Women working in hockey coaching in the UK face widespread bullying, harassment and insecure employment, according to a major new study. It warns the sport is part of a wider “hostile environment” for women across coaching.
Hockey is among the most commonly coached sports in Britain, with the Women in Sport and Leeds Beckett University survey showing it as one of the disciplines where women are active across grassroots, talent pathway and high-performance levels.
But the research suggests that as women progress, their exposure to harm increases sharply.
Of the 100 sports represented, hockey was the fifth most represented sport – equal with athletics behind football, rugby, netball and swimming.
The study of 2,000 coaches found that 30% of women across all sports have experienced bullying in coaching environments, double the rate reported by men. Harassment was reported by 21% of women, compared with 12% of men, while 22% of women said they had faced aggression or violence.
Crucially for sports such as hockey, where women remain outnumbered in senior roles, the report found bullying intensifies higher up the coaching ladder. While 26% of women reported bullying at grassroots level, that figure rose to 38% in talent pathways and 46% in high-performance environments.
The perpetrators of harassment were most commonly fellow coaches, while aggression and intimidation were most often linked to parents — a pressure point familiar to many community and club-level hockey coaches.
The report also highlighted deep structural inequality. Men were almost twice as likely as women to hold permanent, full-time coaching roles, while women were more likely to be unpaid, working on zero-hours contracts or operating without formal agreements. Only 12% of women said they received regular feedback, despite more than 40% of leaders claiming feedback was routinely provided.
Stephanie Hilborne, chief executive of Women in Sport, said the findings showed “a convergence of misogyny” in coaching.
“Women are not yet accepted as equal in sport, nor in leadership roles,” she said. “If sport wants a coaching workforce fit for the future, it must put clear anti-misogyny policies in place, backed by training.”
Sport England chair Chris Boardman described the report as “a clear wake-up call”, warning that too many women face barriers across sport, from participation to leadership.
Women in Sport said the findings underline the need for long-term cultural change, calling for independent reporting mechanisms, gender-balanced leadership and mandatory anti-misogyny policies to ensure women, including those in hockey, can coach safely and progress with confidence.
