Where Are the Female Coaches?
By increasing the number of female sports coaches, we can create a more equitable and supportive environment for female athletes at all levels. To date, we've successfully licensed 115 new female coaches, a significant step towards fostering greater diversity and inclusion within the sports industry.
Sustainable Change: A One-Year Program with Lasting Impact.
The Eir Coach Program is a year-long initiative led by professional football coaches and game designers.
Participants gain the tools and resources to practice coaching and combine sports with meaningful community engagement.
By bringing women together on the field, the program cultivates a supportive environment for practice, training, coaching, learning, and playing. Through these experiences, participants develop leadership skills, inspire creativity, and encourage a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.
The program contributes to closing the gender-based activity gap (play gap) by promoting women's sports and creating relatable female role models. It helps to create a network of active women committed to making a positive impact through sports.
Moreover, the program facilitates the creation of coaching groups that share inspiring stories of women overcoming historical, cultural, and social barriers.
To date, we have successfully graduated 13 women in Europe and 102 in Jordan.
“I want to do something for Women.”
Hestia FC, led by Eir Coach Katerina Salta from Greece, consisted entirely of substitutes when they played at the GGWCUP in Copenhagen due to the original players' immigration restrictions.
Experienced Football Coach.
Jackie Bachteler is the lead coach of the Eir Program. A former professional player herself, she is a seasoned football coach with extensive international experience, having coached professionally in the US, Finland, Spain, Cyprus, Costa Rica, and Sweden.
Life-Changing Results in One Year.
he 13 coaches came from: Ireland, Czech Republic, Austria, Spain, Sweden, Malta, Germany, Romania, Britain, Greece and Denmark.
In addition to representing the 12 different European countries, the group of 75 players also represented: Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Somalia, Congo, Eritrea, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Turkey, Tajikistan, Italy, Wales, Colombia, Kosovo, France and Iran.
What Our Participants Have to Say
“We play for everyone - to create awareness about the importance of sports - all to spread happiness around the world.”
“Through collaboration with other coaches, we have integrated more women from different cultures in sport—it unites us.”
“We can challenge and encourage people around the world to take part in the sustainable action, by showing that we stand together as people.”
“I can be an inspiration to others and help make changes by convincing women about their ability to determine their own choices.”
The Keys to a Successful 100-Woman Coaching Program:
We're excited to announce that we're developing more accessible versions of our program, including lighter options and online formats, to meet the growing demand from our global player base.
A committed local implementing partner.
2 Eir HQ staff.
2 x local staff for 22 to 24 months.
6 months for program prep, 12 months for program execution, and 4-6 months for post activities including reporting to funding partners.
6 pro-coaches from the Eir network: 4 football and 2 Play design.
Plan and host 4 in-person workshops (2-3 days workshops) combined with training and games every other week throughout the year.
Divide 100 coaches into 10 teams and play in a league structure for the last 3 months, giving the coaches many games to use their coaching skills in pre/post and games.
Funding: 500K USD.
