“It is a major barrier for a lot of people” – Twila Kilgore opens up on lack of women coaches in US soccer
Twila Kilgore, assistant coach of the women's team of US Soccer, recently explained the reason behind the lack of female coaches in the country's setup.
Not many women coaches are at the top of US Soccer, mainly due to lack of opportunities. Currently, only three out of the 12 teams in the women's league have female coaches.
Kilgore also claimed that the pricing of a license, $10,000, is hard for some to spend. She said (via AP):
“I can tell you it’s a huge blessing because every other step along the way with licensing up to this point. I’ve paid for myself with a little bit offset from the universities I’ve worked at. It is a major barrier for a lot of people.”
Nicole Barnhart, formerly of the women's US Soccer team, said:
“There are players that are interested in coaching education, but with just how our schedule works, it’s tough to get into any of the normal coaching programming, and it’s also pretty pricey."
Congrats, @TwilaKaufman!
Assistant coach Twila Kilgore (Kaufman) is joining the USWNT staff 🇺🇸
#HoldItDown
FIFA's head of women's football development, Arijana Demirovic, spoke about the importance of women's football's growth:
“We talk about how important it is to have female players being seen on TV, on ads, just for little girls and boys to see ‘OK, this is possible. This is something that I can do.’ They always say if you don’t see it, you don’t believe it. But I do think for coaches, it is the same.”
US Soccer's men's team look for a new coach
Gregg Berhalter's future as the men's team coach is in doubt and it looks likely that he will not remain in charge. Anthony Hudson is currently in charge on an interim basis.
According to World Soccer Talk, the USMNT are looking to bring Jose Mourinho to the helm. Considering Mourinho is currently contracted to Roma, it might be difficult to acquire the Portuguese's services.
At this point, just offer José Mourinho a Saudi Arabian sized contract to manage the USMNT.
There will be the same amount of drama but the press conferences will be world class entertainment.