Who We Are…

“The Leading Global Community of Female Coaches Who Support, Drive and Influence Real Change in Sport.”

The FCN is a platform for female coaches and leaders around the World to connect, share and develop – and it is through the power of this network the FCN is able to ‘empower, enable and inspire female coaches whilst creating cultural and systemic change within sport and sports federations.’

The interest in women’s sport is at an all time high, with investments in leagues, teams and sports increasing year on year. There are now more professional female athletes than ever before. This professionalisation of women’s sport has however, resulted in the dearth of female coaches and leaders, something which greatly impacts the effecacy of the elite sporting environment.

A lack of women in leadership postions in elite sport has led to a number of key challenges and problems including; sexual abuse and harmful coaching, a lack of research into female athlete specific needs, lack of visibility of women in authoritive positions and a lack of diverse cognitive thought in sports governance.

Through our work with coaches, athletes, sports organisations, clubs and federations, we delve deep into the cultures and systems which create barriers for women in performance sport. We work alongside our network to create and implement innovative and sustainable solutions to support the improvement of standards in high performance sport.

Our purpose is to ensure that all sports people have the opportunity to lead, coach and compete in a safe, efficient and equitable high performance coaching environment.

We don’t just tick boxes, we make change happen.

Meet the Co-founders & Core Delivery Team

Vicky Huyton

Coaching Consultant & Founder of the Female Coaching Network

Vicky Huyton is an experienced Coach and Coaching Consultant, as well as the founder of the Female Coaching Network. As an advocate for better coaching, Vicky has spent the last 20 years examining how coaches develop and how to create a safe and effective high performance environment for all. Her work with the Female Coaching Network has changed the sporting landscape not just for women who coach, but for those who are coached; from the creation and delivery of the first ever fully paid coaching internship with Premier League Football club Tottenham Hotspur, to consulting Nike, UK Athletics, Athletics Canada and World Athletics, in creating cultural and systemic changes for a safer and fairer environment for elite athletes and coaches in Track & Field. Vicky is passionate in creating real and sustainable change in sport, and not just deliver tick box projects. In 2022, Vicky was nominated as World Athletics Woman of the Year by UK Athletics and in 2016 shortlisted for Ambassador of Women's Sport by the Women's Sport Trust. In addition to her Consulting work, as an champion for women in sport, Vicky is also a keynote speaker and creator of unique content aimed at providing a platform for female coaches, leaders and athletes to use their voice. In 2021, she was nominated by UK Athletics for the World Athletics Woman of the Year Award, and in 2016 she was shortlisted as Ambassador for Women's Sport award by the Women's Sport Trust.

James Walkington

Co-Founder & Videographer

James is an advocate for gender equality in sport and co-founded the FCN alongside Vicky in 2014. Having been a strength & conditioning coach as well as a nutritionist to a number of developing & professional athletes across the sports of Track & Field, Weightlifting and Muay Thai, James now focuses his skills on his passion of videography and editing. James creates innovative and unique video and image based content aimed at promoting the FCN and sharing the stories of female coaches around the Globe.

FCN Project Team & Ambassadors 

Anna Patsios

Former Semi-Pro Footballer & Co-Host on the FCN | European Sports Leadership & Coaching Network

Anna is originally from Vienna, Austria and is now based in Amsterdam working for Zoom Video Communications. She was a keen swimmer, snowboarder and football coach, making it to the 2nd highest league in Austria. Anna went on to complete her Master in Coaching at the Cruyff institute and is now a key part of our FCN | European Sports Leadership & Coaching Network, as well as supporting the development of up & coming active FCN network communities.

Aimée Knight

Sports Therapist

Aimée is a Graduate Sports Therapist based in the North West of England who is also one of the very few women working in elite men’s football in the UK. Having worked in mens professional football for over 5 years, Aimée now heads her own Sports Therapy Company based in the North- West of England.  She works with a variety of clients including ‘gym goers’, professionals, marathon runners, powerlifters and sprinters.  Having decided from a young age she wanted to be a Sports Therapist, Aimée now specialises in Sports Massage, Injury Rehabilitation, Postural Re-education, Gait Analysis, Injury Prevention, Stability programmes, Sports and Musculoskeletal Injuries

Lilly-Ann O'Hora

International Athlete, Sports Development Officer & Track & Field Co-Host Podcaster

Lilly-Ann O’Hora is from Limerick, Ireland and is currently working as the Women in Sport Officer with Athletics Ireland. She is responsible for devising and implementing Athletics Ireland’s Women in Sport strategic plan, with the hope of delivering the federations women in sport objectives in four key area: Coaching and Officiating, Active Participation, Leadership and Governance, and Visibility. She is a 100m Hurdler and is the fourth fastest Irish 60m Hurdler of all time, and current sixth outdoor fastest Irish 100m Hurdler of all time, in which she hopes to challenge this year. She has a passion for all athletic endeavours, but particularly enjoys supporting those who want to make a difference in sport.

Tracey Archer

Spar International Sponsorship Coordinator

Tracey's job is to manage the sponsorship between SPAR International and all of the European Athletics Events. This includes delivering all SPAR sponsorship and organisation of corporate events at the European Athletics Championships, European Indoor Championships, European Team Championships, European Cross-Country Championships and European Junior Athletics events. Tracey works directly with the European Athletics team along with the Athletics Federations, Local European Organising Committees and local SPAR partners to the particular country where each event is taking place.

Becki Hall

Writer

Becki Hall is a life-long sports fan and has competed in track and field since the age of 11. She qualified as a personal trainer in 2016 and an athletics coach in 2019 after developing a love of sports coaching through working as a multi-sports coach on school holiday camps during her teenage years. She is passionate about encouraging female participation in sport and exercise, both in athletics and beyond. Becki works full-time as a marketing communications manager in the defence and aerospace industry and in her very little spare time still trains 5 times a week. When she is not competing at the weekends she is often found stood in the cold watching her partner play football or bemoaning her failed fantasy football team.

Professor Leanne Norman

Professor of Sociocultural Studies & Research Partner

Leanne is a Professor of Sport and Sociocultural Studies and Director of the Research Centre for Social Justice in Sport and Society within the Carnegie School of Sport. Her research utilises a critical sociological lens to examine sport organisational and coaching cultures to address gender equity and diversity within sport coaching workforces.

Laura Turner-Alleyne

Olympian and Track & Field Coach

Coach Turner-Alleyne has accrued over 20 years of experience in Athletics, from grass roots through to her senior athletic career as a GB International Sprinter and medallist on the global stage. Laura has worked with numerous top level coaches, acquiring a skillset which she shares with her athletes in a direct and understandable manner to get the best out of each individual. Laura is Lead Coach of Sprints/Hurdles/Combined Events at West London Track and Field, where she heads up a team of over 30 athletes and coaches. The team have seen numerous athletes represent Great Britain from U18 to senior level. Laura also works with the British Athletics Futures Programme as a point of contact for the athlete and coach pairs empowering them along their journey through the pathway.

Abi Irozuru

Olympian and International Athlete

Abi is currently Great Britains’ number one ranked Long Jumper and has her ambitions set on the IAAF World Championships in 2019 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Abi, who graduated from UCL Law School, London has run her own business for a number of years (Amplify Learning) which aims to enhance performance, develop resilience and nurture wellness in all who she supports.  Abi has joined the FCN team to support its growth and increase the impact it can have on female coaches and athletes around the World.

Chelsea Romero

Former S&C Coach - LA Rams, NFL

Chelsea Romero is a Strength and Conditioning coach based in L.A. She works with a number of college teams and sports including tennis, golf, track and cross-country at the University of Irvine. For the last 3 summers, she has worked for the NFL team L.A. Rams as Intern Strength & Conditioning Coach. Chelsea (and her Dad) has been a pivital part in developing the PRO strategy.

Phoebe Schecter

American Football Coach & Sky Sports NFL Presenter

Phoebe Schecter is the first British female and 1 of the first 3 females to hold a season long internship with an NFL team. Phoebe was with the Buffalo Bills for the 2018 season and previous 2 training camps. Prior to being named to the Bills Coaching Staff, Phoebe interned at Stanford University, Bryant University and University of La Verne. Phoebe is currently a coach for the GB U-19’s, a coach educator and Women’s Development Officer for British American Football Coaches Association (BAFCA), Chair of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee for British American Football Association (BAFA_ and the Athlete Representative for the International Federation of American Football (IFAF). Phoebe is also the managing Director of UK Dukes, implementing strategies aimed at long term development and growth of American Football in the UK.