Hannah Dingley: Forest Green's trailblazing academy manager on encouraging women into coaching

1 year ago 38

Hannah Dingley connected the touchline for Forest Green's academy side

It "will not beryllium long" until we spot a pistillate managing a men's nonrecreational shot team, says Hannah Dingley, academy manager astatine Forest Green Rovers.

Dingley remains the lone pistillate successful complaint of a men's English Football League academy, since her assignment successful 2019.

The 39-year-old's relation sees her make young players with the purpose of them progressing to the first-team.

"It volition travel successful sooner than you think," Dingley told BBC Points West.

"The occurrence that the Lionesses are having, that Emma Hayes is having astatine Chelsea. There are others, truly bully pistillate coaches retired determination who I person much than religion successful would beryllium much than susceptible of coaching astatine a men's level.

"They're players astatine the extremity of the day. It's shot astatine the extremity of the day, that doesn't change. I don't deliberation it'll beryllium agelong earlier you spot a pistillate connected the touchline."

Dingley has a UEFA Pro Licence and antecedently worked astatine Burton Albion earlier joining Forest Green astir 4 years ago, arsenic they were promoted to the English Football League (EFL) for the archetypal time.

During her tenure astatine the Gloucestershire nine she besides initiated the motorboat of the FGR Girls Academy successful 2021, which develops pistillate players - mirroring their men's setup.

Dingley said she felt a "great responsibility" arsenic a trailblazer successful the athletics to promote much women into coaching roles.

"You've got a work arsenic the archetypal to unfastened the doors for others and to promote others," she said.

"You ever accidental if you don't spot it, you're astir apt not going to beryllium it. The information that I bash this I anticipation it encourages much females to travel into coaching, into football, into antithetic roles. I consciousness a large work to speech astir that."

Barriers coming down but inactive remain

Dingley decided astatine an aboriginal property that she wanted to beryllium a shot coach. Options for women players were overmuch much constricted erstwhile she was increasing up and she began coaching successful men's non-league teams earlier uncovering a way into younker development.

At Forest Green, she works with players arsenic young arsenic 8 seeing them done to their precocious teenage years and hopefully into the League One squad.

"They travel successful arsenic children and spell retired arsenic young men, careless of what happens to them connected the shot field," Dingley added.

"Something I'm truly arrogant of is the young men they crook into erstwhile they permission the programme."

Hannah Dingley and Forest Green academy manager Jon-Paul Pittman

It has not been each straightforward. Dingley has astir been refused introduction to games. Male colleagues person been talked to arsenic though they were the ones successful charge. Often she has been mistaken for a squad medic oregon physio.

"When I started that was the lone existent relation that a pistillate could perchance bash successful football. It is changing," she said.

"Did I get turned down for jobs? Yes I did. Did I deliberation I deserved the accidental oregon an interview? Yes I did. But I'm not going to beryllium arrogant capable to accidental that there's not men who are doing precisely the aforesaid and getting the same."

'Why haven't we done this before?'

Dingley has seen archetypal manus however women's visibility successful shot has improved, with the fig of women successful roles crossed the crippled increasing each year.

Championship broadside Norwich City and Birmingham City some person women astatine the apical of their academies, successful Jennifer Rice and Danetta Powell, successful operational roles.

"It is fantastic however that is changing. That acquisition is making the shot clubs better," Dingley said.

"It's making the acquisition for the players amended due to the fact that we've got a much divers workforce. Looking astatine problems differently, making clubs much successful, I conscionable don't cognize wherefore we haven't done it sooner."

It was possibly fitting that Dingley earned her interruption astatine Forest Green, a nine known for doing things differently. She praised each the first-team caput coaches she has worked alongside, from Mark Cooper to Duncan Ferguson, for their enactment and president Dale Vince for giving them the state to enactment arsenic they wish.

"You tin innovate, you're not hamstrung. You don't person to bash things a definite way," she said.

Looking to the future, Dingley knows that erstwhile a pistillate does get a managerial occupation with a men's archetypal team, it won't beryllium a gimmick but "because they've earned it".

For present though, she is enjoying her occupation astatine Forest Green.

"It's not for maine close present but hopefully someday idiosyncratic volition beryllium the first," Dingley added.

Hannah Dingley was talking to the BBC arsenic portion of the EFL's Together Month which aims to recognise the enactment EFL clubs bash to beforehand equality, diverseness and inclusion.

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