Coach Incubator Programme

Tackling The Lack Of Clear, Supported Career Pathways For Coaches

With England bidding to host the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the need to strengthen coach development has never been more urgent. It’s time to address the barriers.

Barrier:
Speed Not Depth

As the women’s game grows, opportunities for coaches haven’t kept pace. Many are pushed toward roles in boys’ academies due to limited access or funding for women’s teams. Promising coaches leave football altogether or move through systems that don’t prepare them to support female players.

Barrier:
Surface Investment

The focus is on elite performance, branding, data systems – without strengthening the roots. People on the ground are overwhelmed. Young players are under-supported. Coaches don’t have time or tools to properly develop athletes long-term. Retention is a pain point. We’re copying systems from the men’s game without asking: does this actually fit our environment?

Casagrande Academy is a
Not-For-Profit Coaching Initiative

Our UK based Coach Incubator Programme serves a broad spectrum of coaches, united by a commitment to moving themselves and the women’s game forward.

Relevant Profiles
For Coach Applicants

Early-Career Coaches (Performance, S&C, Technical)

Building foundational experience inside real club environments.

Seasoned Coaches + Experienced Practitioners

Deepen their practice, shift into the women’s game or move into more senior roles.

Career
Changers

Sport Scientists, Nutritionists, Ex-Players, Personal Trainers. Professionals transitioning into football coaching from adjacent disciplines.

Returning Coaches + Practitioners

Re-entering the game after a career break. Reconnecting with the profession through supported, structured placements.

Open to coaches working towards UEFA C, B, or Fitness B qualifications, UKSCA and ASCA.
The Academy is designed for a diverse workforce, aligned with EDI and access priorities across the women's game.

Not a course, a career pathway

We partner with clubs to develop coaches inside real club environments. Placement-based and peer supported, the programme provides structured mentorship, expert workshops with world-class practitioners and applied case work. We hold the space to build genuine competence before coaches are expected to perform.

Win-win
scenario

The coach development feeder phase is followed by a paid pipeline into professional clubs, with an apprenticeship qualification built in. Clubs get a quality-assured coach at a fraction of the cost and risk of a traditional hire. Coaches get a stipend and a real career pathway. Clubs get off the hamster wheel of constantly recruiting and retraining, gaining meaningful coaching support for their girls’ and women’s teams (Under-11s to senior squads).

Benefits For Coaches

Proof Points: Student Cohort 2025/26

I was pushed to analyse my own coaching practice honestly. I had instincts and ideas but lacked the tools to properly examine them.

Kris, Performance Nutrition

The most valuable conversations often happened naturally between sessions, during lunch or discussing placement experiences.

Dani, S&C / Performance Coach

100%

Casagrande Academy student coaches recommend the programme

5/5

Coaching confidence maintained or improved across all student coaches

4.2/5

Peer learning rated valuable or higher by 80% of student coaches

Benefits For Clubs

Before a coach starts a placement we audit the club environment. We learn their culture, their processes, their standards, what they need from an Academy coach. Then we do the development work so the coach arrives aligned to that club, not just qualified on paper. We’re building a coaching pipeline you can trust, opposed to singular hires with unknown risks. Saving time and money.

Proof Points: Partners Clubs, Pilot 2025/26

There was a lot learned, shared, and developed through the year. Professionalism, consistency and sustainability. A great model for developing coaches who really learn the women’s game and will be the future leaders of it.

Kelly Lindsey, Coo + Director Of Football, Lewes FC

Time, expertise, engagement, energy, fresh perspective – our young female players fed off the coaches personalities.

Matt Evans, Director, Galaxy Girls

100%

Clubs retained coaching practices introduced by student coaches: structures, warm-ups, processes, programming

4.5/5

Average score for how the women’s game is valued within the wider club

The Casagrande Academy Difference

Most coaches

It’s hard to find roles. When they do, the roles don’t pay. That uncertainty produces coaches who are reactive, anxious about their next step, and less able to commit fully to your environment.

CA coaches

Their potential is developed in the club environment they want to be in. They see your club as the destination, not just a place to pause. That changes everything about how they show up.

A coach who can see a future in your club performs differently. They invest more deeply, integrate more fully, and stay longer. The Academy doesn’t just develop their skills – it removes the uncertainty that holds most early-career coaches back.

Ivi Casagrande

Innovative, Expansive, Collective Impact

Casagrande Academy is built with lived experience of the challenges facing clubs and football organisations. It increases coaching capacity without increasing full-time costs. By supporting coaches in applying learning within real environments, we create more connected pathways between grassroots, academy and senior levels. The programme strengthens player development across age groups.

Founded By Ivi Casagrande

A not-for-profit coaching initiative (CIC), the Academy is part of Casagrande Coaching – a consultancy practice that’s transforming football’s coaching culture. Developed by Ivi Casagrande, a high-performance coach who has worked internationally across elite women’s football national teams (Brazil, US Youth, Ireland), professional clubs in the US and Europe, and with governing bodies FIFA and UEFA.

We’re Ready For You

Hi Coaches!

Ready To Invest
In Your Development?

We are preparing for the next cohort. Whether you’re early in your career, transitioning from the men’s game or looking for a structured pathway that actually leads somewhere – get in touch.

Hello Clubs!

Looking For Coaching Talent?
Partner With Us.

We’re building partnerships with clubs across London, the South East and beyond. If your club needs quality-assured coaching support for your girls’ or women’s setup – let’s talk.