Te Hāpaitanga is HPSNZ’s holistic coach development initiative designed to respond to the complex and interconnected challenges preventing female coaches from pursuing and maintaining a career in high performance sport in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is part of HPSNZ’s ongoing commitment to women in high performance sport.
Building on the success of the first Te Hāpaitanga intake, the 18-month initiative will once again provide coaches with: access to a $15,000 Te Hāpaitanga coach scholarship; one-on-one mentor support from an experienced high performance coach; attendance at a series of immersive residential workshops; and the opportunity to network and develop within a community of coaches.
Te Hāpaitanga is for women who are:
- currently coaching athletes on the pre-high performance or high performance pathway; or
- have been identified as a potential high performance coach but are not currently coaching regularly (for example a retiring or retired elite athlete or a women who has temporarily left coaching but is interested in returning).
Professional Development Manager for Canterbury Rugby Jonelle Quane, one of the members of the first Te Hāpaitanga intake, says the programme has “quite literally been life changing” for her.
“As a coach you typically operate instinctively and don’t constantly challenge yourself, yet that is what we do every day with our athletes, Jonelle says. “Te Hāpaitanga was all about challenging ourselves, being challenged by others, checking in and, importantly, recognising how vulnerable our athletes can be and that we need to apply the same practices to them.”
Te Hāpaitanga is not only about growing our female coaching talent pool but importantly, says Jonelle, about empowering, building confidence, challenging and developing strong and supportive networks.
Applications are open to women who are coaching in both paid (full-time, part-time or contract) or unpaid coaching positions, and HPSNZ encourages women from diverse backgrounds, including those who identify as Maori and/or Pasifika, to apply.
To be considered for Te Hāipaitanga applications must include a signed NSO Endorsement Form. Coaches will be selected through an open and competitive application process as set out in the Te Hāpaitanga Guidelines document.
The deadline for applications is midnight, Tuesday, 11 October 2022. More information, application guidelines and the application form are at Te Hāpaitanga.
