MFA female coaches offered CYF Scholarships

 Given the lack of qualified female coaches working in women’s football, providing an adequate supply of females in this sector is without doubt a challenge that many countries face.   The FIFA Women’s Football Survey 2014 showed that the number of female coaches in football is very low, with only 7% of registered coaches from the 177 associations that participated being female, while the results also showed that successful member associations in women’s football have a higher level of participation of women at coaching levels. The UEFA Women’s Football Survey 2013-2014 showed that coaching in women’s football remains dominated by male coaches, with 78% of the coaches of the national Under-17, Under-19 and senior teams being male. Within most national associations, male coaches outnumber female coaches. The MFA has been encouraging our clubs to employ female coaches within the girls’ sector, and we are very pleased that some clubs have increased the number of women in their administrative and coaching sectors. The MFA wants to further invest in the increase and growth of female coaches and is embarking on a new programme where it wants not only to provide education opportunities for promising female coaches but also to financially sponsor their courses. This is an exciting time for women’s football and the MFA wants to really invest in instilling excellent work ethics. The association would like these women to become positive role models to actively assisting and promote further  the development of women’s football in Malta. If this pilot scholarship programme is successful, it will be followed up by a National C Scholarship course and the successful Coaching Young Footballers (CYF) scholarship participants will be encouraged to further their education. These prospective coaches have committed to two years of coaching football to girls with the member clubs of the Malta Football Association with the intention of applying for the National C Licence Course within the next two years as Coaching Young Footballers (CYF) is only the first step in their coaching career. Candidates were subject to a review process and an interview and the MFA Technical Centre’s Education Department and Women’s sector within the Grassroots Department expressed their satisfaction at the very positive response manifested.  The 17 prospective coaches at this CYF scholarship have insofar already manifested distinctly their motivation, strong work ethic and commitment to develop themselves and help in the development of girls’ in football. Contact will be maintained with these coaches in the forthcoming years through a specially designed assistance program. These prospective coaches will certainly help mould the future in the female sector. This initiative in offering coaching scholarships for women will be a historic novelty by the Malta Football Association.