An ambitious group of female coaches have become the latest to graduate from the Scottish FA Coach Education Department's Female-Only UEFA B-Licence offering.
The B-Licence is the latest bespoke female-only course that the Scottish FA has put on in the past few years.
Beginning in August with an intense week of theorical learning, the course then saw candidates complete practical sessions in October, before final assessments took place in December.
The Coach Education Department also ran two female offerings of the Licence (Children's Pathway) and the C-Licence (Youth / Adult Pathway) with 49 candidates graduating in total across the three courses.
In addition, Scotland internationals Kirsty Howat and Jane Ross, and Netherlands international Tessel Middag completed their UEFA-B Licence on the recent professional players' course.
Dougie Anderson, Coach Education & Development Manager, Scottish FA: "The female-only option is something that we have offered for the past few years consistently now within the Scottish FA Coaching Department and the feedback has always been overwhelming positive.
"The girls and women's game is continuing to grow at a rate of knots in this country and, as an association, it's our role to ensure we continue to provide opportunities for coaches in this space to develop themselves.
"Its been fantastic to be able to run these three courses once again in 2024 and to hugely encouraging to see so many talented coaches continue on the next step on their pathway."
Arbroath co-manager and player Kelsey McKay: "I'm still playing with Arbroath but I've recently become co-manager so this course came at a great time for me. I've coached at girls’ level before but this is the first time in terms of senior management.
"One of the main things that was encouraged was the emphasis on our own personal coaching philosophies and that's definitely something I’m looking to develop further.
"It was great having a female-only option because a lot of the coaches work in similar leagues and play or coach against each other and have similar experiences and challenges. Although it's not something I consider too much personally. for some of the coaches, I could definitely see they were more confident in the female-only environment and it's great to have this option now for those who may be put off by other courses where they would be in the minority as a female.
"Having just taken my first steps into management, completing a course like this definitely gives me that confirmation that it's a direction I would like to head in the future."
Inverness Caledonian Thistle Women manager Karen Mason: "Having completed the C-Licence previously, I was really keen on trying to develop myself more to be better for my team.
"I first got into the coaching after suffering an injury and I've now been coaching for over a decade but there's still loads to learn and lots of experience to be gained.
"Spending time on the pitch with the other candidates was really enioyable and learning off the tutors was hugely beneficial. It was a challenge and was stressful at times with the workload, but overall it worked out well.
"The detail we went into, looking at different phases of play, was eye-opening but I enjoyed learning more in that department and I feel I got stronger as the course went on."
Any female coach interested in applying for licence courses can email licencecourseadmin@scottishfa.co.uk for more information.