Au pointed out 10 players, who are either amputees or reliant on a wheelchair, have participated in her para badminton programmes.
On Saturday Au, who has yet to decide on which club she will join in the Bay, will play with Meeanee's Cynthia Fan in doubles play and another Meeanee player, Simon Huang, in mixed doubles. Although she has done some development work with the team's female contingent Au said it was too early to gauge whether promotion would be a realistic goal.
"I haven't seen what the standard is like among the other teams but I'm looking forward to it."
As part of her coaching with Hawke's Bay age group teams Au has a High Performance Group which includes members of the Hawke's Bay under-17 team which will tackle the annual June Bevin tournament which starts in Invercargill on Monday.
A former University of Adelaide player and Sturt club player across the Tasman who took up the code at the age of 9, Au has secured a Kiwi Sport grant to help upskill the province's coaches. Central Hawke's Bay's Anna Burrows and Au are the Bay's only Badminton World Federation level one coaches.
"I want to help other Hawke's Bay coaches get to that level. I'm busy but it's all good."
Au was just as busy during her days across the Tasman. She managed the Australia team at the 2016 world junior champs in Spain where it finished 25th, two places better than New Zealand.
Last year she managed the Aussies at the Oceania Junior Champs in New Caledonia where they finished second to the Kiwis.
From May 1-6 Au will do social media and communications work for the New Zealand Open tournament in Auckland.
When Au, who will attend a Sport Hawke's Bay-organised Active Hub Day in Central Hawke's Bay tomorrow, isn't coaching or playing badminton she will more than likely be found running. She will tackle the Hawke's Bay Half Marathon on May 12.
"I've done a couple of half marathons in the past but I haven't trained as much for this one because of work."
She has every right to be confident her programme numbers will grow after youngsters watch television coverage of the sport at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and they decide to give it a crack. In Au they will find a passionate and well-qualified coach ready to take them as far as they want to go.
The Hawke's Bay national division four squad is:
Men: Simon Huang, Jacob Young, Jimmy Bass, Aaron Roberson, Karljeet Cappie.
Women: Michelle Au, Cynthia Fan, Linda Gee, Wishy Cookson, Lucy Kitchin.