Female tennis coach defying gendered prejudice in the industry now one of the most popular coaches in Derby

Tennis coaching can be a male dominated career, but one female coach found that persevering in her chosen field has led to long-term success.

Katy Wilson female tennis coach at David Lloyd (DL) Derby discussed how at the beginning of her career she was underestimated by potential clients because of her gender. The 28-year-old stated that she had to “prove” herself in a male-dominated environment.

“From a personal view, I am not very tall, I have a bit of a baby face, and people would guess my age between 13 and 30,” Katy stated. “At the start of my career, I had to prove myself a little bit more as a female coach for people to go: ‘Oh actually, she does know what she’s talking about.’”

Katy described how earlier in her coaching career it did bother her that people would choose a male coach over her without seeing her style of coaching. But after coaching for over a decade, Katy stated that the underestimation she experienced in her earlier career no longer fazes her.

Katy began playing tennis at the age of 5 after she first picked up a racquet in the garden. Her first club, owned by Keith Broomhead, had a nice atmosphere and helped encourage Katy to further pursue tennis as a career.

Katy stated that when she was growing up, tennis was “pre-dominantly a boys’ environment”. However, she commented that the environment she grew up in helped her develop in male-dominated environments. Katy commented how for many women coaching isn’t an attractive career due to the gender-double standards that she experienced. She also stated that biological differences and gender expectations, for example women being expected to complete domestic labour at home as well as work in paid labour, may prevent more women from getting into coaching.

After overcoming gendered profiling at the beginning of her career, Katy stated that it has made her a better coach and that clients pick her because she is a woman. Katy saw herself as a mother-like figure to the children that she coaches and believes that she is different to her male colleagues in the way that she cares.

“All the men care but I’ll be a bit more fussier, say if somebody’s hurt themselves or if they’ve got an additional issue, I’ll notice if they look a little sheepish to start off with. I feel like I’m a bit more aware of their needs.”