Maggie Meng is currently preparing to step into the role of Head Coach for Table Tennis Australia in early 2025. Meng’s transition has been made possible by tailored support and professional development, to prepare for her new role.

Early Succession Planning is Key to Successful Transitions 

Meng’s transition to head coach began nearly three years ago, after the Tokyo Paralympics.

Current Head Coach for Table Tennis Australia, Alois Rosario, informed General Manager, Sue Stevenson, that he planned to transition out of the role after Paris. Stevenson saw Rosario’s transition as an opportunity to plan ahead and take a closer look at Table Tennis Australia’s succession plan.

“This sort of forced us to look at this,” Stevenson said. “When a head coach retires, what happens? Do we leave that to the last minute after the Paralympic Games and go ‘What are we going to do?’ […] It was a new process we needed to go through.”

Meng, currently the Assistant Coach, was identified as a potential successor for Rosario early on. But Meng was initially hesitant to take on the role. “I’m not from Australia originally. English is not my first language and then the sports culture is also different in Australia,” she explained. “So that’s why I didn’t feel confident and comfortable enough to be a head coach.”

For Meng to confidently step into the role, it was critical that she received tailored support. A dedicated Coach Development Plan was created to support Meng’s individual development needs.

“She was a bit daunted about taking on that role and the opportunity to apply for and receive grant funding in that coach development strategy space gave us an opportunity to implement things and provide support to Maggie as she transitioned into that role,” Stevenson said.

Creating an Individualised Development Plan

To prepare Meng for her transition, a Coach Development Plan was created, tailored to her individual development needs.

Stevenson and Meng worked closely with Michelle De Highden, HP Coach Development Senior Lead at the AIS, to create a Coach Development Strategy. Stevenson was able to apply for funding through the AIS to implement the strategy and received a $20,000 grant. This funding allowed Meng to access professional development training that was tailored to her development plan.

Stevenson used the AIS Coach Profile to identify development areas for Meng. Table Tennis Australia also developed a position description to help further identify what was required for Meng to smoothly transition into the role.

“Once we created that position description and between that and the Coach Profile, that helped us identify the competency gaps for Maggie and helped us then develop her plan,” Stevenson explained. “We needed to really fully understand what a head coach role looks like.”

This process helped the team identify opportunities for Meng to engage with professional development and build her competency. Communication and coach development were key areas identified in Meng’s plan. She worked closely with experts in these areas to develop her skills in preparation for her transition.

Meng worked with Communication Expert, Carol Fox, who helped Meng, “to become a better leader in the team” by building her communications skills and confidence.

“I didn’t know how to communicate or how to work closely or collaborate with other staff. And after two years, I think I have been improving in that area a lot,” Meng said.

“Her [Fox’s] husband worked in China for three years in the sport industry. So she understands what the culture is like [in China] and what the culture here is like,” Meng said.

Because of Fox’s understanding of both sporting worlds, she was able to help Meng bridge any communication gaps. Meng found this incredibly helpful, because it addressed her unique needs.

Also critical to Meng’s development was Coach Development specialist Ash Ross. “He helped me to become a great coach on and off the table,” Meng said.

Ross played a critical role in Meng’s transition. He helped identify development areas for Meng, assisted in creating her individualised plan, and supported her through the transition process. Ross also helped Meng as she commenced her development plan, providing feedback and reflection points for Meng to engage with throughout the process. Meng meets regularly with Ross, who provides feedback on what she’s doing well, as well as areas for improvement and growth.

Meng has found the tailoring of the development plan and sessions incredibly helpful. During the sessions with Fox and Ross, she can focus on the unique development areas she needs the most support with.

As an example, she shares, “Today I wanted to talk about how to maintain a good relationship with the athlete.” This then helped form the focus for her session with Fox.

Meng has also been able to attend the AIS Elevate Coach Program and courses on developing others and stakeholder management.

“Those three main courses helped me a lot to build up my confidence and fill in the gaps I had, like communication, leadership and the sports culture,” Meng said.

Flexible Support Enables Transitions 

In the lead up to Meng’s transition, she was also supported in taking on a new role—that of a first-time mum. The support Meng received during and post-maternity leave was critical in ensuring she could continue on the path to head coach.

“There was big, big support from my team,” Meng said. “They said, no stress, take how long you want in terms of maternity leave.”

While Meng was pregnant, she wasn’t able to attend international tournaments so her team, including Rosario and another event coach, took on her travel responsibilities.

Meng also received support that allowed her to attend the recent Paris Paralympics.

“I actually took my baby and my husband to Paris because Paralympics Australia offered us accommodation,” Meng said. “I was able to feed the baby and then also do my work in the daytime.”

Meng said that the support from Table Tennis Australia gave her the confidence to juggle both her coaching and family commitments.

Addressing the underrepresentation of women in High Performance coaching roles in Australia is a critical issue. Less than 10% of current High Performance coaches are women. Flexible working arrangements and parental leave, play a key role in enabling coaches like Meng to remain in sport. Meng’s story is a testament to this.

Without this support, Meng isn’t sure she would have been able to attend the Paris games or succeed in her transition to head coach. “I think it would be very challenging if I didn’t have that support,” Meng said.

Transitions Are a Team Effort 

The support Meng has received has been critical in helping her prepare for her transition in 2025, developing both her skills and confidence. “I feel really grateful for all the support from everyone. It’s really huge,” Meng said.

Stevenson says starting succession planning conversations early is crucial for ensuring a smooth transition for all members of the team.

“Don’t leave it until after the games to try and start having those conversations because then it’s too late and you’re throwing coaches into the deep end into brand new roles,” said Stevenson.

“Give coaches enough time to transition into a new role, identify gaps in their competencies and allow enough time for the professional development needed.”

Stevenson stresses the importance of taking a team approach to transition planning and coach development. “It’s a whole team, everybody working together to support the professional development of that coach,” she said.

Meng agrees, “Everyone’s involved in this.”

As Meng prepares for her transition next year, she says that the support she’s received has strengthened her confidence. “The support is really positive and helped me to transition very smoothly. Otherwise, I would not have had the confidence to do that.”

“I feel really honoured and lucky to be part of this team.”

Across the Australian High Performance sporting system, various sports and institutes are igniting small, targeted networks for female coaches. With minimal financial investment, these networks have been able to foster connection, offer critical support and are helping drive long term impact for women in coaching.

Diving Australia, Hockey Australia and the South Australian Sports Institute (SASI) are leading the way, having each created networks that offer a platform for female coaches to share their experiences, receive mentorship and resources, all in a safe, collaborative environment. The success of these networks highlights the importance of community and relationship-building for female coaches, at all levels of the coaching pipeline.

Creating a One-Team Support Network 

Vyninka Arlow, Diving Australia’s National Pathway Coach, created the Mentoring GALS Gang after identifying a need for female coaches to have a shared space to ask questions and voice their experiences. The group came about after Arlow spoke with two female coaches during a trip to Sydney for state championships.

Arlow asked the coaches she met with, “Who do you guys have to talk to?” It was this question that sparked the idea for the group.

The Mentoring GALS Gang started as a WhatsApp group and has since grown into weekly catch-ups, deep-dives on technical discussion and analysis, as well as guest speakers offering the group fresh perspectives and ideas.

The main objective of the group is to share knowledge and work towards a one-team support network.

“We want to make Diving Australia better and we want to feel like we’re doing that together. We’re not in competition with each other. We can work together to make things better,” Arlow said.

Already, the group has fostered a greater sense of community within the sport. “They all know each other better now. So when we see each other on pool deck, you already feel close.” Arlow believes this sense of community is particularly important for retaining new coaches entering the sport. “They’re going to be more likely to come to you with problems or questions,” she explained.

The network gives coaches the confidence to ask questions in a community that understands their unique challenges. “We’re trying to help them know that they can ask any question and that we’re all there to support each other.”

Building Relationships Through Networks 

Mark Hager, the National Women’s Athlete Pathway Coach at Hockey Australia, saw a similar need for connection. “The coaches would go to Nationals and we’d notice the lack of connection with each other,” Hager said.

Hager created the network to build stronger relationships among coaches in the sport. The group was initially targeted at coaches in elite roles but later expanded to include club and state-level coaches.

“We set it up basically to try and get a few more connections and say ‘Hey, there’s more of us out there that we can talk to’,” Hager said.

The group focuses on both tactical development and personal growth opportunities for coaches. Guest speakers are brought in to share insights and technical analysis sessions are a regular and key part of the program.

Ilene Carr is one of many coaches who have been impacted by the group. “The group is spread right around the country and it’s a really great opportunity to establish those connections, but also learn from that group of women,” Carr said.

The group has also enabled Carr to gain new perspectives through sessions that look beyond Hockey. “There’s an opportunity to not just talk about hockey, but other sports and other topics for women in sport.”

“Mark’s always looking for or challenging the group around what is it you want to know. What are the gaps in your learning? So, this is a great way of being able to say to Mark, ‘Look, I don’t know enough about this.’ You get to tap into resources that you can’t normally access.”

The network is having an incredible impact by creating lasting relationships between coaches in the sport.

“You see them talking at National Championships now or they’ll come to me and say ‘hi’,” Hager said. “It’s helped them recognise that they’re not alone. They have other people they can reach out to within the system.”

Tapping Into Existing Networks 

SASI’s network started with an informal coffee-catch-up group, organised by Rowing coach, Christine MacLaren. Keren Faulkner, then the Performance Services Manager at SASI and now the Director, saw the success of the group and helped build it into the Women Coach and Leaders Network.

“What they were doing was a terrific job of just connecting, sharing their ideas and stories, and just giving each other some encouragement and confidence. So, I realised that would be great to do on a bigger scale at SASI and bring in some other sports,” Faulkner said.

Part of Faulkner’s decision to champion the group came after a head coach role was advertised at SASI and received no female applicants. After speaking with coaches, Faulkner found that many of them didn’t believe they would be suitable for the role or be considered if they did apply.

“That made me think we’ve got to do something about this. One of the reasons we wanted to build the group into something bigger was that I realised there was a big gap,” Faulkner said. “I felt like the biggest problem was confidence, encouragement, network and recognition of the people that are already there.”

The network that started with coffee-catch-ups has grown into more formal sessions and uses the power of storytelling to connect the group and start important conversations. Guest speakers regularly attend, including the Governor of South Australia, Her Excellency Frances Adamson, Tania Obst, the Thunderbirds netball coach and Olympic gold medallist, Juliet Haslam.

Like the groups started by Hockey and Diving, the SASI network has led to a greater sense of community and collaboration among members.

“What we have seen is those people connect in really meaningful ways when they need some help. For example, when they’re going for a job interview or when they come up against a problem, there are more people to ask for advice,” Faulkner said.

The group also aims to take what they’ve learned into new environments. “If there’s a thread or a theme during the meeting which feels important to the group, we’ll try and capture and understand what that is,” said Mick Nelson, the AIS High Performance Coach Development Lead who oversees the running of the group. “We’re endeavouring to capture the essence of the message or story that we heard and then see if we can take that into ten or fifteen different environments.”

At one meeting, the topic of children in high performance sport came up. The group then went back to their own sport or club to start the conversation, “Do we have a family friendly environment?”

SASI’s approach shows that the impact of these networks can extend far beyond the immediate members of the group.

A Vision for the Future 

The success of these networks highlights the impact of creating spaces for coaches to collaborate, share learnings and build relationships. But their impact will continue to evolve and grow.

Nelson sees the SASI Coach Connect group sparking smaller, coach specific groups, creating more opportunities for coaches to benefit from networks.

Hager hopes to link Hockey’s female coaches to their international peers. “I’d like to think that we can take it worldwide and we can tap into other female programs around the world and other female coaches within hockey and get their experiences,” Hager said.

Arlow has a similar goal of seeing the Mentoring GALS Gang include international networking opportunities. While Arlow was overseas earlier this year for the World Championships, another member of the group coached her squad while she was away. Arlow hopes to see more coach exchange opportunities like this happen as a result of the trust being built amongst the group. “I think that learning is worth its weight in gold, getting to know each other better and growing in confidence through that,” Arlow said. Eventually, she hopes to see an overseas coach swap happen.

The key takeaway for other organisations looking to create their own networks? Keep the group targeted and listen to members.  “Find out what they really want to hear and what they really want to be part of,” Hager said.

“I think it doesn’t need to get too big. It needs to be the right amount of people so that you do have space to speak,” Arlow said. Faulkner notes that smaller, targeted groups prevent these networks from losing their impact.

These small, targeted networks are driving real change for women in coaching through the connections they ignite.

As Carr, the member of Hockey’s network says, “These groups, where they [coaches] can learn off one another and know they can share their experiences and their challenges and work through them, assists in keeping women within the coaching sphere and maintaining their connection to the sport.”

Less than 10% of Australia’s top funded High Performance sports are led by female head coaches. Job share arrangements play a critical role in enabling coaches to stay in sport and continue to produce performance results.

Australian Sailing and the Victorian Institute of Sport [VIS] have both created job share arrangements for head coaches that have had a positive impact on the entire organisation.

Job Share in Action 

When Carolijn Brouwer was first offered the role of a full-time coaching position with Australian Sailing she turned it down.

It was a difficult decision for Brouwer to make. The squad she would be coaching was strong, with a “good, passionate, motivated group of girls” Brouwer said. But the travel required for the role wasn’t sustainable for her family.

Brouwer’s partner, Darren Bundock is the Australian National Coach for the Nacra Class. So both Brouwer and Bundock would be travelling for many of the same events, spending significant time away from home and away from their son.

Brouwer’s story could have ended there, if Michael Blackburn, the Technical Director of Australian Sailing, hadn’t come back to Brouwer with a question. “Have you ever heard of a job sharing agreement?”

Brouwer, now National Head Coach for the ILCA6 Class, splits her coaching responsibilities with another coach, Ben Walkemeyer, Ilca who she refers to as her “other half.”

The job share arrangement with Walkemeyer, means they can split travel time, enabling Brouwer to take on the role.

The impact on Brouwer is significant. “It means that I can keep pursuing my goals and my dreams in the sport that I love,” she said.

A job share arrangement also offered Stacia Strain, head coach of the VIS Women’s Hockey Program and National Under 21 Program, the ability to return to her role after maternity leave.

Strain assumed she would be required to take on a full-time position after her maternity leave. Afterall, that’s how the position had always been filled. But instead, Strain was offered the flexibility she needed to come back, through a job share arrangement.

The arrangement has had a big impact on Strain. “It’s just allowed me to have a better balance in my life,” Strain said.

“You do spend a lot of time away,” Strain explained of the travel involved in high performance sport. “Three to four weeks at a time. So then when I come home, I’ve got a better balance in terms of being able to spend more time at home.”

“They made me feel valued. They included me because everyone’s different and everyone’s needs and wants are different.”

The job share arrangement has also given Strain the space to continue to invest in her own personal development. “I’ve done a lot of PD work in terms of leadership development and coaching.”

Job Share Benefits the Entire Team

Job share arrangements, like Strain and Brouwers’, benefits more than just the coaches. Job share allow coaches to collaborate and bring two sets of unique strengths and insights to the role.

Strain has observed that the shared coaching arrangement offers athletes the opportunity to “ask for feedback from different people and understand different communication styles.”

Strain also believes shared coaching fosters an environment that values learning and a growth mindset. It offers athletes the opportunity to see two people work together collaboratively. “I think it’s important, them seeing me be able to take on feedback and change and evolve as a person,” Strain said.

Brouwers has noticed similar benefits for the athletes she coaches. The athletes can learn from “different people that have different areas of expertise within the sport,” she said. Walkemeyer has more experience coaching the ILCA6 Class and Brouwer has more experience at the Olympic level, having been to three games.

“We complement each other, we learn from each other. You bounce ideas off each other. It’s a huge learning environment for everyone,” Brouwers said.

“It sounds really cheesy to say the team together achieves more. But that is really the case.”

The squad has also achieved great performance outcomes during the job share, with all four athletes in the squad making it into the top ten world rankings at different times.

Strain’s job share arrangement also enabled one of the coaches, who provided her maternity cover, to further his development and experience. “By stepping into that role with Stacia he made the transition to being a full-time coach and that’s allowed him to move onto another career opportunity in Australia,” Dave Crosbee, Director of High Performance at the VIS, said. “It’s helped develop other team members.”

Leadership Plays a Critical Role 

Leadership plays a crucial role in implementing job share arrangements and ensuring their success. Crosbee, for example, was a key advocate in offering Strain flexibility.

Strain says that Crosbee and the VIS never assumed what she needed, they asked. “There was a lot of curiosity as to ‘how can we make this work.’”

Key to the success of these job share arrangements is a collaborative approach. “I was really involved in finding someone to job share and creating the role,” Strain said.

“They were really curious to understand what I needed,” Strain said. “It wasn’t cut and dry.” Instead, they asked, “How we can make this work for your individually?”

For Crosbee, there was no question Strain would be provided flexibility.

“It’s a no brainer if you’ve got somebody you value, you put in place processes and environments to allow them to continue in their role,” Crosbee said.

“We value Stacia and the role she’s providing as a coach is really important. Her as a person is really important to us. So we need to find out how we can support her to go through this process.”

“The sport, not just the VIS, has retained a talented female coach and she’s been able to continue to develop her career. And the athletes in the VIS program have had minimal disruption to the support they’ve received coaching.”

Looking to the Future 

Strain was initially surprised at the level of flexibility and support the VIS were eager to provide upon her return to work. “I hadn’t seen it done before. I was the first job share in our network [both hockey and the VIS].” As Strain says, “If you don’t see it, you don’t believe it.”

But Strain notes an increase in these types of arrangements. “There’s a lot more females now job sharing, working part-time.” Strain was also able to share her experience when a female coach from another institute came to her with questions. “I spoke to her at length about how the process worked with me […] and about how to have the conversation and who to speak to.”

On advice to other organisations, Crosbee says, “Listen, ask questions and be open to what the possibilities are.”

Strain agrees that for these arrangements to work, they need to be collaborative, and encourages coaches to advocate through solutions. “Don’t go in with the question, go in with the answer, a solution.”

Crosbee sees creating inclusive environments for coaches to return to work as a critical issue.

“If we don’t address it, we’re essentially closing off the talent pool. We’re shutting the talent pool off by 50% because if there’s no option for females to have children and continue coaching, why would they even step into that coaching space? And that’s just a massive loss for the sporting world and the athletes,” said Crosbee.

Brouwers’ story is a testament to that. Without the ability to split travel time with a coaching partner, she would have had to turn down the role. “It [job share] gives me the opportunity to stay in the sport a lot longer than I maybe initially envisaged,” she said.

Job share arrangements offer coaches the flexibility needed to remain in sport. They play a critical role in addressing the underrepresentation of women in coaching roles and can benefit the entire organisation.

As Strain says, “If we want more females  involved in [HP coaching], then they’re going to have to do things differently. So have the courage to do it.”

Leaders: Anne Marie Harrison, ex-Victorian Institute of Sport CEO, Matti Clements, Executive General Manager of AIS Performance, Kim Crane, CEO, Paddle Australia.

Other speakers: Bill Tait, General Manager, Performance Systems and Paralympic Pathways, AIS.

Anne Marie reflects on the decline of female coaches in her career and emphasises the need for a diverse coaching population to improve performance at all levels. She has been a mentor for Bill Tait, who credits Anne Marie for teaching him the importance of balancing firm expectations with care and kindness. Matti, together with Anne Marie highlights the significance of the Win Well strategy, which aims to foster a healthy culture and increase diversity in coaching. She also shares a personal anecdote about their husband's involvement in coaching, illustrating the positive impact of a family-friendly environment. Both leaders emphasise that a diverse coaching population benefits everyone and is crucial for sustainable performance.

Coaches: Myriam Fox-Jerusalmi, National Slalom Coach, Paddle Australia; Bec Rippon, Stingers Head Coach, Water Polo Australia.

Other speakers: Keesja Gofers, Australian Water Polo Athlete; Sara Latham, Manager of Performance Operation, Canoe Slalom, Water Polo Australia.

Bek and Myriam are truly inspiring changemakers in the world of sports! Bec's achievements as both an athlete and a coach, especially her calm and composed demeanour, have clearly had a significant impact on her team. Her ability to communicate a vision and embrace the individuality of her athletes is indeed a superpower.

Myriam’s journey from an elite athlete to a coach who champions gender equality in Canoe Slalom is equally impressive. Her efforts to push boundaries and ensure equal opportunities for women in sports are commendable. It's great to hear how she has mentored others and helped them find their voice in a male-dominated sport.

Coaches: Stacey Marinkovich (Diamonds Head Coach), Stacey Peters (Women & Girls Pathway Manager, Golf Australia), Lauren Arnell (Port Adelaide Football Club, AFLW Head Coach)

Other speakers: Tony Meyer, High Performance Director, Golf Australia

The three coaches address the challenges and significance of parental leave policies for women in high-performance sports coaching. They emphasize the obstacles women encounter in balancing family and career, and the necessity for supportive policies to enable them to excel in both roles. Stacey, Stacey, and Lauren share personal experiences of receiving support while coaching and managing motherhood, highlighting the importance of flexible working arrangements and the inclusion of family in the professional environment. They also stress the importance of having both male and female leaders as role models and the positive impact of increased female representation in high-performance sports.