Football coach 'breaking barriers' in the sport

A female coach who has been named an FA ambassador for women and girls football, has said she hopes to "break those barriers" still in place in the sport.

Evie Pardy, who works with AFC Bournemouth as well as Queen's Park Ladies, will take on the role with the Hampshire FA.

Last year she won an FA Coach of the Year award for her work empowering young girls and women in football.

She now hopes to increase female involvement in the sport from the grassroots level and beyond.

Pardy began coaching seven years ago after first volunteering with her daughter's football team.

"I just fell in love with coaching and decided to take the jump and go into it as my career," she said.

She said she was eventually offered a role with AFC Bournemouth's under 12 academy girls and is now in her second season with them.

She added: "When I'm on the pitch coaching my mind goes blank and everything disappears and I'm just in this amazing bubble and it's just incredible for your mental health."

Pardy said she gets the same rush from coaching as she did when she used to play the sport and she said the mental health benefits of football is one of the main reasons she is advocating for more girls to get involved in the sport.

"Especially when they hit puberty and secondary school, whatever is going on in their lives, it's really, really amazing for their mental health," she said.

Fifa implemented a landmark policy that Women's teams in its tournaments must include female coaches.

Under the new ruling, at least two staff members on the bench of every team at matches must be women, with one in an assistant or head coach role.

The rules apply to international football and Fifa club competitions.

"It's a massive step forward and something that is going to encourage more females to go into coaching," said Pardy.

She believes increasing female involvement in coaching begins at the grassroots level and is something she tries to encourage in Dorset.

She said she asks mums and carers for pitch-side assistance to show them that it is something they can do.

"Just finding small ways from grassroots, to bring in more females will then lift them up the [Football] pyramid," Pardy said.