A rising trend of women in coaching

With more and more success of women in different sporting disciplines in recent times, there has been a considerable amount of transition from athletes to coaches from among former female athletes in recent times than ever before.

While there used to be a few instances of successful athletes making the transition in the past, those were mostly confined to athletics and swimming. But with time, as Bangladesh has seen a larger number of women actively pursuing other sports such as shooting, weightlifting, archery, handball, kabaddi, football, cricket, etc, there has also been a noticeable rise in successful female sports persons making the transition to the coach's position. Whether they will be able to make as much mark as coaches as they did during their playing careers is another issue, but the interest among women to disseminate the knowledge and expertise they had gathered over the years signifies a change of guard in local sporting culture to some extent.

Those who are coming to the coaching profession are apparently well aware of the challenges they will face. The biggest challenge is a cultural one where a male-dominated mindset will try to pose hurdles for women in every step.

But as we have seen in other spheres of the society – from politics to local government, from corporate to civil service – the shift is well and truly in motion.

In general, coaches, especially the local ones, are paid poorly in most sporting disciplines in our country and mostly remain devoid of higher coaching education and training, resulting in a lack of expertise which often prompts federations to look for foreign coaches. That is true for both men and women, but should be addressed if we are to develop our sports because the athletes who turn coaches in our country will know the culture and the personnel better than any foreign coach and will have easier communication with their proteges.

Hence, there is no reason not to be hopeful that women should not be able to boss a male-dominated sector and motivate their protégés after having themselves excelled during their sporting career. It may take a little time in grooming top female coaches in the current context, but provided they get good salary packages and are ensured proper development paths, the wait should be worth it.