Female Football Coaches

How becoming a female football coach would change your life

Female football is growing rapidly in Wales so we need to develop more coaches to keep the game great.
Whether you've played the beautiful game all your life or you've never kicked a ball, you're more than capable of becoming an awesome coach.

If your pupils, daughter, niece, or even granddaughter need somebody to help them improve their game, or their team, take your chance to do something amazing.

Here are all the details you need to become a female football coach. Get started today.

The FAW Women's Strategy has a target of 600 new Female coaches by 2024, coaching at all levels of the game, throughout Wales, and while numbers are rising rapidly, we need you now!

We have a specific Female Game C Certificate qualification that targets men and women who want to coach specifically in female football.

As well as the practical and theory elements to the course, discussion is directed around the female game to provide coaches with direct knowledge and experience to aid the development of the coach and the game.

Coaches will complete online modules and coursework throughout the course and be expected to deliver practical sessions, both on and off course. However, there is no formal assessment.

The professional coaches

Jayne Ludlow, Wales Women’s National Team Manager

Having won 61 Wales caps and a Champions League winners medal, Jayne Ludlow has experienced more than most in female football.

But she insists the simple pleasure of developing her players as people brings her the most joy in her coaching career.

And she says this feeling can be as rewarding on pitches and parks across Wales as it is in the international arena.

“The most joy I get from being a coach is seeing my players develop, on and off the pitch, as leaders and confident females.

“I'd urge women everywhere to get involved in football. Don't let anything stop you!

“There are so many opportunities for women in Wales to become coaches and I want to see more of them taking those opportunities.”

“It’s key to the growth of the female game that new people come into football willing to go on courses and increase their knowledge of the game.

“I'd love to see more mums get involved.

“Why not learn more about the game? You could help your kids while you're doing it.

“There's still a huge amount of development that needs to happen for the female game in Wales, so I’d say to anybody interested in football, please come and get involved.”

Gemma Owen, Head of Girls Football at Wrexham FC's Racecourse Community Foundation

Gemma Owen is a UEFA B Licence holder, who coaches the Wrexham AFC girls team and coaches boys and girls at the club's development centre.

She has a strong message for any female in Wales thinking of becoming a football coach.

"Just do it. We need more female coaches. In my experience, they have a little more empathy with younger kids, so we can ease them into the game a little more and make them feel as though they want to come in and be a part of a football team.

It's so enjoyable to develop children and build their social skills. Females are great at developing an all-round child, rather than just a football player.

Grassroots football is all about encouraging children to get involved in the sport and us females can do that really well."

Players turned coaches

Cassandra Thomas, Former Rhyl Ladies defender - now junior coach

Former Rhyl Ladies defender Cassandra Thomas is now fully focused on coaching after retiring as a player.

Cassandra, who got her Football Leaders Award when she was a teenager, is currently coaching the girls section but has ambitions to take the UEFA B Licence and ultimately coach the senior team at the football club she’s fallen in love with.

“I started coaching when I was 18, which is really young. ThenI had a break while I focused on playing before going to America to coach for nine months.

“I came back to play for Rhyl and now they're looking for me to step-up with my coaching.

“I have completed my FAW C Certificate and my next ambition is to progress to the UEFA B Licence and then coach in the Welsh Women's Premier League, for Rhyl FC and then from there, who knows?”

While Cassandra says she found the transition to C Certificate quite easy, she says it was a challenge learning to be a coach while still playing the game.

She said: "Back then I found it difficult looking at things from a player's point-of-view but now I've finished playing, I see things differently.

"I want to do the UEFA B Licence so I can coach the seniors at Rhyl FC.

"The female game C Certificate is a great course to do, especially now some of the modules are online, so it's far less time consuming.

"It's nice to see more women are getting involved in coaching football. It's certainly come a long way in the time I've been involved."

Carys Davies - Player coach at Port Talbot Town Ladies

Port Talbot Town Ladies defender Carys Davies started playing football in 2010 and kicked off her coaching career just two years later.

She's now a C Certificate coach with ambitions of moving up to the B Licence.
Carys claims she caught 'the coaching bug' after helping out for a spell while there was a shortage of coaches at her club.
She said: "If find coaching a lot more interesting than playing but I've got to keep playing to keep fit.
"Once I start coaching, it changed me as a player."
Image: Carys Davies with her Port Talbot Town Ladies team-mates
After five years of coaching, Carys is now hoping to progress her career by studying the B Licence with the FAW.
She said: "The FAW courses are great because you get loads of information and the mentors are always there to help when you need it.
"I've picked up so many great ideas and ways to progress my sessions for the players.
"My biggest ambition in football is to get more girls playing the game because when I was younger there was no girls football, we had to play with the boys."

Mums turned coaches

Carol Williams - Coach of Berriew U9

Supermum Carol Williams says she loves the bond football has created between her and her sons.

The mother of four boys, who coaches her second born son Charlie for Berriew U9s, in Mid Wales, said: "I love coaching for the enjoyment the kids get out of it.

"I love the way they keep turning up every week and they always enjoy it. It's just great."

Carol says Charlie, and his older brother George, are the reason for her life-changing decision to take-up football coaching.

She said: "I played a bit of football when I was younger but I wanted to get more involved in the community and football gave Charlie a chance to be with his friends in the evenings."

When Charlie was just four, Berriew FC Juniors' award winning Head Coach Paul Inns asked Carol if she could run a team for him and his young friends.

She said: "Starting off coaching the little ones was quite a challenge at first but I've gone through the journey with my son and we're both really enjoying it."

"It does keep me very busy but the children love it and it helps keep me fit and it's a nice way to wind down after a week working in the office.

"It gives me a great perspective as the kids just come along to have fun."

"I'm quite happy where I am at the moment and I enjoy working with the kids but the C Certificate is something I would like to do in the future.

"I'm always looking for new ideas to help keep the kids involved, keep their enthusiasm up and keep them coming back.

"I love sharing ideas with other coaches and adapting them for my own players."

Stephanie Seer - Coach of Villa Dino U16

Mums up and down Wales are doing amazing things for Welsh football.

One who has done more than most is our former Welsh Football Mum of the Year Stephanie Seer.

The football coach, turned administrator, turned fundraiser, has played a key role in the development of her son's Villa Dino's U10s team, which she also coaches.

She also threw her energy into setting up an U7s team at the ambitious Newport based club.

As a fundraiser, super-mum Stephanie has drummed up more than £3,000 for the club she loves and as a coach, she's completed her Football Leaders Award and FAW C Certificate.

"Something like a team could fold so easily and it only takes a mum, a dad or anybody just to say 'I'll help'.

"I didn't know anything about football, at all. I was that parent! Now I absolutely love it and I would encourage any mum, dad, auntie or grandparent to get involved.

"You don't need to know everything about football. That will come in time. Just get involved."

Stephanie is very passionate about getting more girls involved in football and continues to be a great asset in her community and within grassroots football.

Female Coaching Mentors

All of our coaches are mentored by our team of experts.

So if you're thinking of signing-up for a course but worried that you'll be on your own, fear not.

Our mentors will be there to help you every step of the way.

The female game continues to grow in Wales, so we need more great coaches.