Girls’ and women’s soccer is growing in New York State West, but where are the female coaches? There are 6.5 million adults in the US coaching youth soccer (toddler through 14U), 27% of those coaching positions are held by women. In NYSW there are 4412 coaches, and 19% are female coaches.

NYSWYSA’s mission is to provide a lifelong positive experience by engaging, supporting, and advocating for females in the NYSW soccer community. Our goal is to increase the number of female coaches in our region as females are important role models. Girls may identify with and see a female coach as a mentor and as a role model “for what is possible”. This in turn helps girls boost their confidence and self-efficacy. Girls need to see women in leadership roles which helps them with their own confidence and psyche in playing sports.

The sport dropout rates are significantly higher among girls than boys (36% girls vs. 30% boys).  We believe that female coaches play an important role when coaching girls’ teams. When girls and young women see adult females in coaching roles, they will be more likely to think about coaching as a legitimate and viable career. It may inspire them to become a coach in the future “You can be it, if you can see it”.

AS such, NYSW is committed to the creation of a Women Coaches Initiative. A committee has been created to explore the barriers that prevents women from being on the field as a soccer coach.  The committee meets once a month to discuss barriers, ideas, organize events, etc. to support female coaches.

Program and event sponsorship opportunities are available. For more information please contact Diana Groth: digroth523@gmail.com