A gaping hole in elite women's coaching in New Zealand sport has meant a Levin rowing coach rower and human movement coach has been hired for her experience and wisdom.
Levin rower and coach local business owner Rachael Corcoran is now involved in a movement across all sporting bodies to address a gender imbalance and recognising the role women need to play in achieving top level performance.
High Performance NZ recognised at last Olympics there were only two female coaches, and it was now putting in place measures to address that imbalance.
Rowing NZ had now adopted a three-year programme to help take a group of coaches through a course designed to help them CoachNZ age group and possibly elite level athletes.
There were 10 women identified throughout the country who had started the programme and would have sessions run by psychologists, nutritionists and various other professionals who can help them upskill their coaching to the elite level required.
This is where Corcoran came in, with the coaching programme recognising her skills and experience were valuable to the programme.
"I think this is awesome, as aside from the fact a huge portion of athletes are female, female coaches have a lot to offer and can sometimes relate to people on a different level."
Corcoran herself had a long association with the sport. She began rowing at Horowhenua Rowing club in 1988 before joining Union Whanganui under Dick Tonks, where she had the distinction of rowing with world champion Philippa Baker.
She took a break from rowing when she joined the Police and within a short time became 2IC of a section in charge of helping new recruits assimilate to street duties in their first six weeks out of training college.
She left the force for a position as a personal trainer at Les Mills Extreme in Wellington, which led to contracts running workshops under Les Mills NZ to upskill trainers in certain fitness and nutrition aspects.
Corcoran also independently ran seminars and workshops for Model and Talent Agency, formerly called The Agency, run by former Miss New Zealand Adele Kenny, and was a health and fitness coach.
She opened CrossFit Horowhenua five years ago and since then had also set up an off-shoot venture called unit The Vitality Place.
