Female former football coach says 'sliding scale of sexism' led to her quitting the game
- Published
Kick It Out's survey showed sexism or misogyny has been a problem for many female football coaches
A female former football coach says "a sliding scale of sexism" led to her quitting the game.
But the woman - who has asked to stay anonymous - hopes other girls and women will not be put off by her experiences.
She was speaking as part of a new survey by anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out, which found "shocking" levels of misogyny and abuse towards women in football.
Its results showed 80% of the 115 respondents - who had qualifications ranging from Football Association Level 1 to Uefa A Licence - had experienced sexism or misogyny in a coaching environment.
More than half of those questioned said they had considered quitting coaching because of sexism.
The survey also found that 70% of respondents had faced sexism or misogyny while on a coaching course.
Kick It Out has educational resources about tackling sexism and misogyny, and says there has been "a sharp increase in reports of sexism and misogyny" more widely in the game.
Hollie Varney, Kick It Out chief operating officer, told BBC Sport it was "really shocking that so many women have faced sexism and misogyny".
"At a time of huge growth for the women's game, it's alarming that over half of the coaches surveyed said they'd thought about quitting because of sexism they'd experienced," Varney said.
"Many of the women we spoke to shared their passion and love for coaching but also talked about the exhaustion that came from being regularly undermined, questioned, and overlooked in the coaching environment.
"Football needs to take sexism seriously if we are to boost the number of women in coaching and we hope that findings from this research can be a catalyst to make coaching a more welcoming space for women."
'I was carrying all of this trauma'- case study
The woman spoken to by BBC Sport says her most traumatic experience came on an FA coaching course.
"I would describe what happened to me as grooming and sexual abuse. I didn't realise at the time that that was what that was," she said.
She didn't feel able to fully report what had happened to her, but did complain to the FA about an abuse of power.
"Incidents of sexism, misogyny and abuse have no place in football or wider society, and we were deeply concerned when allegations were raised with us," an FA spokesperson said.
"Following a full and thorough investigation into the allegations made at the time, we made the decision to terminate the individual's contract.
"We will not tolerate this behaviour in football, and we strongly urge anybody who has been a victim of, or witness to an incident of this nature to report it to the FA or the relevant authorities, so it can be investigated and the necessary action taken."
The woman said she felt "really triggered" in football environments as a consequence of her experiences, and she ultimately stopped coaching.
"I've coached across a range of different environments, including community academies, and I've experienced what I would describe as a sliding scale of sexism," she said.
"I've experienced verbal assault, physical assault and comments from that. You know, the parents of the players that I coach, comments from coaches that I coach with, comments from opposition coaches, the microaggressions that a lot of female coaches will recognise, such as when you turn up to the matchday and the opposition manager or coach would just completely ignore you, walk straight past you, walk up to the closest man, even if it's just a dad of one of the players and then up to, you know, quite serious abuse.
"I was trying to make a career. I wanted a career as a football coach. I wanted to make it my full-time job.
"I wanted to impress and I wanted to do the right thing. And it's very difficult to say no to people in power.
"It was investigated. I don't believe that it was dealt with in the best way at that time. I think if it happened today, it would be dealt with differently."
On what she would like to see happen next, she said: "First and foremost, it's about cleaning up shop and just getting rid of the men who are being toxic in these environments. It sends out a really clear message to everyone else that this behaviour won't be tolerated.
"I do encourage girls and women to take up coaching because hopefully together we can create those environments. But I wish I had when I started my coaching journey.
"Because actually there is a really strong, healthy, supportive network of women coaches out there and we're not alone and we can support each other."
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