News & Updates

National women’s steeplechase record holder and former world mountain running champion Kate McIlroy is part of a group of female Olympians to have just graduated from the New Zealand Women’s Sport Leadership Academy.

The academy, which is run by the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC), aims to improve female representation across high-level sport administration.

It serves to provide a unique learning environment that supports the participants to transition from sport performance to sport leadership.

McIlroy, who was also a leading triathlete and was named New Zealand Sportswoman of the Year at the 2005 Halberg Awards, is one of 14 Olympians graduating from the 18-month programme.

The New Zealand branch of the academy is part of an international programme for women leaders in sport with the Kiwis joining a network of almost 400 graduates from 62 different countries.

NZOC President Mike Stanley says the organisation facilitates the programme as part of its efforts to help diversify New Zealand’s sporting leadership.

“This year, we celebrated our centenary and looked back on the Antwerp Olympic Games in 1920, when the New Zealand team first marched into an Olympic opening ceremony as an independent nation,” he says. 

“In the next 100 years, we want to see more women at the forefront of sport leadership in New Zealand. It is crucial we have more women in decision-making roles in high performance sport to ensure a balanced view in leadership decisions.”

The full list of 2019-20 New Zealand Women’s Sport Leadership Academy graduates is as follows:

Julia Edward, Debbie Hansen, Erika Harris, Lizzy Horlock, Kate McIlroy, Genevieve Macky, Char Pouaka, Polly Powrie, Alexis Pritchard, Michelle Rennie, Rebecca Rolls, Angela Subramaniam, Leanne Walker, Evelyn Williamson