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).
Football coach Maia Vink, one of the members of the first Te Hāpaitanga intake, says the programme has had a huge impact, helping her understand the value that she brings, see her own purpose clearly, as well as intimately work with some brilliant minds in sport, leadership and pedagogy.
“The conversations I have are richer, I am more aware of where to draw my attention to, when to lead, when to listen, and how to trust my intuition. In the moments I’ve faced challenges, my mentorship group has helped me shift my thinking and revealed strengths in me, I didn’t know were there. I am able to connect people together in deeper, more meaningful ways which has had a massive impact in our team and will lay the foundation of my coaching for years to come.”
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, Monday, 04 October 2021. More information, application guidelines and the application form are at Te Hāpaitanga – HPSNZ’s Women in High Performance Sport Coaching Initiative – Careers at High Performance Sport New Zealand
