Coaching Female Athletes programme gains momentum

This year marks a key milestone with the launch of a fully online module and an in‑person workshop.

The online module, now available via Sport Tutor, provides foundational knowledge on what is specific to female athletes: the coach’s role; female health considerations; injury prevention; and ways of supporting athlete voice.

The in‑person workshop will take place in Auckland on 11 November, targeting HP and HP Development coaches from all NSOs, including professional team sports.

HPSNZ Healthy Women in Performance Sport programme lead Dr Sue Robson says the aim is to create “a really equitable space,” with a deliberate mix of male and female coaches and a diversity of sporting backgrounds.

The programme’s evolution has been shaped not only by expert input but also by coaches applying the learning in real environments.

Cycling New Zealand Development Endurance Coach Elyse Fraser has been a key voice throughout this journey. After attending the Women in Sport Congress, she returned “really fuelled and motivated” and immediately saw gaps in her system. “The conversations started flowing, which was really nice,” she says.

Elyse’s work with young female cyclists has been particularly influential.

She describes asking a group of U19 and U23 athletes what they would change if they could redesign the system for the most vulnerable people. Their answers were simple but powerful, from questioning why high performance training suits are blue (Why can’t they be pink? Why can’t the athletes choose?”), to pointing out the lack of period products at the velodrome.

“It’s so interesting that you create a safe space and some of the questions that came out were just wild,” she says. “They felt they didn’t have a safe space to ask these questions.”

Her conversations with athletes and HP Development coaches have highlighted cycling‑specific issues such as saddle sores, which Elyse describes as the most common problem keeping people off their bike, alongside broader female health issues such as the importance of menstrual health literacy.

She emphasises the need to upskill male coaches, who make up the majority in cycling. “It’s trying to make them feel comfortable having the conversations,” she says, noting that tools like TrainingPeaks can help integrate menstrual cycle information into training when athletes feel comfortable.

Dr Sue Robson says the team is “super excited” to see the work dome to date, landing in environments and being lived by coaches and athletes.

“When the feedback comes in and you feel like it is being lived…that’s really the value we’re seeking,” she says.

Elyse’s reflections reinforce Sue’s broader goal: ensuring female-specific knowledge doesn’t fade as staff and athletes change.

“We’ve turned over staff, we’ve turned over athletes and there’s nothing in place to keep the momentum on it,” Sue says. “Embedding this learning into everyday coaching practice is essential.

“I think the end goal is for it to be very much part of the culture, and this is how we do things.”

You can access the module here. (Coaches will be directed to a Sport Tutor login page where they can either: login if they already have an account through their sport; or register to sign up for an account.)