Women in Sport Leadership Academy

On June 11, Amanda White - Swimming New Zealand High Performance Manager with support from High Performance Sport New Zealand will attend the Women in Sport Leadership Academy (WSLA). Joining 32 women from across 14 countries Amanda will travel to the University of Chichester, Bognor Regis and spend 12 days developing her leadership skills.

The content covered will focus on various leadership behaviours or competencies that research shows to be critical to becoming a great leader. It will also develop their understanding of the global women and sport movement and support the women on the course to recognise their role in this.

The WSLA know that investing on people is of the utmost importance and that time and money spent in learning and developing has to pay off. The course recognises that changes in behaviour have to be embedded and sustained over time and ensuring that people take responsibility for their own self-sustained learning is at the heart of everything the WSLA do. 

The programme consists of a number of elements all of which are essential for the critical learning and development that will take place. These elements include: challenging, constructive and highly interactive workshops; development of a personal development plan setting goals on leadership behaviours, career strategies, future opportunities and to consolidate learning; home teams – small groups who meet regularly to reflect on learning, discuss hot topics and provide support and encouragement; peer support groups to provide opportunities to reflect on experiences and to explore ways of doing things differently; physical activity will be included to indulge the women’s love of sport, provide a physical challenge and promote team building; guest speakers will be at WSLA to inspire and share their experiences.

The New Zealand Olympic Committee are also working in partnership with WSLA UK to bring together 20 outstanding Olympians to take part in a 2 year programme. The programme will provide a unique learning environment that will support the women to further develop their confidence and leadership competencies. You can find out more about the NZOC initiative here.

Swimming New Zealand would like to wish Amanda all the best for her time at the WSLA and we look forward to hearing about her learning and how she can implement these into her role with us.