ABSTRACT

In this article we present a critical reading of female coach-learners’ 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.

摘要

在本文中，我们对女性教练学习者在欧洲足球协会高级执照联盟 (UEFA A) 的经历进行了批判性解读，在撰写本文时，这些经历在很大程度上被忽略了。这是在足协的政策，即 2017-2020 年增长战略游戏计划（专注于女子比赛）已经完成的时候。我们希望更好地了解女性教练在通过男性主导的教育计划中所面临的挑战。我们采访了九名女性欧足联 A 执照持有人，她们在十年内参加了不同的队列。通过批判性和广泛的后结构主义视角来解释女性教练学习者的经历，揭示了课程中固有的语言、结构和假设如何影响女性教练学习者的经历。