U.S.-Germany World Cup semifinal highlights women in coaching

The United States and Germany go head-to-head on Tuesday evening in what feels like a World Cup final, led by the only two female coaches left in the tournament.

Out of the 24 tournament teams, only eight were coached by women, two being Jill Ellis of Team USA and Silvia Neid of Germany. In March, former England manager Hope Powell spoke at a FIFA conference about how women coaches were getting “squeezed out” of the sport.

This may come as a surprise to some when watching Tuesday’s match.

April Heinrichs, is the director for the U.S. federation, as well as the first woman to make the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame. She told The Guardian that men indeed want to recruit women for coaching. Heinrichs discussed Jill Ellis and how she initially was invited by U.S. Soccer to apply for the head coaching position. Still, Heinrichs told The Guardian, “I like to think of the U.S. a pillar of leadership in a lot of ways but there are ways in which we are lagging behind, one of which is a succession plan and stable coaching.”

While the U.S. system has a shockingly low number of female coaches from the youth level to the elite, Germany seems to be doing it right. At the highest youth level, Top Drawer Soccer states “94 percent of the league‘s teams are guided by male head coaches, a slight one percent drop from three years ago.”

Former world-class players like Michelle Akers even has doubts about the female coaching possibilities. Akers told USA Today, “I’m not sure they want [former national team players] involved.” This suggests that the option for some of the best players in the world, particularly in the U.S. Women’s National system may be up for question.

Germany had an all-female baton change that lasted two decades; Tina Theune and Sylvia Neid led this.

Sports Coach UK, an organization that develops coaches, has an initiative to bring more female coaches into UK sports. It’s CEO, Dr. Tony Byrne, said his group has a goal of “deploying 3000 new female coaches across the UK in the next two years.”

The U.S. has a lot of catching up to do if indeed the youth level is suffering since that should ultimately be the stepping block for these female athletes.

Ellis faces Neid in Tuesday’s semifinal, a match that is expected to grab a solid viewing audience and give everyone some hope that despite the low number of female coaches, two of the best teams in the world, are coached by women.