In 2022 Community Sport Coordinators across Waitaha have the opportunity to build in confidence and take their leadership to the next level with a new offering that utilises a collaborative approach.

It’s called the Community Sport Coordinators Leadership Programme – a pilot introduced in 2022. As part of this programme, five Community Sport Coordinators from various organisations are provided with a one-year individual performance plan, supported by Sport Canterbury through a range of regular professional development opportunities.

In late 2021, the pilot programme was put out to 11 Community Sport Organisations working across Waitaha that support the Healthy Active Learning initiative to seek expressions of interest and to submit applications to be part of the initiative.

They are as follows:
-    Eastern Community Sport and Recreation Inc
-    North Canterbury Sports Trust
-    Selwyn Sports Trust
-    Release Sports
-    Aranui Community Trust Incorporated Society (ACTIS)
-    Pukeko Centre
-    Kelly Sports
-    YouthTown
-    Epic Sports Project
-    Origin Sports
-    Tamai Sports

As a result of this, the five Community Sport Coordinators participating in this pilot are: Georgia Thompson – Eastern Community Sport & Recreation Inc, Zach Riley – YouthTown, Steve Potter – Kelly Sports Christchurch East, Mitch Prendergast – Selwyn Sports Trust and Beth McAvoy – Selwyn Sports Trust.

“We targeted the pilot specifically at our Community Sport Coordinator network, as this group is integral in the effective delivery of the Healthy Active Learning initiative in Canterbury. From the applications received, we selected five to be part of the programme using a matrix that measured their skill, will, and character. We hope to finetune and expand the programme for 2023 to reach a wider audience. This will be done by obtaining insights from the pilot to evaluate the programmes ongoing effectiveness,” says Healthy Active Learning Community Connector, Josh Sprott.

The programme came about as Sport Canterbury’s Participation Pathways team identified an opportunity for leadership development throughout our stakeholder network. The purpose of this pilot is to: 

-  Enhance the capability of community sport staff to engage, inspire and lead physical activity within their local    communities. 
-  Support Community Sport Coordinators and organisations to develop key staff through professional        development opportunities.

It’s important to note that the pilot is not targeted specifically at individuals in leadership positions, but individuals with aspirations to grow their leadership capability.

“I got involved with the Community Sport Coordinators Leadership Programme as I was reached out to about it by a former colleague, who recommended that this could be good for my development. I chose to get involved with this programme as I have just recently taken up a leadership position within the Selwyn Sports Trust. I thought this programme would be an excellent way for me to develop my leadership skills through a sporting lens.

“My main goal for the programme is to learn tools and techniques to be able to inspire and lead others in my work. While also learning how to become more confident during challenging scenarios (e.g. public speaking or initiating challenging conversations),” says Selwyn Sports Trust Community Activator, Mitch Prendergast.

The collaboration comes in the form of external providers whose unique skillset and individual programmes ensure that those on the programme have access to the highest quality performance development opportunities Ōtautahi has to offer.

The first personal development workshop was hosted at Ngā Puna Wai in February and was run by The People Outfit where the Coordinators underwent a Hogan Group session. 

“The aim of the session was to bring these five Community Sport Personnel together to begin their leadership journey by understanding self-awareness - because we can’t lead others if we don’t understand how to lead ourselves. The People Outfit uses Hogan Profiling designed to enhance this self-awareness by looking deeply into personality psychology,” says Sprott. 

In the coming months, this will be followed by one-on-one sessions with The People Outfit performed at three-month intervals. From here the programme is designed around upskilling individuals in four key areas: 

-    Strategy 
-    Coaching capability 
-    Influencing relationships 
-    Business capability 

Each month there is at least one connection, which can either be a group workshop or a one-on-one connect to identify new personal development opportunities and reflect on goals and progress.

Prendergast has been impressed with the programme so far, saying, “I found the session with the People Outfit incredibly interesting. It was very beneficial to hear how I am perceived by others even if I did not think that this was the case. This then gave me several positive work-ons to think about as I'm interacting with others and trying to lead my team. I would recommend everyone regardless of their work to go through this process. It was an extremely worthwhile session.

“So far the Community Sport Coordinators Leadership Programme has been a great experience. I've learnt a ton already and I'm excited for the next couple of workshops,” he adds.

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Article added: Monday 07 March 2022