World Sailing supports first female sailor to join IOC’s WISH Programme for elite coaches

First organised as a pilot in 2019, the WISH Programme has been developed in cooperation with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and supported by Olympic Solidarity, ASOIF, AIOWF and several International Federations already engaged in projects to increase opportunities and pathways for high performance women coaches.

Since then, a pilot project and two cohorts have completed the 21-month course and a third is currently underway.

Sofia says, “World Sailing inspired us to create more opportunities for women in Sailing. In Greece, with the Hellenic Sailing Federation, I run a project called ‘Istioploia Genous Thilikou’ (Female Sailing). We work with families who bring their daughters to learn to sail, to learn about the sport, to have fun, and why not even become a professional athlete. I love to share my passion with others, want to give a great first impression of my sport and help people to feel the freedom on the ocean.”

Most recently the current cohort of female coaches visited the University of Hertfordshire for a week-long residential placement.

In addition to the residential training, participants take part in 16 leadership and mentoring sessions, as well as four sport-specific mentoring sessions. By combining these three elements, WISH has been designed to equip female coaches with skills specific to their sport so that they can succeed in gaining roles at elite level.

“I started in November 2022,” Sofia said, “It was a great honour to be selected by World Sailing and proposed by the HSF with the support of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, and it has been an amazing programme so far. We have to prepare ourselves to learn, to challenge others to assess us and learn where we can improve. Sometimes I was surprised or pleased with the comments from my peers, and it has helped me to understand how others see me as a coach. The mentoring sessions have helped us all discover areas where we can improve so we can all reach our goals.

“I was anxious at first, but when I got here and met so many women from different sports and different countries, everything felt right. It was amazing to see the facilitators organising such a wide-reaching course for women in all sports. This has helped me find a new pathway forward in my sport, to discover new ways to approach different situations and to help me become even more focused,” she added.

Coaches from many sports within the diverse Olympic programme have taken part so far. From archery, cycling, rowing, judo, and triathlon, to climbing, rugby, tennis, volleyball and wrestling, among others – and now sailing.

Sofia will now return to the programs she runs in Greece with renewed vigour and an enhanced skillset.

“The next steps will be to manage a female coaching programme, to find more women who want to become coaches and to provide more resources to keep improving the skills of our coaches as well,” she says.

“We can concentrate more on educational programmes for women and kids. We can find the funds for the project, we are running as part of Steering the Course and encourage more women to take part in sailing activities during that time and long after as well.”

Paris 2024 is set to be the first Olympic Games with a 50-50 gender split in terms of athlete participation, but the presence of female coaches still lags behind – just 13% of coaches at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were female, up from 11% at Rio 2016.

However, the WISH Programme has already had an impact. Of the 26 women from the first cohort, three attended Tokyo 2020 in coaching, team or technical roles, 15 have gained National coaching roles, eight deliver coach education courses and mentor other female coaches, and two have become coaches of men’s professional teams.

Sofia says that being yourself is the most important attribute to have as a coach.

“My advice to the next generation of coaches is to be authentic. If you are yourself, you can make the change.

“I really love working with the young sailors. At the moment, I am working with a para sailor, Stratos Achlatis, and we are teammates in the Hansa class. We travel together for European and World events and it’s amazing.

“This experience has given me something that I have never had in my career and is really helping me to use the skills and techniques I am learning through the WISH Programme to inspire others.”

To date, the programme has helped 72 female coaches further their ambitions. This has included representatives from 16 International Federations – from both Summer and Winter Olympic Sports – and 46 National Olympic Committees.

The goal of the WISH Programme is train over 100 coaches within four years and provide a framework for developing sports skills, leadership abilities and career opportunities. The fourth cohort of coaches will begin their journey towards reaching the highest levels of sport in January 2025.

More information about the WISH Programme can be found on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

You can support Steering the Course, World Sailing’s annual celebration of women in sailing, here.

About the WISH Programme

The WISH Programme has been developed to specifically target women and sport development, in line with Recommendation 6 from the IOC Gender Equality Review Project (March 2018).

This recommendation states, as an action, to encourage ‘Balanced gender representation for coaches selected to participate at the Games.’ Specifically, the working group recommended that ‘the IOC coordinates the development of an action plan in collaboration with Olympic Movement stakeholders for more women to be eligible to participate at Olympic Games. It is also recommended that a baseline for female entourage members at the Olympic Games is established.’ Closing the gender gap in coaches at the Olympic Games has been reiterated as a priority for the IOC in the new IOC Gender Equality and Inclusion Objectives for 2021-2024, objective 15 “Taking into account that women represent 10 per cent of coaches at the Olympic Games, the IOC to coordinate the development of an action plan in collaboration with IFs & NOCs, for more women to be eligible and selected to participate at World Championships and the Olympic Games”.

The programme is also supported by the International Council for Coaching Excellence (ICCE) who have voiced a global call to action to increase the number of women in coaching at all levels and so provide athletes with greater choice. This call to action is supported by ensuring there is a strong and sustainable pipeline of women coaches equipped to step up to elite roles, maintain their roles and mentor future high performance coaches both women and men.

The WISH Programme has been designed for female coaches who are already a part of, or have the potential to be a part of, a national delegation to the Regional and/or Continental Games, World Championships, Youth Olympic Games or Olympic Games in a sport on the Summer or Winter Olympic Games Sport Programme.

The course combines blended learning opportunities with a supportive learning environment that is tailored to meet the participant’s needs. The course helps coaches to develop their values, plan for success and deliver their message dynamically and bravely. Feedback from the group provides constructive and empowering learning points and helps to push the boundaries of each coach.

Olympic Solidarity and IOC with the IFs and NOCs continue to track and support the high-performance women coaches going forward, and a commitment has been made to support new cohorts of women coaches for the next three years.

How to Apply

If you would like more information about the programme, please contact Catherine Duncan at catherine.duncan@sailing.org.