As info related to the current discussion, in the US NCAA Division I women's soccer, 29.6% of the head coaches are women. For Division I men's soccer,there are no women as head coaches.
And very much related...had not seen this until just now. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cvgll58grkko Union Berlin's director of football has condemned "insane" sexist abuse directed towards new head coach Marie-Louise Eta. Eta became the first woman appointed to manage a men's team in one of Europe's top five leagues after being named interim head coach of the Bundesliga side. Since her appointment on Sunday, the 34-year-old has been the target of sexist comments on social media. "It's just embarrassing. I've noticed it, but I also refuse to read or even just expose myself to that kind of nonsense because for me this is about quality - leadership quality," said Horst Heldt. "We have 100% confidence in Loui - complete conviction. I find it insane that we have to deal with this in this day and age.
I don't know about the situation in the US or the UK, but in the Netherlands it's not about promoting things at the cost of males. Women simply are in most scientific disciplines outnumbering males.
Soccer is inherently a men’s world—a sport that traditional dudes are struggling to grasp in an ever-changing environment. I say to all women and girls aspiring to enter the coaching ranks: do not give a loud minority—online or offline—the satisfaction of amplifying their insecurities.
Union Berlin officials say they have "100% confidence" in their new interim coach, yet they are not letting her stay for next season. Eta will earn less as their Frauen-Bundesliga coach for 2026-27, replacing another female coach who is stepping down into a lower youth category. Union Berlin is saving money here: do not hire a new coach with 5 league matches left, replace him with an interim coach for those matches, do not rehire her for the 2026-27 men's league. Once Eta becomes a full coach in their women's league, her options of coaching again in men's first division will dwindle. No Frauen-Bundesliga coach has transitioned to a full-time coach Bundesliga assignment. Coach Eta is a very young coach, fully licensed to coach in any UEFA men's division, and will start earning less in 2026-27.
You don't know that yet. She was and is planned to take over the women's team next season even before this move. They stated they are open to keeping her as the coach for the men's team if this turns out well. (Personally I consider the financial talk beside the point on this topic so I'll ignore it.) Technically Sabrina Wittmann of 3rd Bundesliga club FC Ingolstadt already did that. She did all the steps before Eta: being an assistant coach, interim coach and now full time head coach of the men's team. Of course this is a pro team in third tier, not the top tier, so getting a little less publicity (though it got plenty, especially around the time Wittmann was already head coach while DFB refused to give her a timely place in an A license course, all while punishing FC Ingolstadt for hiring a head coach without A license. That's currently the area where male tribalism effectively keeps out more female coaches from entering the higher tiers of the sports, be it men's or women's teams).
Technically, Wittman never coached a female club squad. She kept working with male club squads until she was hired as full-time head coach of their top men's squad (GER 3rd division). That was Wittman's career pathway: always involved with men's squads, then hired as full-time head coach of the top men's squad. Not the same as Eta's, which will interrupt her pathway by going into their women's league. Her club already confirmed she won't stay in men's first division: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7204575/2026/04/17/eta-union-berlin-manager-woman/ Union Berlin president Dirk Zingler says Marie-Louise Eta will not coach the men’s team beyond the remaining league games this season, regardless of results. : Zingler said changing the 34-year-old’s commitment to the women’s team if she is successful during her five games with the men’s side would be a “disservice” to women’s football.
Federations do not give you a *timely place* for their coaching license program. Everyone, regardless of gender, sign up for a program and must complete it along with their graduating class. League rules are clear across UEFA: clubs will be fined if their coach lacks proper credentials. Depending on the coach license level targeted, different number of campuses offer your course program. In DFB's case, their player-to-coach express coach license was eliminated. Since 2020, its UEFA Pro license training program increased from 9 to 11 months. Below is an article regarding how DFB's coaching program has changed, along with experiences from a 2020 graduate. He completed the top license course while working as a U17 coach at a Dusseldorf club, through the federation's academy at Bonn (~1 hour drive). https://www.dw.com/en/dfbs-coaching-course-the-first-step-to-success/a-54679804 Actual barriers to a UEFA Pro license, for many male and female coaches, are campus location and costly tuition.
What happened here in the US was not intentional, but inadvertent. I've spoke of this in my own life when I was a teacher.