One of only nine universities in the country that are official FA High Performance Centres for women’s football, the University of Birmingham provides an educational and community-based setting to recruit, develop and deploy coaches, who lead and inspire player development specifically in the women’s and girls’ game. A key role for the centres is to support and drive The FA’s ambition to increase the number of quality, qualified coaches; double participation numbers by 2020; and create the next generation of the game’s behind-the-scenes workforce, are all central to the growth of the women’s game.

The benefit for our club is that there is an on-site Coach Development Officer working with BUCS coaches and supporting people who want to get involved, as well as workshops and activities right on campus. The partnership with the FA provides a fantastic opportunity to link with clubs working at all levels to deploy coaches into to provide great opportunities for their development.

In addition, the club are partnered with Birmingham and West Midlands Ladies Football Club (BWMLFC), in which the University coaches take an active role in leading the club’s training, and players have an increased games programme to enhance their development.