The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) has launched a special program at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast to develop more high-performance women coaches in Australian sport.
The program is aimed at improving development pathways and supporting increased representation of women in Australia’s elite coaching ranks and at major benchmark events.
Deputy Director Performance People at the AIS, Darlene Harrison said eight high-performance women coaches, including three Commonwealth Games gold medallists, are to be partnered with experienced women mentor coaches to undertake a one-week development program as part of the Commonwealth Games experience.
She said while progress in gender diversity was being made in a number of areas in high-performance sport, women coaches continued to be underrepresented at major events such as the Commonwealth Games.
“It’s wonderful the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games is aiming to be the most gender-equal multisport event in history and that’s reflected for the athletes in the fact it will be the first Commonwealth Games where there is gender parity in the number of medal events,” Ms Harrison said.
“Typically at Olympic, Paralympic or Commonwealth Games, coaching figures are 85 per cent male to 15 per cent female.”
She said that at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Australia’s coaching cohort was 90 per cent male.
Ms Harrison said she hoped the program would make a difference for the women involved by providing greater visibility of female coaching talent and in growing the coaching pipeline.
