April 2026 Issue
Koutou ngā matanga nō te ao hākinakina, tēnā koutou,
Welcome to the April 2026 edition of Coaches Kōrero. I am just back from a very enjoyable and rewarding Winter Olympics.
Coaches Kōrero was established to create a forum to connect, support and celebrate our Performance Coaching Community in New Zealand. In this issue, we profile Finn Butcher’s Canoe Slalom coach Aaron Osborne and Skateboard coach Amber Clyde who last year went on a study trip to Europe.
Andy Longley, our well-being lead, provides a timely article on the increasing challenges coaches face and the support that Te Korowai provides via our bespoke and independent wellbeing offer. If you would like a confidential wellbeing discussion you can contact Andy on [email protected]
We also share findings from our recent annual Member and Performance Coach Survey’s. The key insights from our members:100% believe a professional body for performance coaches is important, 94% are very or mostly satisfied with the benefits and support services &96% would recommend Te Korowai for others while the wider coaching community said70% had considered joining Te Korowai.
The survey was reaffirming of our mission and purpose. Thank you for taking the time to complete the survey.
Finally, our next member webinar has Hamish Kerr and his coach James Sandilands as our guests. This will be held on April 22 @ 7.30pm.
If you would like to join Te Korowai click here to fill out the membership form.
Ngā mihi,
Tom Willmott
Chair
Aaron Osborne
Teaching and coaching were never on Aaron Osborne’s radar, but to his surprise, he followed two influential people in his life and ended up doing both.
His mother was a teacher and despite his early reluctance to follow her into the profession, he would go on to teach at Western Heights High School in Rotorua in the late 2000’s.
Ian Mercer, Osborne’s canoe slalom coach, tapped him on the shoulder and started a coaching journey that’s now almost 20 years old and has taken him to the top of the sport.
Amber Clyde
When an adult Amber Clyde saw a young girl alone and nervous at the skate park, she saw her younger self.
Clyde had given up skateboarding as a teenager, after feeling very anxious at the skate park as the only girl, but took up the sport again after giving birth to her first child.
“I never saw one girl until I was 20, so the whole time I was a kid, I kept trying to show up and kept trying to go, but it was just all young boys and men, and I was just like ‘nope’,” says Clyde.
Coaching under the microscope: navigating pressure in a new era of high performance
In recent years, the role of the head coach in Aotearoa has shifted. Quietly at first, and then all at once. High performance coaching has always carried pressure. Results matter. Selection decisions matter. Leadership matters. That hasn’t changed.
What has changed is the environment around the role.
