American football: GB player advocating for more female coaches

“It was the first time the NFL had really done anything like it, so we invented my own role. I was assistant tight end which basically means offense quality control, and I assisted the defence as well with some of their quality control work”.

“As well as this, I supported the assistant to the head coach, so we really made this role a total mix, which was great because it meant I got to be a part of everything”.

Explaining the legacy of her role, she said: “Every year now there is someone that gets a season long internship, which is huge for someone’s development. It’s been cool to see how we tested it, figured it out, and now almost every team in the NFL is on board”.

Phoebe now plays for Great Britain and, among many other roles, coaches the under 17 female flag football team, which she says has great gender parity: “GB have always been incredibly equal in terms of support for men's and women's American football. It's been a level playing field and it's a great atmosphere between all the teams”.

“Last year, the GB women's team and under 17 girls' team both won gold at Euros, which was a really nice synergy. All the girls were ruling the roost!”

Schecter is also passionate about coach development, particularly for young players. She said: “I work with GB’s Coaches’ Association to evaluate and upskill our coaches to help keep bringing up the standard”.

“With the GB youth teams, we've kept about three of our athletes from under 17 boys and girls last season and brought them into shadow coach. This starts to build up them up and teach them the right ways to coach”.

“We tend to put them with the youeer kids so it's not so close with their own age groups, but that also means they’re not just a coach, they're also a role model.”

For young females specifically, Schecter says, coaching roles are empowering: “What I love about women in coaching is that it empowers people which naturally builds confidence”.

“At around age four/five, the girls are better at American football than the boys because they have a better body control and centre of gravity, and so they naturally take on leadership roles”.

“We need to keep empowering them to keep taking on these roles while they are still young.”

Schecter also believes discourse has a crucial role to play in equality in the sport: “It's really important as coaches that we're equal and highlight great athletes, no matter their gender”.

“Young people watch you, so if you’re saying to the boys, ‘great job, really great ball handling skills’, but just giving the girls a fleeting comment, they’re watching”.

Reflecting on her own experiences, Schecter said: “I never really thought about the fact that I was the only woman in the room. I think if I went into those spaces thinking, ‘oh, man, I'm going to be the only girl here’, you already have a setback mindset, or you won’t necessarily be focusing on the right things. Whereas for me, I went in and was like, how am I going to be the best version of myself, and how am I going to be able to help this team”.

“At the elite level, it's about being that 1% better, and if you can open the gender pool another 50%, you're ultimately probably going to find an extra 1% to get better”.

“Ultimately, coaching is ‘how do you get the most out of your athletes?’”

If you want to start your coaching journey, head to https://www.ukcoaching.org to find out more.