Time: 13:45 – 14:10
Session: Coach Talk

The Coach as a Performer

Speaker Profile

Vicky Huyton is a performance coach and leading advocate for female coaches, with over 25 years of experience across elite sport. Her work spans elite athletics, professional football, and international football environments, including Everton FC and the England women’s football team.

She is the Founder of the Female Coaching Network, one of the largest global communities for female coaches, and works with organisations including UK Athletics, World Athletics, Tottenham Hotspur, Nike, and WHOOP to support performance culture and coach development.

Alongside her applied coaching work, she provides executive coaching for high-performance coaches, focusing on leadership development, resilience, and career longevity. She also contributes to governance and workforce development across sport systems.

Overview

This session reframes coaching by positioning the coach as a central performance influence within sport, rather than simply a deliverer of methods or tactical knowledge. It explores how the coach’s behaviour, identity, and interpersonal skills directly shape athlete performance and team culture.

The talk challenges traditional expectations of coaching that prioritise constant expertise, emotional control, and relentless output. Instead, it highlights the importance of leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, and self-awareness as core performance skills.

Drawing on the “Coach as a Performer” framework, the session examines how coaches can develop sustainable high performance by investing in their own wellbeing and behavioural consistency. It emphasises that long-term coaching impact is built through intentional daily practice and personal development as much as technical knowledge.