Psychologist Mariane Wray speaks at the Sport Bay of Plenty forum on women in sport. Photo / George Novak
Psychologist Mariane Wray speaks at the Sport Bay of Plenty forum on women in sport. Photo / George Novak
Men and women are different, that is no secret.
Therefore, the approach taken to support and foster a positive environment for women in sport often needs to be different than what it is for men.
That was the idea behind a forum held by Sport Bay of Plenty at theweekend, aimed at gaining a better understanding of effective approaches to working with women and girls in sport.
During a question and answer session, Black Ferns Sevens assistant coach Cory Sweeney, international hockey official Kelly Hudson, Black Ferns Sevens development manager Belinda Muller and Rangataua women's rugby player Mariah Ririnui drew on their own experiences and approaches for ensuring women and girls in sport have the best opportunity to shine.
Sweeney has coached both men's and women's rugby teams and said he had learned to approach every team with a "neutral lens".
"The key thing for me is, I think coaching women has made me a better coach because you come in naturally with a male bias towards the team you're coaching because that's just the lens that you've always looked through.
"It's taught me to have a neutral lens when you're in any environment - there's no two rugby teams that are the same anyway, whether it's men or women."
He said one of the factors to take into account when coaching a women's rugby team was the "rugby age" of the players in comparison to men.
"Certainly with what the females experience coming out of secondary school, compared to what the males experience, is very different. Their rugby age is quite young, as is some of the learning aspects of the game - the ability to play instinctively.
"Another thing is the emotion. It's an absolute necessity to attach emotionally to females to then be able to progress. If the foundations aren't right early, then to try to coach, to try to teach, to try to progress a team quickly is very difficult."
Ririnui used to hold the New Zealand women's 100m sprint and long jump titles but has since taken up rugby, playing her first season for Rangataua this year. She was able to provide insight on both individual and team sports.
Former long jump national champion Mariah Ririnui spoke about both individual and team sports during the Sport Bay of Plenty forum on women in sport. Photo / Getty Images
"I started participating in sport when I was about five years old and as a kid it was just to have fun, muck around with your friends and have some races."
She said, from her experience with different coaches and trainers, the key to getting the most out of a female athlete was instilling belief.
"What stands out the most is their belief in me. The ones who constantly made positive comments and believed in my talent or potential, that was pretty life-changing actually.
"[Female athletes] are all different so it's important to get to know them and be open minded. Put time into building a good relationship and good trust, that will get the most out of them."
Hudson, who has umpired more than 140 international hockey games, including the last two Olympics and two World Cups, said having a good support network was crucial.
Umpire Kelly Hudson speaks to players during the FIH Women's Hockey Champions Trophy final between the Netherlands and Argentina in 2016. Photo / Getty Images
"When you're an official you are quite isolated and alone often. Sometimes it is quite lonely so having that support network is really important and throughout my career that has been a constant."
She said umpiring men's games, as well as women's, had helped her become a better umpire.
"It's important to continuously improve and challenge yourself to be better and it opens different opportunities to learn and engage by being planted in the men's environment.
"I find a big part of how I umpire is to try and have an understanding of different perspectives. I find with females, you have to employ a bit more empathy and understand there might be an emotional response to what you're doing."
If the foundations aren't right early, then to try to coach, to try to teach, to try to progress a team quickly is very difficult.
Muller has had a close up view of both sides of the coin. She managed the Waikato/BOP Magic before managing a number of different men's and women's rugby teams.
She said the way they process information was different and coaching staff needed to be aware of that.
"For a lot of the male coaches [of women's teams] I've worked with, they had to get their heads around the fact that women will ask a lot more questions. They want to have those conversations and there's a lot of chat.
"The team I'm working with at the moment (the Rangataua women), there's a lot whiteboard sessions and the women tend to enjoy that and get a lot more feedback from that."
