excellence Initiative

England Football Learning, the education arm of The Football Association, has today announced its newest women’s professional game cohort for the Coaching Excellence Initiative (CEI) – an 18-month programme bringing together elite coaches and managers from across the women’s game to focus on building upon their coaching and leadership skills, whilst helping them continue to develop great players.

The group includes 13 current coaches, including nine female coaches, employed by clubs across the top three tiers of the women’s football pyramid. The initiative is led by expert coach developers from The FA and encourages collaborative knowledge sharing so the coaches can learn from one another.

As the women’s game continues to grow, the CEI ensures the elite coaching workforce continues to develop alongside it. The programme provides tailored support which allows each individual to maintain and develop a culture of effective leadership.

The CEI is part of The FA’s long-term commitment to providing female coaches with more opportunities to be represented at all levels of the women’s game. The FA’s new women’s and girls’ game strategy, Reaching Higher, places coaching as a priority and pledges to ‘support and develop brilliant coaches capable of unleashing every player’s potential in a safe and inclusive game by 2028’.

Representing clubs from across the country and the pyramid from The FA Women’s National League to the Barclays Women’s Super League, the full CEI group includes Remi Allen (Southampton), Carly Davies (Nottingham Forest), Amanda Goodwin (Manchester United), Sinead Hogan-Belcher (London City Lionesses), Stephen Kirby (Bristol City), Becky Langley (Newcastle United), Jo Potter (Glasgow Rangers), Rebecca Sawiuk (Burnley), Joe Sheehan (Ipswich), Jenny Sugarman (Leicester), Ash Thompson (Sheffield United) and Amber Whiteley (Liverpool).

This year’s cohort kicked off with a two-day session at St. George’s Park where the coaches met as a full group for the first time. The two days involved a mixture of classroom-based sessions where they got to know each other, discuss their ambitions for the course and identify their personal leadership and coaching goals. They also had the opportunity to get outdoors and observe a Lionesses open training session.

Remi Allen, Head Coach at Southampton said: “The CEI for me is a wonderful opportunity to connect with people in the same position as myself, to work with skilled individuals and learn from them to develop our leadership skills. I want to keep evolving as a person and a coach and this programme gives me a great opportunity to do that.”

Amber Whiteley, Assistant Coach at Liverpool added: “The women’s professional game is continuing to grow and develop, and I think it’s important that coaches and managers within the game continue to keep up with that growth. I’m really enjoying getting to go on this journey with other coaches and managers, getting to know them and developing alongside them.”

As the course continues, the participants will take part in various other learning opportunities which includes 1:1 mentoring with a coach developer who will come into their club. Each coach will also take part in peer mentoring sessions with two-way learning and collaboration opportunities with fellow coaches on the course. The participants will also have the opportunity to engage in online classes, attend regional visits to other high-performance environments, and will meet as a full cohort eight times across the programme.

Three core themes will underpin their learnings across the 18-months: leadership, high performance and coaching craft. The ultimate aim is to strengthen each participant’s leadership capabilities, build their understanding of high-performance environments and enhance their tactical knowledge.

Mark Swales, Senior Women’s Coach Development Lead at The FA said: “The Coaching Excellence Initiative was formed in 2019 to support the growth of the women’s game, and this is now our third cohort. The aim for this group is to support our talented coaches that are working across the Barclays WSL, Barclays Women’s Championship, FAWNL and Professional Game Academies and provide opportunities for them to grow within their current environments as leaders, ultimately helping them move forward to support their clubs in the growth of the women’s game.

“This initiative is so important. The purpose is to provide ongoing opportunities for qualified coaches to understand themselves and develop their knowledge and skills around leadership and coaching.”

For further information on the Coaching Excellence Initiative, head to: https://learn.englandfootball.com/ongoing-learning/Initiatives/coaching-excellence-initiative