Overcoming obstacles to encourage more female coaches
World Cup-winning All Black coaches Sir Steve Hansen and Sir Graham Henry both dispelled the myth that you have to have played at the top to coach at the top.
That’s one of the encouraging messages coming out of Hockey New Zealand’s first intake of the Women in Coaching Programme.
There’s a long list of reasons why women are under-represented in hockey coaching numbers including the myth that you can’t coach at national level if you didn’t play for the Black Sticks. Other obstacles include a lack of confidence and the struggle finding time to fit coaching into already busy family lives.
Canterbury’s Sally Moorfield has just completed this year’s programme and she’s a true believer you don’t have to have played at the level you wish to coach.
“If you are passionate about helping athletes improve, you’re open and innovative to new ideas, and you gain the necessary experience then you should be considered for coaching at higher levels.
“Steve Hansen and Graham Henry never played for the All Blacks. Patrick Mouratoglou has been Serena Williams' coach for years and he never played professional tennis.
“If you have a goal to coach at that level build a pathway, seek advice and gain the skills. It will be an awesome journey.”
Moorfield played representative hockey through high school before choosing her other love - tennis. She played professionally overseas for four years including an appearance at Wimbledon.
Like many women she started coaching hockey by helping out with her children’s teams and she’s still going 25 years later. One of her learnings from the Women in Coaching Programme was that all coaches have gaps.
“You don’t have to be the font of all knowledge. You can empower players and others to assist the team, search websites, or ask for help - the hockey community is amazing at helping each other.”
Hamilton’s Nicky Smith also attended this year’s programme. Smith is a busy mother who never imagined she could get back into coaching with two children under two.
“It’s great to stay involved in hockey even if it’s a smaller part these days while my family takes priority. It’s certainly hard work trying to juggle everything. You need to be well organised and have good support around you to enable you to do it.”
Smith, who had an assistant coaching role with the Vantage Black Sticks Women in 2016-17, says the programme has inspired her to continue learning.
“It reminded me that you never stop learning, and that coaching methods evolve all the time. A lot of coaching is about communicating with players. I learnt ways to connect and to understand your players.”
Former Black Sticks player and coach Pat Barwick was the main facilitator of this year’s programme. She is now a FIH accredited trainer with a wealth of experience developing coaches in the Canterbury and Sport New Zealand environments.
Barwick, who worked one-on-one with the coaches to help them create their own development plans, says it was encouraging building a network of female coaches to support one another.
“While I think there was an awareness of the lack of female coaching role models it was an awakening for the group that it is up to the women themselves to make a difference by actively seeking coaching roles.”
Barwick says that while there are more recognised barriers such as childcare, confidence is still the number one obstacle.
“We need to overcome that lack of confidence that still prevents women from actually applying for positions even in this modern day. It is not easy being one woman stepping up into an all-male domain.”
“The programme was a great opportunity for promising female coaches to meet other capable women who were also uncertain about putting their hand up. Collectively they learnt they had the ability and knowledge to take on higher roles.”
What is the Women in Coaching Programme?
- Hockey NZ identified that women are under-represented in high performance coaching. Coaches need to reflect hockey’s diverse community.
- The Women in Coaching Programme provides the starting blocks for identifying and developing female coaches. It focuses on preparing women for coaching roles and helping them reach their desired potential.
- This year’s programme ran alongside the inaugural Sentinel Homes Premier Hockey League (PHL), providing an opportunity to be involved in a high performance environment with some of our top players and coaches.
- 12 female coaches were selected from 50 applicants nationwide - five were appointed as assistant coaches in the PHL and seven were immersed in the team environments.
- Facilitators this year included former Black Sticks Coach Pat Barwick who worked one-on-one with the coaches, and High Performance Sport NZ’s Lyn Gunson who challenged the group’s understanding of high performance coaching.
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