This past Saturday, Girls & Football SA ran a workshop entitled, “Coaching Women’s Football” together with Futsal South Africa. Through an informative and interactive clinic, we worked with coaches to develop the skills required to work with girls and young women in football. In 2010, research conducted by Girls & Football SA highlighted that a lack of coaches with this specific skillset is a major issue. This left us questioning how we could best tackle this challenge and create some much-needed change. Primarily, we realized a system of women’s football coaches and training must be adapted to meet the needs of girls and young women. This includes highly trained football coaches, on both a technical and tactical level, that understand the female physique. Further, to encourage girls to play, it is important to understand issues that might deter girls from playing – such as a lack of confidence or comfort in exploring a primarily male domain.
In order to combat these issues, we organized a workshop that included a group of amazing football players, in addition to excellent coaches passionate about learning how to be a better coach for female athletes.
The day kicked off with opening words from South African female football legend, Desiree Ellis, whom we were honored to have interviewed for our award-winning documentary, “Can I Kick It?”. Ellis, former captain of Banyana Banyana, feels these types of workshops are important, because as a result, we have access to more coaches qualified to work in women’s football. She stressed, “It is not about the certificate you receive at the end of this day, but whether you will share your experience and knowledge, and actually go into the field to coach the girls.”
After Ellis’ introduction, we looked at football systems worldwide, and ways in which to create a structured football coaching system for girls and young women in South Africa. Jose Cabral, who led this session, explained that in order to be a good football player you have to dedicate yourself to the sport. Based on his previous experience playing football around various parts of Brazil, he shared that, “To play and practice football, you don’t need fancy equipment, like you do in cricket and rugby; all you need is a ball. This is what makes football such a powerful tool for development of young and underprivileged kids.”
David Syce, who ran us through Coaching Didactics, followed Jose’s presentation. During his session, he shared amazing videos of players around the world improving their ‘footy’ skills through creative exercises – like the Panna Knock-Out Game played in the Netherlands. By keeping your coaching fresh and innovative, David said that it’s possible to ensure more active participants; after all, nobody wants to run around the field and just pass a ball every day!
After lunch, Girls & Football SA took the stage, with workshop leaders Dewi Spijkerman and Fran Annas encouraging a discussion around challenges in working with girls in sport. Their goal was to create an informal, open debate around the misconceptions surrounding girls who want to play football. They encouraged the girls to share experiences about playing football, and one of the participants shared, “My parents always watched my brother play on Saturday, but they never came to any of my matches.” Other girls echoed her statement. They felt they had to choose between playing football and being “one of the boys”, which meant losing out on being accepted by other girls, or being a “real girl” and acting “girly” whilst playing sports residing in a traditionally more feminine space, such as netball.
As a result of the discussion, we agreed that there are three practical ways in which we can ensure more girls have the opportunity to play football:
- Scheduling: By scheduling matches and training days at different times for girls and boys, parents have the option to support both of their children.
- Parents’ involvement: By involving parents and schools in activities which include girls playing football, a greater level of acceptance for female football players is encouraged.
- Positive reinforcement: By ensuring a safe space for girls and boys to freely choose the sport they wish to participate in, coaches and teachers encourage both girls and boys to explore their skillsets and interests.
During their session, Dewi and Fran used our “Girls’ Only Spaces” guide, in addition to our, “Coaches’ Guide” to draw on examples of challenges faced in working with girls. As a result, they also spoke about “Dealing with Poor Behavior” – a familiar concept for the coaches present, despite their previous experience working primarily with boys. Although girls and boys display different forms of ‘poor’ behavior, we spoke about ways in which to effectively solve this issue, for example by practicing specific exercises to promote self-esteem, and tips and tricks on how to stay consistent as a coach. All the aspiring coaches received a booklet called, “How to Deal with Challenges on the Football Field”; a guide filled with tips and tricks for coaches working in women’s football.
There was only one way to wrap this productive day up: a football match! Despite having received an overload of information, the workshop participants showed tenacity on the field. The great atmosphere on the field was the ideal way to conclude the day and that’s the exact spirit we hope to bring to more female footballers in South Africa.
