A cohort of four female coaches have been selected to go through to the second year of the SHEcoaches programme.

Joanne Green, Emma Harradine, Colette Neenan and Eva Toth were chosen from the nine-strong cohort at the end of the first year of the initiative, which seeks to create a new generation of female talent & performance coaches.

They will move on to the next stage of the programme, which includes paid attendance at England squad training camps, the opportunity to travel to coach at international competitions and one-to-one CPD opportunities.

The remaining Year 1 cohort will continue to have opportunities to develop their coaching careers, including quarterly CPD workshops and the opportunity to support at talent events.

Head of Performance Development, Gavin Evans, said: “Congratulations to the four who’ve been selected for the second year. It was a really tough selection to make because we’re so impressed with all of them, they all did a fantastic job.

“It came down to an assessment of their skillset and how they contributed to the first year of the programme, their commitment and our belief in their potential as really strong talent and performance coaches for the future.

“We had to choose four, but we will still be working with the others and offering them opportunities to continue to develop. They’re still very much part of our system.”

What is SHEcoaches?

SHEcoaches is supported by SportsAid, which has invested £20,000 through its Backing The Best initiative to fully fund it for two years.

The key aims of the programme are to:

• Build a pool of female coach mentors
• Build a community of practice for female coaches supporting pathway activity
• Produce the next generation of female coaches at the talent and national team level 
• Provide increased opportunities for female coaches
• Provide pathway exit opportunities for female players to progress into coaching from diverse backgrounds and coaching in low socioeconomic areas to engage in the talent and performance system
• Spot female coaches with potential and support them to develop the necessary skills to coach at a high- performance level
• Provide talent ID opportunities for girls – supported by an all-female coaching team

Gavin Evans said: “Thanks to SportsAid for their continued support for the project.”

He added that it is hoped to be able to extend the project to run beyond its initial two-year scope.