Welcome to Te Korowai

Tom is currently, the Head Coach & Pathway Director for the Snow Sports NZ Park and Pipe Programme. In this role he oversees the on- and off-snow training and competition of our high performance athletes in halfpipe, slopestyle and big air disciplines.

Tom also represents New Zealand on a number of FIS committees and was formerly the chair of HPSNZ’s Coach Advisory Group. As Head Coach in his sixth Winter Olympic cycle, Tom has worked with a vast number of athletes at all levels of the sport from budding young juniors to X-Games and World Cup champions, including our most successful Olympic medal campaigns in PyeongChang, 2018 and Beijing, 2022.

Tom is a former snowboard competitor and national champion, has a Professional Doctorate in Elite Performance, a Master’s degree in Physical Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Sports Coaching. He balances his Snow Sports NZ role with time-out with his young family, various heliski and split board guiding roles as an NZMGA Ski Guide, and fitting in lots of adventures around the world.

Raylene is the Athletics New Zealand Development Manager (South Island), Para Lead and HP Throws Coach. She leads the para athletics programme including HP campaigns, development, talent ID, education, and day to day management of the programme.

A former National and Oceania champion athlete, Raylene now focuses on coaching athletes to national and international success focussing on the throwing events. Raylene has led the Athletics team to two double Olympic/Paralympic campaigns in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020 Paralympic team in 2016 and Commonwealth Games in 2006, 2010, 2018 and several World Athletics and Para World Championships since 2007. Raylene was the Athletics Head Coach for Rio Paralympics – personally coaching 4 athletes of which 3 were medallists at Rio Paralympics. The only female coach in both the Rio Olympics and Paralympics to coach a medallist.”

Raylene is a very proud Otago representative who was born and bred on the Taieri. A graduate of the Otago Polytechnic with a Bachelor of Applied Management majoring in Sport Management and Business Change and Transformation. She has significant experience in sport management having been involved in high performance sport since the late 1990’s.

She is a mentor for the HPSNZ Te Hāpaitanga Programme and facilities the Satellite Group along with delivering the Diversity and Inclusion module for the HPSNZ Core Knowledge programme. Raylene is a Board Member and Trustee of the Halberg Foundation, and a Trustee of the Skeggs Foundation.

A very keen mountain biker and lover of outdoors pursuits that she enjoys with her family.

Mel is currently in her second year as Assistant Forwards Coach of the USA Women’s Eagles Rugby team. She was Assistant Forwards Coach of the Blues Super Rugby Aupiki Team, 2022 and Assistant Forwards Coach of Hurricanes Poua 2024.

Mel recently completed her fourth year in 2023 as Head Coach of the Tasman Mako FPC women’s rugby team and manager of the women’s high performance academy which oversees the development of female high performance athletes both on and off the field.

Mel is also a coach mentor on HPSNZ’s Te Hāpaitanga coach development program as well as mentor for the Girl Boss program which empowers and inspires young women in developing their future careers.

Mel is a former New Zealand Black Fern who competed for over 10 years and represented New Zealand in two Rugby World Cups. Mel has a Master of Science degree with honours in Sedimentology from the University of Waikato, Hamilton. She spent 12 years working on offshore oil rigs as a Wellsite geologist before retiring to have a family.

Mel balances her coaching career with her husband and two young daughters by spending time connecting with the environment and boating in the Abel Tasman.

Kirsten is currently the High-Performance Coach Manager for Athletics New Zealand. Previous roles have included high performance coaching (Athletics) and coach development (Athletics/Netball). While not her primary role, Kirsten is still very actively involved with the coaching of development through to high performance athletes. Kirsten is a strong advocate for women in sport, supporting and mentoring female coaches and future leaders through a number of mediums.

Kirsten represented New Zealand from the junior level, attended the 1990 & 1994 Commonwealth Games (Silver medallist), 1991 World Championships and 1992 Olympic Games as a Javelin thrower. A coach of several World and Olympic podium medallist athletes, her passion for athlete development is matched by her passion for coach development.

Hellier won the Coach of the Year at both the 2007 and 2008 Halberg Awards and in 2018 was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to sport, particularly athletics in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.

Papamoa in the Bay of Plenty is home. Husband Pat and children Jarod and Mikaela have been her greatest supporters throughout her sporting journey.

Andrew is a founding Partner at national law firm Tavendale and Partners, where he practises as a commercial and corporate lawyer. He has been practising law for more than 25 years, including a stint with a London City law firm.

In addition to his board role with Te Korowai, Andrew has a number of directorships, including as a director of Tapawera Hop Garden LP, Linc Technologies Limited, a closely held joint venture property development company, and a dairy farm investment company. In addition, Andrew is a Trustee on the Board of Trustees at Medbury Preparatory School. He is also a Member of the Institute of Directors.

Andrew lives in Ōtautahi Christchurch. An avid sports fan, Andrew is frequently seen pounding the city roads or working on his golf handicap.

Yvette is a netball coach and educator, co-founder of MANUKURA school with husband Nathan. Currently Co-Tumuaki at TIPENE in Auckland. Yvette works with players from emerging talent at secondary school level through to high performance.

Yvette was Head Coach of ANZ Premiership PULSE Teams over a 9 year period where she became NZ’s most successful domestic coach. In addition Yvette has held numerous national coaching roles including NZ Under 21, NZ Māori, NZ A and Silver Fern programmes.

Yvette has her Masters in Education, Postgraduate degree in Sport Management, a Bachelor of Education and a Diploma of Teaching. A former track and field athlete to World Juniors and netball player from NZU21 to NZ Silver Ferns Squad level. Yvette enjoys the synergy of coaching and teaching which enables continued opportunities to grow potential.

Craig is currently the South Island HP Coach Development Manager for New Zealand Rugby, and also the Domain Lead for both Professional Practice and Performance Impact within HPSNZ’s Core Knowledge programme. Between these two roles he supports the learning and development needs of more than 300 of Aotearoa’s HP and pre-HP coaches, across 30+ sporting codes.

Craig played 1st class rugby 1987 – 1998 at both the amateur and professional levels in New Zealand and he was one of the first Kiwis to play professionally in Japan. He has coached rugby for more than 30 years at all levels from community to high performance, including leading the New Zealand Under 20 team to the World Championship title in Georgia, 2017.

A former secondary school Assistant Principal, Craig and his wife Denise now live back home in Christchurch. They have three adult daughters and four grandchildren, and enjoy escaping in their caravan whenever possible.