N.S. soccer clubs support national program to recruit more female coaches

Club soccer teams in Nova Scotia are taking part in a national program aimed at training more female coaches.

The initiative, called She CAN Coach, is focused on increasing the number of women and girls coaching at the grassroots levels of the sport.

"There is a gender gap in participation across the country between boys and girls," said Sara McConaghy, the director of community and fund development for Canada Soccer.

"Every young girl across our country should know that they've got a place in soccer."

McConaghy helped introduce the program in Guelph, Ont., during the pandemic and it's now in the process of expanding nationally, starting in Nova Scotia and Alberta.

The sport's national body has teamed up with provincial organizations Soccer Nova Scotia and Alberta Soccer, as well as telecommunications company Telus to get it going.

Eight clubs in Nova Scotia have been selected to take part.

"It really opens up the space. It's very exciting. People want to be a part of it," said Susan Steele, the program's lead for United D.F.C. in Dartmouth, one of the clubs involved.

Steele has coached for more than 30 years. While she has always felt supported, she also remembers being one of very few women when she was starting out. 

"Half of our community is female. Our coaching community and soccer community should be the same," she said.

There is already strong interest, including from some of the club's current players.

"I think it's good to have somebody to look up to that is a female," said Havana Walker, a 15-year-old defender on the United D.F.C. U15 AAA team who is keen to be a part of the program.

Around 18 women and girls have applied to the club, Steele said, ranging from teenagers to others in their 40s.

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