Using the coaches voice to improve the representation and experience of females in coaching: a Gaelic games perspective

Female coaches across all sports and levels are underrepresented on a global scale, existing as peripheral figures on the coaching landscape. This is evident in an Irish context, with a recent report suggesting that just 18.7% of coaches in Gaelic games are female. The reasons for lower levels of female involvement in coaching have been widely documented, and include females feeling undervalued or under-appreciated, lacking confidence, and experiencing a lack of respect, gender stigmatism, and unconscious bias, within unsupportive organisational cultures. The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of structural and cultural factors on female coaches' lived experiences of coaching in Gaelic games.