Along with several Coach Mentors who work with Coach Development Manager Eugene Lawrenz, MWFA have also recruited two additional Female Mentors this season specifically to directly support several female coaches.
Patricia Faria and Nina Sallenave have both completed their FA C-Licence along with several community coaching courses over recent years, and are both winners of our Female Coaching Scholarship from 2022. They were keen to give back to the sport, share what they have learned and provide guidance to other female coaches.
Patty and Nina have been providing support at their mentee’s training sessions and matches throughout the season, as this provides coaches with assistance ‘on the job’ as a compliment to the courses and workshops we offer, as well as ongoing learning opportunities in a realistic setting. Most importantly though, it is about having good female coaching role models and creating connections so the coaches know they have help when they want it.
“The most important thing I’ve learned is how to keep the kids engaged. Although I still play myself, it’s also been really useful to learn about how valuable it is to demonstrate when you are trying to teach them something. It’s something I never thought about before, because as a player you usually just went through all the generic drills, but there’s a lot more to it. On one hand it’s quite simple to do, but it can also be quite detailed. My training has changed a lot since the beginning of the season. The mentoring has been amazing! Patty has been really helpful, and it probably also helps that she is also a mum so she gets what I’m thinking!”
– Yasmina Poljak (Forest Killarney U7)
The other mentees include Sarah Allchurch (Avalon W11), Shannon Clarke (Curl Curl W14), Kate Ryder and Lisa Bacic (Forest Killarney W9). Next season, we hope to expand this program to include even more mentors and even more mentees to develop and grow the female game further.
For more information about coach development and support in MWFA, including courses, workshops and resources, please see the coaching section of our website: www.mwfa.com.au/category/coaching-news/
