coaches

An example of success at elite level is the Women’s Super League. In January 2023, only four of 12 WSL coaches were women.

Now, eight out of 14 managers in the English top tier are women,, external including the managers of all three newly promoted sides – Amy Merricks at Birmingham, Crystal Palace’s Jo Potter and Karen Hills of Charlton Athletic.

A new Fifa quota stating women’s teams must have a female head coach or assistant has also helped redress the balance in top-level football.

However, at grassroots level it is a different story, with barriers including cost and childcare, even for former Lionesses.

“That number is a shock,” said ex-England international Fara Williams, speaking on the BBC’s Women’s Football Fallout about the drop in coaching numbers.

“The cost to do B and A licences, and the salaries or opportunities you will get from that investment, it does not quite marry up. They are quite costly, those badges.

“I tried it [the coaching pathway], it was not feasible to take up that opportunity. Some can take that risk, but our generation of players, we were not paid enough to go mortgage free, bills must be paid. I needed to do something that would pay the bills, and football coaching was not that.

“When I was playing, I was adamant I was going to be a coach, I coached all the development teams at Everton, Liverpool and Reading, but it is so different. When you are playing you don’t have the opportunities to coach at a higher level, then when you come out the game you don’t have the money.”

The Uefa Pro Licence, external – the qualification needed to coach at the highest level of English football – costs £14,000, and there are only 24 places per intake.

For a C licence, the lowest certification level, the cost is £650., external This can be subsidised, but only if the applicant is currently associated with an FA registered club, creating a chicken and egg situation.

Handyside acknowledges that cost is a major barrier – for women and men.

“The top three barriers are the same for men and women, and cost was in there for both,” she said.

“It is seen as a bigger barrier for women because when you must work twice as hard, the risk and reward balance is more outmatched.

“If you are a female looking at that cost and think you will also be overstretched and under supported, that £650 will have more of an impact.”

If there’s one positive to come out of the controversial play and video from Saturday’s USC vs. Oregon football game during which Oregon quarterback Dante Moore suffered a concussion after a late hit by USC’s Desman Stephens, it’s that high school football coaches are using it as a teachable moment on how not to react after a player is injured.

Stephens received a one-game suspension from USC after he was seen celebrating when hitting Moore in the head as he gave himself up on a slide to end a running play.

Whittier coach Lorenzo Hernandez said he reminded his players, “You’re always in someone’s lens.”

“You have to be compassionate about someone being injured,” he said.

St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro said there were plenty of lessons to point out to his players.

Negro said in a text, “As mentors, educators, and coaches we are constantly using moments like this to educate our players on how not to be. Football is a small fraternity and regardless of rivalries or spirited competitions we have to respect the health and safety of our opponents. Celebrating in a moment like that is disheartening and would never be tolerated here at Bosco.

“It wasn’t just the Dante Moore situation. It was also the situation from the Texas vs Tennessee game, too, with the unnecessary antics that draw penalties.

“We have to do better in making our kids realize there is a proper way to conduct yourself in an athletic contest. Personal character is revealed in these moments so choose wisely when you plan your actions after you make a good play.”

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Prep Rally. I’m Eric Sondheimer. Teacher/coaches are always teaching lessons, but what lessons do they learn from players?

Coaches learning lessons

Tom Harp, the longtime girls’ volleyball coach at Granada Hills.

(Craig Weston / For The Times)

Coaches are trained to be good teachers, which means offering life lessons and sports lessons. But what do they learn from their players?

For months, a simple questions has been asked: What’s the best lesson a player taught you?

Very few coaches asked could immediately answer. They needed to think long and hard, which meant the question was good.

Here’s a look at what some coaches offered as lessons learned from their players.

It was the battle in the trenches between Orange Lutheran and Sierra Canyon, which won 28-10.

(Craig Weston / For The Times)

Sierra Canyon and Orange Lutheran engaged in a penalty-filled nonleague game that should get both teams ready for league play. Thanks to running back Jaxsen Stokes, Sierra Canyon won 28-10. Here’s the report.

Bishop Amat made JSerra pull out every trick before the Lions prevailed 37-28 behind quarterback Hayes Cloutier. Here’s the report.

One of the best games of the week was Corona del Mar holding off La Serna 30-24. Here’s the report.

The Long brothers growing up, with the youngest, Grady, now the quarterback at La Serna.

(Long family)

The quarterbacks in the game are youngest brothers from families that combined to produce six quarterbacks. Here’s the report.

Huntington Beach knocked off Yorba Linda to go to 5-0 for the first time since 1998.

Receiver Paul Turner had five catches for 134 yards and two touchdowns to help Birmingham win its first game against a Southern Section opponent, beating Burbank 23-18. The Patriots play unbeaten Harvard-Westlake on Friday before switching to City Section action.

Marshall improved to 5-0 with a 28-27 win over Marquez, stopping a two-point conversion try in the final minute.

San Pedro picked up a forfet win over Palisades when the Dolphins couldn’t field enough players after a breakout of COVID.

Here’s this week’s top 25 rankings by The Times.

Here’s top individual performances from Week 4.

Here’s the schedule for this week’s games.

QB works all hours

Marshall quarterback Nathaniel Cadet started work for his senior season on New Year’s Eve.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

At midnight on New Year’s Eve, Marshall quarterback Nathaniel Cadet was jump roping. He practices morning, afternoon and night trying to put himself in position to play college football. He has led his team to a 5-0 start.

Here’s a look at his passion and commitment to be a quarterback.

JSerra is 17-0 and keeps beating one challenger after another. The Lions will face Trinity League rival Orange Lutheran at home Tuesday. The Lancers’ only loss was to Orange Lutheran.

El Camino Real, which looked competitive with top City Section teams during the summer, will make its debut this week.

Here are the top 10 rankings by The Times.

Girls volleyball

The No. 1 and No. 2 teams in Southern California, Sierra Canyon and Mater Dei, played in the championship of the Durango tournaent in Las Vegas. Mater Dei handed the Trailblazers their first defeat by sweeping both sets.

Oak Park won the Chatsworth tournament.

Water polo

This was supposed to be the year another team in boys water polo was supposed to rise up and end Newport Harbor’s domination.

Last week’s South Coast tournament showed Newport Harbor isn’t going away without a fight.

The Sailors won the tournament title with lots of drama, beating Cathedral Catholic 16-15 in the semifinals, then winning the championship in three overtimes over Miramonte 11-10.

The DeShaun Jackson Story

A documentary on former Long Beach Poly and NFL receiver DeShaun Jackson debuts Sept. 24 on Prime Video.

(Amazon MGM Studios.)

Former Long Beach Poly and NFL receiver DeShaun Jackson gets the documentary treatment beginning Thursday when Amazon Video runs, “Going deep: The DeShaun Jackson Story.”

The story is told from his Pop Warner days through the NFL.

Notes . . .

Baseball coach Josh Lienhard was reinstated as a teacher and coach at El Camino Real and returned Wednesday. He was one of three coaches placed on administrative leave last month after school officials had questions why his CPR and first-aid courses he said he completed were not in the Red Cross database. The school spent thousands of dollars on an investigation that remains uncompleted. Two other coaches, tennis coach Jason Grider and girls soccer coach Eric Choi, also were allowed to return….

Junior Karl Robinson from Santa Margarita has committed to Notre Dame for lacrosse….

Catcher Logan Miller of Mater Dei has committed to San Diego State….

Shortstop Zion Avina of Orange Lutheran has committed to USC….

Junior pitcher Jax Janeski of JSerra has committed to USC….

Junior infielder/pitcher Griffin Doane of Santa Margarita has committed to UC Santa Barbara….

Junior Theo Swafford of Sierra Canyon has committed to Texas….

Standout guard Maxwell Scott of Corona del Mar has committed to Harvard….

Tess Oldenburg from Etiwanda has committed to Nevada for women’s basketball….

Former Crenshaw football coach Robert Garrett said he’s a volunteer at Lawndale, where he “coaches the coaches.”…

Offensive lineman Dylan Felli of Mission Viejo has committed to the University of San Diego….

Eliana Corona from La Habra has committed to Cal Baptist for softball….

Longtime basketball coach Joe Reed has been reinstated as the head coach at Huntington Park. He had been coach since 1991, then lost his position when placed on administrative leave for 14 months because of an investigation. After being cleared to return, he was not given his coaching position back….

Evan Guadalupe from Summit has committed to Loyola Marymount for baseball….

Cody MacArthur has been promoted to interim football coach at Royal. He took over after the head coach was dismissed following an incident when he angrily kicked a football that struck a Royal player and was dismissed….

The Woodbridge Classic in cross country featured lots of race winner from outside Southern California. Here’s the results. …

Servite’s baseball team has one player signing with USC next month and another with UCLA. Let the rivalry begin.

From the archives: Cody Decker

Once a baseball player at Santa Monica High and UCLA, Cody Decker has taken his personality and ability to talk about anything to sports talk radio as a morning co-host for 97.1 with Crespi basketball coach Derek Fisher.

He had 11 at-bats in major league baseball with the San Diego Padres.

He showed off his entertainment and singing skills by getting the top role in the school production of “The Music Man.” He had 18 home runs when he was playing catcher, then singing, so he knows how to multi-task.

Here’s a story from 2005 about his baseball and off-the-field talents.

Recommendations

From the Star-Telegram, a story on a top high school baseball pitcher being ruled ineligible in Texas for transferring for athletic reasons.

From the Daily Bulletin, a story on a 6-7 tight end who’s overcome the death of his father when he was 4 to become a top athlete at Webb School.

From Wyomingnews, a story on former Banning football standout Steve Perez.

Tweets you might have missed

Until next time….

Have a question, comment or something you’d like to see in a future Prep Rally newsletter? Email me at eric.sondheimer@latimes.com, and follow me on Twitter at @latsondheimer.

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