31 Aug 2026
Last week we held our group introduction call with cohort 2 as part of the Women & Girls Coaching Academy (WGCA). This year, we have 11 participants signed up to the programme and 6 mentors (1 NEW mentor, Carin Bergdahl who was a participant in cohort 1 - great to have you continuing your involvement!).
We asked Carin why she decided to sign up as a mentor:
‘‘I've been an archer for three years, involved in coaching for half of that. The L1 training worries (unfounded) still fresh in memory. I compete in Barebow target and field archery in Scotland, dabble in Longbow, and stay just South of Aberdeen where my main club is Lethen Archers.
I find archery meditative, inclusive, a mental health boost, and sometimes very frustrating. Coaching gives me the opportunity to share the good things, the tips I found helpful, boost the confidence of other archers, and learn more about what makes archery click for others. All transferable to mentoring, with the added bonus of growing the WGCA community by helping add more wonderful, diverse people.’’
During this, the call covered a background into the programme, what is involved, objectives, expectations, chance to meet the mentors and open discussion on topics around women & girls’ representation in coaching.
The Women & Girls Coaching Academy (WGCA) aim is to provide a dedicated space and support programme for females interested in coaching, with the aim of encouraging more women and girls to take up coaching roles. Further to this, only 32% of Archery GB (AGB) licenced coaches in Scotland are women & girls, which compared to the national average of women being 51% is considerably lower. This suggests that women are underrepresented within coaching roles.
Thanks to everyone who made it along to the call last week and we are looking forward to working with everyone!