Volleyball New Zealand has recently welcomed Kim Smith to the staff with the former Volley Fern set to impact the sport in a major way on and off the court.
Smith joins Volleyball New Zealand in the role of Performance Coach Advisor (Women and Girls) – a position made possible via funding support from High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ).
In one of 11 residency positions for 2023 in the sports landscape via the funding, Smith’s work for the next year with a focus on women and girls’ performance coaching. Specifically, her mahi will look to impact the following areas:
- Build confidence capability and visibility of our past present and future female performance pathway coaches
- Observe and work with National female coaches from other National Sporting Organisations to share quality practice strategies and tools that support our performance programmes.
- Lead and mentor a group of approximately 8-10 female coaches who are currently working at the Develop level of the VNZ Coach Development Framework, with aspirations to work through the Excel award and coach our national teams
- Work with VNZ performance team management personnel to build sustainable and consistent performance cultures across all eight performance teams.
Volleyball New Zealand Performance Manager Colleen Campbell says Smith is set to make a substantial impact in the coach development pathway.
“Through the opportunity with HPSNZ, Kim has secured a position for the next year that will enable specific work being done to identify, support and create a pathway for female coaches into our national programmes.”
Smith says the role allows her to draw on her strengths as a middle leader in education and apply them to her passion for volleyball.
“In both settings, I implore a growth mindset and have a keen eye for where we can improve our programmes and practice,” Smith said.
“This role has a large component of mentoring and leading personal professional development plans for female coaches.
“The opportunity to connect with all NSOs and observe female performance coaches and female environments in action is something I will benefit greatly from as will the female coaches I will work with.”
