Coach Mentorship Program & Female Coaching Framework

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Coach Mentorship Program & Female Coaching Framework

In March of 2021, BC Soccer unveiled its new Female Coaching Framework; a key objective of the 2024 strategic plan. The framework is designed to support women in coaching with the aim of increasing the number of female coaches at all levels while supporting their ongoing development and creating opportunities to acquire new leadership skills. This framework has three components including the Coach Mentorship Program, the creation of a Female Development Lead position within the Soccer Development Department, along with offering and hosting Fully Female Participant and Female Led Community Stream coaching courses.

Coach Mentorship Program

The program is aimed at recruiting aspiring coaches across British Columbia who are seeking mentorship support during the main coaching seasons (spring-summer-fall). Candidates selected to the program will be connected with a dedicated BC Soccer Mentor and receive FREE registration credit for enrollment on the Canada Soccer C Diploma course as well as have access to other key services and resources during the 2024 program duration. BC Soccer supports this coach development initiative by prioritizing the following objectives:

Providing opportunities to those coaching within BC Soccer’s membership structure across the province
Prioritizing the under-representation of women in coaching and indigenous coaches in the selection process
Addressing financial barriers by offering FREE enrollment to the C Diploma and providing mentorship services

For more information about the Coach Mentorship Program and how to apply, please click here.

Fully Female Coaching Courses

BC Soccer’s objective is to provide a service that contributes to increasing the number of female coaches across the province by promoting regional Grassroots Coach Education Program coaching courses exclusively for females. The program is divided into the online theory (Part 1) coaches take as a pre-requisite to register for the on-field practical workshop (Part 2). Member organizations can request to host an on-field practical workshop delivered in a 100% female environment.

If you are a female coach over the age of 16 and are interested in taking a Grassroots Coach Education Program coaching course, then please contact your soccer organization to see when they are planning to host an on-field practical workshop. Please note that you must complete the respective online theory (Part 1)* before registering for the on-field practical workshop (Part 2). Registration details for both parts can be found by clicking here.

If you are a member organization interested in hosting a female-only and female-led Grassroots on-field practical workshop**, please log in to your host account and when setting it up, please indicate that it is female-only. Please click here.

*a fee associated with the online theory is payable directly to Canada Soccer when registering ($20-30 per course level).

**BC Soccer will cover the female Learning Facilitator fees associated with the on-field practical workshop only and based on the availability of our female leads. Organizations are responsible for booking the facility, the cost for field rental and providing the required equipment for the event and can also apply for funds to offset costs as part of our Grants Program.

Female Development Lead

On June 8, 2021, BC Soccer announced the appointment of Chelsey Hannesson and Melissa Mobilio as BC Soccer Female Development Leads to support the delivery of the Female Coaching Framework.

Chelsey Hannesson is the Assistant Technical Director with Langley United Youth Soccer Association while also being directly involved in coach education with Canada Soccer. In her role with BC Soccer, Chelsey is currently the lead mentor for the Female Coach Mentorship Program to support selected coaches to work towards obtaining their Canada Soccer C Licence designation. In addition to this, the program is aimed at providing a holistic approach to support coaches improve their leadership skills and identify ways of analyzing coaching performance. In addition to personal growth, we hope it will foster opportunities for potential career development as well. Chelsey is also responsible for the delivery of the female-led and female-only Grassroots Coach Education Program coaching courses as a Learning Facilitator.

We are very excited to have Chelsey join the Soccer Development Department to not only play a key role in the implementation of the female coaching framework but also utilize her skillsets in both coach education and player development.

Melissa Mobilio provided valuable contributions to BC Soccer as we work to develop our disability diploma. She continues to be part of the coaching and player development programs, however, is not in the formal Female Development Lead role as of March 2022.