More female coaches key to breaking ‘old boys’ network’
Bowmaker plea in wake of ‘fat-shaming’ expose New faces needed to add broad spectrum to sport
‘It’s all about getting a balance. There are too many arrogant men’
One of Britain’s most successful female athletics coaches says there needs to be more women to break up the “old boys’ network” of “arrogant and egotistical” male coaches if the country’s culture of fatshaming towards female athletes is to end.
The Daily Telegraph yesterday revealed endemic problems of a predominantly male-dominated coaching environment in Britain, where female athletes being told to lose weight beyond what they felt was healthy was “normalised”.
Several of Britain’s leading female athletes, who have won multiple Olympic and world medals between them, told how a culture of bullying and fat-shaming had been rife at the highest levels for years. One issue they raised was the lack of gender diversity at the top of coaching in Britain.
Just five of the 73-strong British team at the World Championships were coached by women and five of the 41 at the World-para Championships. Christine Bowmaker, who looks after two of the World Championships squad – Laviai Nielsen and Finette Agyapong – says the existing culture would not exist if there were more female coaches operating at the highest level.
“This would 100 per cent be different if there were more female coaches,” said Bowmaker, who has also coached global medallists Christine Ohuruogu, Asha Philip, Jodie Williams and Anyika Onuora.
“Of course, male coaches can be empathetic, but it’s about getting a balance. Society is made up of men and women – not just men. There are too many arrogant and egotistical men who just think about themselves in this sport.
“If you go into the British Athletics team booklet and look at the number of female coaches, it is disgusting. It’s like an old boys’ network – you rub my back and I’ll rub yours. That’s why it’s hard for females to get in. We need a broad spectrum of people.”
Bowmaker, a former international sprinter, also revealed the discrimination she has fought against as a coach balancing life as a single mother of children aged 12 and 14. “I’m their primary carer so my children have to come with me on certain trips, but people deem that as unprofessional,” she said. “They think you can’t be an elite coach and have your children at the track at the same time.
“But you don’t know my journey – my kids have been at the track since they were born. They don’t affect my coaching. I’ve been marginalised because of that and looked at as unprofessional. When my kids were young, one coach said to me I needed to go home because I had to go and look after them.”
While the five most senior British Athletics coaches on the able-bodied Olympic programme are men, Paula Dunn has fronted the Paralympic programme since 2012, when she became the organisation’s first female head coach. She echoed the call for more female coaches. “Elite sport is really hard at the highest level,” she said of the fat-shaming culture described by athletes. “People will make comments and some of those comments may not be positive.
“But to have the right culture you need a mix of males and females, and you need people from different backgrounds. An athlete needs to see someone who looks like them – whether it’s colour, sex or gender. We’re trying to rectify that and put that in place.”
Eleven-time Paralympic athletics champion Baroness Grey-thompson published a government-commissioned report in 2017 in which she questioned the balance between welfare and winning in Britain. Responding to The Telegraph story, she said: “Female sportspeople are targeted more than men [by weight issues], but how all sportspeople are treated needs consideration. There are many things that contribute towards elite performance and weight is one of them, but greater consideration needs to be given to how this is raised.
“Comments like these can lead to anorexia and bulimia, which can have a big impact on someone’s life as well as performance. Athletes need to be thought of as individuals. Individuals are at the heart of sport – not just a cog in a wheel to be treated as a commodity.”
UK Sport said “a huge amount of focus has been devoted” to the health and well-being of athletes during this Olympic cycle.
“Athletes are people, not just performers, and everyone working to support athletes has a responsibility to uphold the highest standards of ethical and professional conduct to enable them to thrive,” said a spokesperson.