Hockey Ireland is delighted to announce the relaunch of our Performance Coach Development Programme (PCD) for female coaches. The programme, which was originally due to run in 2020, was suspended due to Covid-19.
The aim of this pilot programme is to support and develop more female coaches to coach at performance and high-performance levels within Ireland.
The programme, funded by Sport Ireland’s Women in Sport Programme, will run for 2022 and is open to female coaches who are coaching at senior club or interprovincial level. Coaches will work with a team of experienced mentors across the 12-month period with a focus on developing key aspects of performance coaching both on and off the field.
Hockey Ireland is looking to engage an initial 6-10 female coaches for this mentoring programme with options to further develop through our core coach education programmes and potentially through EHF-led programmes such as Coaches 4 Europe and the Top Coaches Programme.
Phil Oakley, HI’s national coach education manager, said “Traditionally, we have seen very few female coaches working at performance level. Within EYHL 1, there have been seasons with only been one female club head coach. Within a sport with over two thirds female participation, this should be significantly higher. Our aim is to provide mentoring support and development opportunities and create a pathway for increased numbers of female coaches at performance level.”
Applications are being sought from female coaches who are coaching competitive hockey regularly at senior club or interprovincial levels. Coaches must hold a minimum of a Hockey Ireland Level 1 coaching qualification and be Safeguarding certified.
If you would like to apply, please contact Phil Oakley on phil.oakley@hockey.ie and include a detailed description of your coaching experience to date and outline your future coaching ambitions. The deadline to register your interest is Wednesday January 5th 2022.