Who is it for?

The programme is open to all female leaders in the sports industry, including coaches, administrators, executives, officials, and others, who demonstrate a need for support and show a commitment to promoting equality within their communities and the Commonwealth Sport Movement.

What does the programme provide?

The programme offers scholarships of £5,000 to eligible female leaders to provide financial assistance on their individual development pathways. It is designed to provide a supportive and educational environment with mentorship so recipients are connected with an International Mentor who helps them clarify leadership aspirations, recognise strengths, and broaden understanding of promoting equality within the sports community.

What does success look like?

Success in the Commonwealth Sport Women Leaders Programme is measured by the growth and development of each participant towards becoming an influential leader and agent of change, promoting equality in the sports community and beyond. The programme is designed to help participants reach their full potential and create a brighter future for women in the Commonwealth.

Background

In 2018, a Commonwealth Women’s Internship Programme was launched by Commonwealth Sport at the 2018 Commonwealth Games that allowed CGA's to integrate a female coach into their respective management team. 20 female coaches were appointed and attended the Games as part of their national team. They were also provided with mentorship support and professional development and networking opportunities in the lead up to, during and after the Games. The successes of this programme lead to the development of the scholarships Grants offered every year since 2022.

The most recent Programmes have supported up to 16 women from the Commonwealth on their personal development journeys to being strong role models and agents of change to guide the next generation of women in sport. 

The objective is for the Programme will increase the profile and presence of Commonwealth women as leaders and as board members and support those who are aspiring to hold a leadership position within a Commonwealth Games Association (CGA). The Programme will enable participants to clarify their leadership ambitions and recognise their leadership strengths and will more importantly support them to understand their role in driving equality and leadership within the Commonwealth Sport Movement.

Support is offered in a variety of ways, but the primary sources of support are scholarships and mentoring:

By awarding scholarships, we are supporting emerging female leaders to access appropriate educational and experiential opportunities that will empower them as leaders for equal rights within their sport and communities. The participants have received a GBP 5000.00 scholarship to support them on their development pathway.

International mentors have been recruited and deployed to help women create professional development plans, undertake reflection, and grow as leaders. 

Mentees and Mentors

Mentorship is a critical feature of any development journey and the International Mentors supporting this year's Women Leaders Programme have been carefully selected to provide the relevant skills and attributes to deliver tailored professional mentoring to all participants.

The central focus of the International Mentoring relationship will be the creation of a Personal Development Plan (PDP) for the participant and the ongoing reflection of progress and achievements made relative to the PDP. The content and focus of the PDP will be designed to help participants navigate the leadership landscape so that they can develop as leaders and positively impact their local community.

The mentors will share their professional knowledge and experiences, and utilise key skills and personal attributes, to support and guide the participant’s on their personal development journey. 

Programme Consultants
The CWLP is run on behalf of Commonwealth Sport by Barabara Daniels and Sarah McQuade, experts in the field of training, coaching and development.

Barbara Daniels

Barbara is an independent consultant in the field of coach development. She has played cricket internationally, being part of the World Cup winning England team in 1993 and ran the National Governing Body for the women’s game for 5 years. She subsequently coached at a development level before working with the England and Wales Cricket Board to develop their coach education programmes.

She has gone on to work across a number of sports to help develop coaching, coach developer and mentoring programmes.

Barbara has worked internationally through programmes such as ICECP (International Coaching Enrichment Certificate Programme) run by the University of Delaware and Olympic Solidarity. The Women’s Sports Leadership Academy (WSLA) run through the University of Chichester introduced her to women in leadership programmes and this continued with WISH (Women in Sport High Performance), run through the University of Hertfordshire and Olympic Solidarity.

She is delighted to be running the CWLP programme with Sarah McQuade and is committed to helping to develop female leaders in sport across the Commonwealth.

Sarah McQuade

Sarah is the owner and Founding Director of e.t.c coaching consultants which was established in 2005. Prior to this she was the Education and Training Manager for sports coach UK and led the technical development of the UK Coaching Certificate which laid the foundations for her work in coaching and leadership development.

e.t.c coaching consultants, is an independent coaching consultancy practice. It supports sports organizations across sports, business, health and wellness to build their coaching systems, create their coach development programs, and educate and inspire a network of mentors, Coach Developers and coaches.

A pioneer in the field of coach development her innovative, thought-provoking, dynamic and engaging approach to coaching has led to the cultivation of a world-leading client list for e.t.c coaching consultants. This includes but is not limited to UK Coaching, the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, US Center for Coaching Excellence, USA Football, ESPN-W, TB12 and the United States Tennis Association. 

A sharp focus for e.t.c coaching consultants is the women's inclusion agenda and Sarah is proud to be co-leading the Commonwealth Women's Leadership Programme with Barbara Daniels.