Claire in leading role of UK Sport female coach programme

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The second edition of UK Sport’s ground-breaking female coaches leadership programme starts today and Boccia UK’s Claire Morrison takes a leading role. It forms part of a plan by UK Sport to more than double female representation in the Olympic and Paralympic high-performance community in the three years from Tokyo to Paris.

A new set of 24 promising female coaches from across 17 sports will work with a highly respected group of five coach leaders.

Morrison – along with Tracy Whittaker-Smith (Trampolining, British Gymnastics) - will reprise their roles as coach leaders while former GB and England Hockey coach Karen Brown will once again act as a mentor to the 24 coaches.

Claire is stood behind Louis Saunders. Both have their first in the air. They both wear masks and Louis is in a wheelchair. They both wear Great Britain kit and have competition lanyards around their necks. Louis is in a red top, Claire in blue.

The programme is designed to help some of the brightest female coaching talent from across sport to hone their skills. It also plays a critical role in demonstrating that coaching on the Olympic and Paralympic stage is a viable career for women. The new set of 24 coaches have been identified as having the potential to coach at the summer and winter Olympic and Paralympic Games from Paris 2024 and Milan-Cortina 2026 and beyond.

Claire Morrison, Performance Coach at Boccia UK, said: “I am delighted to be involved in the UK Sport female coaches leadership programme once again. The quality of coaches involved in the first cohort was superb and I have no doubts that this next group will continue to raise the standards.

“This is such an important programme to help raise the profile and opportunity for female coaches across our sporting landscape. The opportunity a programme like this gives coaches to challenge themselves and each other, and to build a network of people and experiences, is so valuable in supporting them through their coaching journey towards Paris and beyond. We may all operate in our own sports and environments but ultimately we are one community and that community is growing which is really exciting.”

Each coach will be offered support and development opportunities, including observing their assigned coach leader in their environment, exploring three fundamental topics to career development – namely leadership, environment and transition – as well as continuously engaging in discussion and debate to consolidate their learning.

Sally Munday, CEO at UK Sport, said: “After the success our inaugural female coaches leadership programme in 2021, I am delighted to welcome another strong cohort of hugely promising and talented coaches as it returns for another year. 

“UK Sport is committed to powering a diverse and inclusive Olympic and Paralympic high-performance community. This programme forms an integral part of our ambition to grow our thriving sporting system and deliver against our ambition to see far more women coaching at the pinnacle of their sports.

 “The fact that coaches from last year’s programme went on to coach at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, and that two of them are now leaders for the 2022 cohort, shows what a beneficial learning opportunity this is. The programme for this next cohort of 24 coaches is really exciting and I wish them all the very best.”