LORRAINE ROSE JOINS UK SPORT’S FEMALE COACHES LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME

Lorraine Rose joins the new cohort of coaches as UK Sport continues its commitment to representation with the return of its Female Coaches Leadership Programme.

The second edition of UK Sport’s ground-breaking female coaches leadership programme officially begins today. The programme forms part of a plan to more than double 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. The coach leaders include two graduates from the 2021 programme in Monica Greenwood (British Cycling) and Jen Leeming (British Diving).

Claire Morrison (Boccia UK) and Tracy Whittaker-Smith (Trampolining, British Gymnastics), who coached at their third and fifth Games respectively in Tokyo, 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.

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, including fencing’s Lorraine Rose, has 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.

Lorraine and the other coaches on the programme 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.

Five of the coach leaders from the first programme – Paula Dunn (Athletics), Jane Figueiredo (Diving), Kate Howey (Judo), Mel Marshall (Swimming) and Bex Milnes (Triathlon) – will act as inspirational figures for the 2021 cohort.

Sally Munday, CEO at UK Sport, said: “After the success of 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.”

Lorraine says, “I am delighted to have been selected onto UK Sport’s female coaches leadership programme. I am very grateful to British Fencing and UK Sport for the opportunity to work with what I know will be an amazing and inspirational group of female coaches from different sports who are at the top of their game. I am hugely excited to take this next step on my coaching path. I am ready to challenge myself and to bring my learning into the performance environment of the ADP and International trips as well as using this learning to continue to grow and improve my own club environment.”

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