The redesign was based on a review of the pilot programme.
Women in High Performance Sport Lead, Helene Wilson, says the programme will include a range of changes which will provide greater flexibility for individuals applying for a Residency Experience and enable NSOs to provide a real-world high performance experience.
Following a comprehensive review of the WIHPS Residency Fund pilot, the new Residency Experience has been designed to create experiences that are bespoke, based on the needs of the individual and the NSO, with the intent to create an experience that is truly a real-world high performance work placement through a fixed term contract.
WIHPS Lead Helene Wilson says the key objective of the Residency Experience is to foster succession planning to grow the talent pool for New Zealand’s up and coming female high performance leaders and coaches.
“The way we have redesigned the Residency Experience will promote capable women to stay in the high performance sport system, and will enable us to cast the net wider for potential candidates for the programme,” says Helene.
“We are looking for our future female high performance leaders who may currently be inside NSOs, so we can shift understanding of the requirements of high performance directors, high performance athlete development staff, coaches or even CEOs. They might be retired high performance athletes or work outside the sport sector but with the right skill set to look to move into the high performance environment.”
The Residency Experience will continue to be a support for NSOs who can offer a fixed term employment contract in high performance sport to women through a competitive recruitment process. Key changes will include individuals also applying for the Residency Experience independently, as well as NSOs having the opportunity to endorse individuals with high performance potential.
There is increased flexibility in the timeframe for a Residency Experience, from as short as a three month project through to 24 months, depending on the need and circumstances of an NSO and an individual.
“The Residency Fund pilot was quite rigid and was based on a full time, 18 month fixed term,” says Helene.
“Our new programme is needs based, that is, it will provide an experience whether an internship or new employment over a specified time up to 24 months, an opportunity to be elevated into leadership or secondment across sport for up to 12 months, or an opportunity for women to lead a specific impact project for three to six months.
“HPSNZ will support the opportunity the Residency Experience provides, so it is mutually beneficial for both the resident and the NSO.”
HPSNZ Performance Team Leaders (PTLs) and Sport NZ Partnership Managers will have provided NSOs with an information summary of the new WIHPS Residency Experience and guidelines for both NSOs and individuals to apply will be available in December from PTLs and on the HPSNZ website.
Applications open on 7 December. Individual applications will close on 31 January 2023 and NSOs have until 14 February 2023 to submit their application.
