BBC Sport: Female coaches ‘twice as likely to be bullied’, study finds

21st January 2026

New research from UK charity Women in Sport, launched today, shows that sports coaching in the UK is a hostile environment for women.

Coaching is an insecure and precarious route to take for anyone, but for women it’s also deeply unequal and fraught with bullying and harassment. In a system that offers less security, less support and greater risks, it is no surprise that many women feel they have to walk away. This is not about individual choice but is the result of how the system responds when authority is held by women.

The report, Reimagining Sport Coaching: Designing a System That Works for Women, is the most in–depth study of its kind into the experiences of coaches in the UK. Women in Sport and Leeds Beckett University surveyed 2000 coaches alongside senior leaders in sport.  

You can find coverage of the research on BBC Sport.