Identifying Best Practice in Women's Football - FIFA/CIES ...

women’s team. 90 For women’s only clubs in other leagues, the concern is to effectively run aclub with, often, only 1 full-time administrative employee or simply dedicated volunteers.4.1.2 Shared PersonnelWhile dedicated personnel are ideal, there are many tasks within a club, which would bedifficult for one full-time employee to fulfil, as it requires a diverse and highly-specialized setof skills. Each situation is different depending on the club and league structure. However, themost common successful practice to mitigate this issue, regardless of structure, is sharedresources or competencies. One example, while no women’s team could afford, nor would itbe efficient, to retain their own lawyer, teams who are most successfully integrated intomen’s clubs, have the capability of utilizing club resources such as legal advice. Such was thecase with Olympique Lyonnais, who was found ineligible to continue in the women’sChampions League in 2009/2010 season. The club lawyers successfully had the penaltyreversed by CAS, so they could continue, and eventually play in the Finals. 91 Likewise, thewomen’s team uses the professional staff of OL Images, a subsidiary of the OL Group whoowns the club, for certain games and marketing campaigns, giving added value to the gameday experience. 92 Another example is the long-standing history of coaching developmentwithin the Arsenal club. Arsenal integrated the women and girls’ coaches into its academy,and coaching education. 93 These examples highlight a successful integration of a women’steam into a larger club where they can develop the team through skilled professionals whowould normally be beyond the resources of a women’s team.""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""90 Hayward, Interview, 12, May 2010.91 UEFA (February 2010) Lyon Resorted to Quarterfinals [WWW]. Available from:http://www.uefa.com/womenschampionsleague/news/newsid=1454617.html [Accessed 31/05/2010]92 Natalie Smith, game day observation, OL vs. Umea, April 10 th , 201093 One coach in particular, Emma Hayes considered her time learning from Arsene Wegner, head coach of theArsenal men’s team, as highly influential, which she made use of while coaching in the Women’s ProfessionalSoccer league in the United States. Hayes, Emma. “Breaking Lines: The Mannequin Method.” NSCAA NationalCoaching Convention. NSCAA. St. Louis, Missouri. January 2008.$#""However, shared resources are not entirely reserved to the largest men’s clubs inEurope sharing their resources with their women’s teams. The respective nationalassociations have also seen a benefit in consolidating certain activities to the league toalleviate the financial burden of the clubs. To lighten this burden, thus ensuring a moresustainable future, the English FA is taking over certain tasks which require a specifically