This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: "There is a systemic failure in the training of coaches for female athletes," says Ådne Ausland, a researcher at the University of Agder. Together with colleagues, he conducted a survey of 779 coaches of female athletes in Norway and Sweden.
The results reveal a lack of knowledge about issues and needs specific to girls and women. The research is published in the journal Sports Coaching Review and the International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching. "The most striking finding was that the coach's experience and their own gender make no difference.
Female coaches experienced the same skills gap," says Ausland. The figures from the survey show that coaches themselves consider topics such as growth and development, puberty and menstruation to be very important. Nevertheless, they lack the confidence to address these issues when working with athletes.
Some of the consequences of this became apparent when Ausland interviewed eight former Norwegian elite athletes. The women's stories diverged in two very different directions. FIDES (Female Inclusion and Development in Sport) is a research group at UiA where researchers investigate issues relating to participation, development and performance among women in sports.
The group is led by Monica Klungland Torstveit and Bård Erlend Solstad. Through Ausland's Ph.D. project, the FIDES Coach Education Programme (CEP), a coaching course has been developed based on the findings discussed in this article. The course is aimed at coaches of female athletes and aims to build the expertise and foster the trusting relationship that athletes seek.
With support from the International Olympic Committee, the course has been translated into English. "Half of them described a training routine where talking about a lack of energy or period pain was seen as a sign of weakness. They learned to suppress their body's signals and suffer in silence.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
