August 2026 Issue
Koutou ngā matanga nō te ao hākinakina, tēnā koutou,
Welcome to the August 2026 edition of Coaches Kōrero.
This month, we are pleased to profile two outstanding coaches making a significant impact within their environments – athletics coach Sonia Waddell and Weightlifting coach Simon Kent.
We are also grateful to Justine Reed, a Te Korowai member but also an associate director and expert on tax from our partner Deloitte’s for preparing an advisory article titled “10 Financial and Tax Considerations for High-Performance Coaches”. This is a really insightful piece. As a reminder, all Te Korowai members are entitled to one hour of complimentary tax advice for each membership year. If you would like to access this support, please contact our General Manager, Andrew Gaze, at [email protected].
A strong and engaged membership base is fundamental to our long-term sustainability, so to continually see growth in membership is encouraging – we have now had 124 Coaches join.
The board has recently agreed to extend the membership to include coach developers, and strength & conditioning professionals. If you would like to become a member of Te Korowai, click here.
Finally, the member WhatsApp group and webinars continue to grow in engagement, a further value add for our members.
All the best to the Commonwealth Games coaches.
Ngā mihi,
Tom Willmott
Chair
Sonia Waddell
For many athletes, a lifetime in sport naturally evolves into coaching. For athletics coach Sonia Waddell, that journey began when her eldest daughter Sophie started high school and joined the athletics team.
When the school’s sprint coach needed support with hurdle technique, she called on Waddell — a former World Junior representative in the 400m hurdles.
“I ended up staying in the St Peter’s athletics programme while the teacher was on maternity leave and I guess never really left,” Waddell says with a laugh.
Simon Kent
Coaching wasn’t on Simon Kent’s radar when he first travelled halfway around the world, but it became a passion that he’s embraced wholeheartedly for the last two decades.
Born in Hastings, on the south coast of England, Kent attended boarding school from the age of 11, and when he reached 18, he thought that a career in the Royal Marines was what life held in store for him.
But a gap year in Temuka opened his eyes to what overseas adventures were out there, and despite returning to England for three years to study a sports science and English degree at St Mary’s University in Twickenham, it wasn’t long before he was back in the southern hemisphere – and this time, he was here to stay.
The Business of Coaching: 10 Financial and Tax Considerations for
High-Performance Coaches
High-performance coaches spend countless hours helping athletes prepare for competition, navigate setbacks and perform at their best. Yet many of us spend far less time thinking about our own financial wellbeing and long-term security.