Coach Her Way: Increasing opportunities for female coaches across the NSW rowing community

Published Thu 22 Jul 2021

Rowing NSW is excited to be one of 17 NSW sporting organisations to receive a 'Her Sport Her Way' grant that will assist us in creating and supporting more opportunities for female coaches in our sport. Driven by the NSW Office of Sport, the 'Her Sport Her Way' program allows sports like ours to build a stronger community where women and girls are valued, recognised and have equal choices and opportunities to lead and participate. 

Rowing NSW's Coach Her Way program aligns with the recently released Rowing NSW 2021-2024 Strategic Plan in which the increased need for investment in coaching development is highlighted. Rowing is a coach led sport and to ensure its continued development there is a need to increase both the number and quality of coaches, particularly in the female ranks. 

"We're looking at targeting existing female coaches who are aspiring to coach at higher levels of the sport as well as school and club coaches that want to improve their coaching knowledge and ability and play a bigger role in their current program," said Rowing NSW CEO Margot Harley. 

"Currently, females represent 50% of Level 1 coaches in NSW, but this percentage drops to almost a quarter in Level 2 coaches and stands at just 17% for Level 3. The aim with this program is to enhance the opportunity to learn and develop skills, breaking down roadblocks so that female coaches are confident and driven to continue coaching".

Coach Her Way will allow Rowing NSW to deliver a multi-layered coach development program across four key areas:

  1. Female focused coaching development conference. 
  2. Mentoring program between current experienced coaches and up and coming female coaches. 
  3. Providing an online training platform for coaches to focus on personal development, to be accessed anywhere at any time, breaking down and addressing the barriers for females involved in this sport around time management, access to quality coaches and self-confidence. 
  4. Support the coaching internship program with our State Team and provide further learning opportunities. 

Ultimately, Rowing NSW's goal is to improve the framework and provide continued support for women in coaching positions. We are excited to see the potential that Coach Her Way has to positively impact our Rowing NSW community for years to come. 

For more information on the Her Sport Her Way Grant Program head to the NSW Government Office of Sport website.