ABSTRACT
New Zealand has produced many successful women athletes. However, women are significantly under-represented as coaches in all levels of sport. Although some sporting organizations have pathways for women coaches, there is a lack of overarching strategic direction and focus at the national level. The Ecological–Intersectional Model provides a framework to understand the multi-layered and complex reasons for this and, when considered in combination with the Structure–Agency Model, it is clear that a radically different approach is required. A clear national strategic framework supporting the development of coaching pathways for women, guiding all national sports organizations in their strategic planning and program development, as well as funding decisions and allocation of resources, is needed. Collection of robust data about coaching participation is a critical first step to establish a baseline and guide the development of strategic actions, and against which to measure success. The development of a pipeline of women coaches also requires an ongoing, fully funded, and multi-organizational leadership program delivered at the national level. Finally, the structures of organizations must change to enable women to reach their coaching potential. This can be achieved, for example, through linking central funding to a requirement to have women on the coaching staff.
