NAIROBI, Kenya, October 3, 2026 – When Trinity Starlets FC head coach Silvonus Wesonga walked into the post-match press briefing following a 1–0 defeat to Kayole Starlets at the Police Sacco Grounds, he did not hold back.
Disappointed by defensive lapses from set pieces, Wesonga pointed directly to the unique challenges of managing female squads, remarking that players often make coaches look like they are not doing their job well.
He further noted that despite training endlessly on set pieces, players still revert to doing their own thing once the match kicks off.
“Sometimes players make coaches look like they are not doing their job well. Training girls is not an easy task. We have trained those set pieces, but when it comes to the game, they do their own things,” he said.
While spoken in the heat of a frustrating loss, Wesonga’s comments strike at the heart of an ongoing debate in domestic and global sport: What role does gender play in coaching dynamics, and is women’s football facing a structural representation problem?
Across the FKF Women’s Premier League (KWPL), the African continent, and global football, male head coaches remain the overwhelming majority on women’s touchlines.
This imbalance is deeply rooted in structural history.
For decades, men’s football possessed the infrastructure, licensing pathways, and financial backing to produce thousands of certified tacticians, while women’s football fought simply for recognition.
As women’s leagues professionalized globally, clubs naturally turned to established, licensed male coaches to lead their dugouts.
However, critics argue that a persistent gender disconnect can affect team dynamics.
Communication styles, emotional intelligence, and player management vary across men’s and women’s squads.
When male coaches view tactical execution solely through the lens of traditional men’s training environments, friction inevitably arises on matchday when rigid instructions fail to translate into fluid pitch performance.
While male coaches freely cross over to manage female squads, the reverse scenario remains almost non-existent across professional sports.
The factors preventing female coaches from breaking into male locker rooms are overwhelmingly systemic.
To begin with, professional men’s clubs have historically relied on an ‘old boys’ network and legacy bias, utilizing closed networks of former male players and executives that create an implicit barrier against female authority figures.
Furthermore, female managers who do manage to break into male spaces face amplified scrutiny from media and supporters, where a single loss is often unfairly attributed to their gender rather than standard tactical variables.
“Female coaches must work twice as hard as a man to be respected and credible… Gender bias is hard-wired in our society, and in sport. It sets the tone, culture and expectations of what a coach looks like and how a coach should behave,” Emily Handyside, Head of Britain’s Professional Sports says.
Finally, severe licensing and financial barriers persist; the significant financial cost and time commitment required for elite UEFA or CAF ‘A’ licenses, combined with lower historical pay scales in women’s football, make it significantly harder for female coaches to climb the elite coaching ladder as rapidly as their male counterparts.
At the pinnacle of professional men’s football, the barrier preventing women from taking charge of male senior teams has been broken by a select few trailblazers.
Globally, legendary French manager Corinne Diacre made history in 2014 when she was appointed head coach of Ligue 2 side Clermont Foot, successfully managing the French men’s second-tier club for three seasons before transitioning to lead the France women’s national team.
Similarly, Chan Yuen-ting made international headlines in 2016 by leading Eastern Sports Club to the Hong Kong Premier League title, becoming the first female coach in history to win a top-flight men’s professional league championship.
On the African continent, former South Africa national team star Simphiwe Dludlu etched her name into the history books by taking charge of men’s semi-professional and academy setups, proving that tactical mastery and elite leadership translate seamlessly across male locker rooms when given the opportunity.
Despite the broader debates surrounding touchline representation, history proves that male tacticians can build elite, dominant women’s teams when they adapt their approach to the modern game.
Right here in Kenya and across East Africa, while female tacticians like Beldine Odemba and Mildred Cheche have set remarkable benchmarks, male coaches like George Bob of Kibera Women’s , Charles Okere, and David Vijago of Police Bullets, have also delivered major silverware and continental runs by blending tactical discipline with strong interpersonal management.
Across the broader African continent, male coaches like Mohamed “Housseï” Saloum have successfully elevated Mali’s women’s national team into a formidable force through long-term structural discipline.
Malawi women’s national football head coach, Lovermore Fazili, who took the Scorchers to their first WAFCON finals, is another example of male coaches elevating women’s football.
On the global stage, while trailblazers like Sarina Wiegman with England and Emma Hayes with the USA prove that elite female coaches are world-class, male managers such as Jonatan Giráldez, current OL Lyonnes coach, who guided Barcelona Femení to a continental treble, and Hervé Renard demonstrate that tactical excellence transcends gender when built on mutual respect and player buy-in.
Should women’s teams only be coached by women? The short answer is no, football execution relies on competence, empathy, and tactical clarity over gender.
However, Wesonga’s frustration highlights a vital truth: coaching is no longer about dictator-style instruction.
Whether male or female, modern managers must move away from blaming players for “doing their own thing” and instead focus on creating communication structures where tactical discipline is fully embraced on matchday.
To elevate the KWPL, the focus must be two-fold: actively fast-tracking former female players into CAF coaching courses to balance the touchline, while holding all coaches, regardless of gender, to modern standards of management and accountability.
