PANEL MEMBERS

Dave is Sport NZ’s Head of Strategic Foresight responsible for helping the sector to be ready for and resilient to future change. He is a practicing and published futurist, with qualifications from the Houston University and Metafutures Business School. This adds to an earlier Victoria University degree in business and Masters in recreation and leisure.

A long-serving member of Sport NZ, Dave has had leadership roles across events, investment, policy, relationship management and sector capability, and was advisor to the Minister for sport for a couple of years.

Nigel Avery is an Olympian, five-time Commonwealth Games medallist, and New Zealand Team Chef de Mission.

He was born into a keen sporting family, beginning his career as a shot putter and a triple jumper before transitioning to bobsleigh and then weightlifting. Nigel picked up two bronze medals at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games and two gold and a silver four years later at Manchester 2002.

Since then, he has remained involved in sport through Governance and coaching roles, notably as Auckland Weightlifting President from 2004-2008, and as Millennium Institute of Sport & Health High Performance Manager from 2003-2008.

More recently Nigel led the New Zealand Team to the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games as Chef de Mission, overseeing the team’s most successful ever offshore Games. In the role Avery brought a particular focus to athlete wellbeing and helped to foster and grow the team’s unique culture of manaaki. He will also lead the New Zealand Team to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Mel Bosman has a deep sense of passion and pride for sport having reached an elite level in athletics, netball and rugby. The latter became her primary focus representing New Zealand at international level and competing at two Rugby world cups (2006, 2010) over a career with the Black Ferns spanning 10 years.

Working for 12 years in a professional career globally on offshore oil rigs as a wellsite geologist as well as being a Black Fern proved challenging but rewarding.

Mel completed HPSNZ’s Te Hāpaitanga coaching programme and was Super Rugby Aupiki Blues assistant coach 2022. Now residing in Tasman, she is head coach for the Tasman Mako Women rugby team since 2020.

Max made his Olympic Games debut for New Zealand in Tokyo partnering with Kurtis Imrie in the K2 1000m event and finishing 5th.

Kurtis Imrie and Max Brown's breakthrough K2 performance in Tokyo was significant not just due the excitement and success of a fifth placing, but because it is representative of a growth and development within the men’s national squad over the past 18 months.

Hailing from Whanganui, Max has undertaken a Masters of Business Management at Waikato University. He is an accomplished musician and between training sessions teaches music to school students in Cambridge.

Lewis Clareburt set the pool alight to lead a fantastic New Zealand swim team campaign at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The Wellingtonian won two gold medals (400m IM, 200m fly) and one bronze medal (200m IM) as he set the tone for the swim team which won nine medals. Four years earlier Clareburt won bronze in the 400 IM at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Tokyo 2020 was Lewis's debut Olympic campaign, placing 7th in the 400 IM and 8th in the 200 IM. He is also a World Championship medallist, claiming bronze in the men's 400m IM in 2019. He trains under coach Gary Hollywood and is studying towards a Bachelor of Commerce at Victoria University.

Kendra is a former Black Fern in both Sevens and 15s, as well as playing five years as a first class cricketer for Central Districts.

In 2013 Kendra was a member of the Black Fern sevens, winning the Women's Sevens World Series that year. The Black Ferns have won a total of 6 World Cups, Kendra has been a member in 3 of the Rugby World Cup winning squads, the 2010, 2017 and 2021 squads.

In 2018 Kendra became the first woman to receive the Kelvin Tremain Memorial Award for Player of the Year at the New Zealand Rugby awards.

In the 2021 New year’s Honours, she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to rugby.

Natalie Cook is one of Australia's most decorated athletes, most well known for her five Olympics appearances, an Olympic gold and bronze medal in the sport of beach volleyball. Nat exudes passion when it comes to the Olympic Games and was a driving force behind the Brisbane 2032 candidature. She served as president of the Queensland Olympic Council for over 10 years, Nat has recently Stepped down to give her all as a director of the BRISBANE 2032 Board.

Nat was an Executive Director of Elite Success and Partnerships with the Sport and Recreation department for the Queensland Government, working across a diverse portfolio with the Queensland Academy of Sport. She now works as a part of Team Deloitte (a new IOC TOP sponsor) on all things Sport. But her deep purpose and passion still sits with supporting the athlete in their pursuit of their Olympic Dreams.

Natalie was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia and has been inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame, Sports Australia Hall of Fame and Queensland Sports Hall of Fame.

Marcus is an Olympic bronze medallist tennis player with 5 ATP titles, quarterfinal appearances at both Wimbledon and the Australian Open (twice), and numerous caps for the NZ Davis Cup Team.

He has been Giving Effectively since 2014. On January 4th, 2021, Marcus took the Giving What we Can pledge to donate at least 10% of his annual winnings to effective organisations for the rest of his life.

Alongside his tennis career, Marcus has completed a B.A. from Massey University in Psychology and Spanish and has been awarded the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for his work with High Impact Athletes, joining recipients such as Nelson Mandela and Roger Federer.

Julian, who is now settled full-time in New Zealand, has spent the past 25 years abroad, embedded in international pro-cycling teams as an athlete, coach, mentor, sport director and in management roles.

Over the course of his impressive professional cycling career (1997-2012) Julian competed in four Olympic Games before moving into management and director roles with GreenEDGE Cycling from 2013-2021.

His experiences have been vast and varying in many of the world's most competitive and demanding high performing environments. Julian believes in creating a good team culture with a strong values system by empowering those within the organisation and ensuring member welfare is at the core.

Angie Dougal is the coach of Olympic bronze medallist and world champion trampolinist Dylan Schmidt, who she has coached since he was six years old.

Angie was a trampoline athlete from 1982-1996 winning World Age Group and World Open medals for New Zealand. She began coaching gymnastics in 1987 and trampoline in 1988 and is a FIG (International Governing Body for Gymnastics) Level 3 coach

Angie is primary teacher trained and has also worked as Personal Development Manager - Black Ferns and Development Sevens at New Zealand Rugby from 2018 – 2022. She was a Board Member of Gymnastics NZ from 2017 – 2020.

Seven years after playing a solitary test as a 19 year old, Sulu Fitzpatrick made a remarkable return to the Silver Ferns in 2018.

Sulu was appointed Silver Ferns vice-captain in 2021, a position she retained for her first Commonwealth Games campaign in Birmingham in 2022 where the Silver Ferns won Bronze.

Sulu competed for Samoa in rugby sevens at the 2015 New Zealand Women's Sevens Series.

At the NZ netball awards in 2021 she won the Dame Lois Muir Supreme Award – the highest individual accolade amongst NZ Netballers

Sulu has played 27 tests for the Silver Ferns and is currently studying a Master of Arts in Sociology focusing on Pacific women in Sport.

DJ was appointed General Manager of the newly established Athlete Leaders Network in 2022.

As an athletes DJ captained the All Blacks Sevens team, leading it to a gold medal at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games and silver at Glasgow 2014. He was also in the squad which placed fifth at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Forbes is an iconic player who debuted for the national team in 2006. He featured in 89 World Series tournaments and played in a record 512 World Series games, scoring 153 tries along the way. He is New Zealand's most capped Sevens player and is renowned for his physicality and bustling defence. He retired in 2017.

DJ was named International Sevens Player of the Year in 2008 and New Zealand Sevens player of the Year in 2007, 2008, 2014 and 2017.

Boxer Troy Garton is a Commonwealth Games bronze medallist. At Gold Coast 2018, she competed for the first time at the Commonwealth Games, winning bronze in the under 60Kg category.

Troy came to elite boxing later in life, with her start coming from corporate boxing. Now, she is New Zealand's 2016 and 2017 Gold Gloves champion. She also finished with silver at the 2016 and 2017 Golden Gloves Championships and with gold at the 2017 Trans-Tasman Championships. In 2018 Garton won against the USA number three at the New Zealand vs USA Select event in Houston, Texas.

Garton grew up in Auckland and is of Ngapuhi, Ngati Hine and Fijian-New Zealand descent.

April Heinrichs (born February 27, 1964) is an American former professional soccer player and coach. She was among the first players on the United States women's national soccer team, and was captain of the United States team which won the first ever FIFA Women's World Cup in 1991. She finished her international playing career with 46 caps and 35 goals. In 1998 she became the first female player inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Heinrich coached the USA women's team from 2000 to 2004, under her tenure team USA finished third in 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup, won silver medal at Sydney 2000, and gold medal at Athens 2004 Olympics.

More recently she has performance a diverse range of roles for both the U.S. Soccer Federation and FIFA.

Tokyo 2020 was Malcolm's first Olympic Games, having achieved the marathon qualifying standard by slashing nearly four minutes from his personal best with 2:10:04 at the Seville Marathon in Spain, making him the fourth fastest Kiwi ever to run a marathon.

A latecomer to the marathon, the 35-year-old previously ran in shorter distances and has made great strides since dedicated himself to the marathon just five years ago.

A member of the Wesley Athletic and Harrier Club in Auckland, he is now living in London but is still coached by New Zealand-based Paul Hamblyn. Malcolm combines his running career with a fulltime job for a multinational engineering firm.

Julie is the Lead Governance and Planning Consultant at Sport NZ.

Her role is sector facing, overseeing the design and delivery of best practice governance resources and support including frameworks and assessment programmes.

The overall outcome is to have sector boards confidently, efficiently, and sustainably demonstrating governance accountability and organisational performance to key stakeholders. It is also a buzz when she sees them getting enjoyment and satisfaction from their mostly voluntary contributions as a result.

In her off-time Julie is currently overseeing the planned delivery of her first grandchild. A very exciting time.

Luuka Jones competed in her fourth Olympic Games at Tokyo 2020. The Tauranga born paddler won a historic silver medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, New Zealand's first ever Olympic medal in canoe slalom.

She became New Zealand's first female canoe slalom Olympian at the Beijing Games in 2008, where she placed 21st and competed at the London 2012 Olympic Games where she placed 14th. She is coached by former USA paddler Michal Smolen. Away from canoe slalom, Luuka loves all water sports and most outdoor pursuits.

Duane Kale won six medals and broke four world records in swimming at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games. He was the Team Manager at the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games and Chef de Mission for the New Zealand Paralympic team at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Games.

Since then, Duane has taken on many lead roles in governance and compliance. In 2013 he was elected to the International Paralympic Committee Governing Board and four years later became Vice President. He was an elected member of Paralympics New Zealand for eleven years and was appointed by the International Olympic Committee to the Evaluation Commission for the 2004 Paralympic and Olympic Games.

Sione is a current All Black Sevens player.

Sione has played 202 times for the All Black Sevens team and has been to two Commonwealth Games, two World Cups and two Olympic Games.

Sione won a Commonwealth Games Gold Medal in 2018 on the Gold Coast and a bronze medal from Birmingham last year. He has a Rugby World Cup Sevens title in 2018 to go with a bronze from last year and an Olympic silver medal from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Sione is in his final year of a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Mathematics.

Cardrona NZ National Adaptive Snowboard Team member Carl Murphy was born with only one and a half legs but that hasn’t stopped him getting up on a snowboard and competing internationally.

Carl represented New Zealand in Para snowboard cross as the Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. He was recognised as Snow Sports NZ’s Overall Athlete of the Year in 2013.

In his spare time Carl is an architectural designer, husband and father.

Nicole has been in the Paralympics NZ Para Cycling programme since 2015.

She medalled in her first international event, the 2018 UCI Para Cycling Track World Championships in Rio de Janeiro and has enjoyed continued international success. Riding with a C5 classification, her left hand amputated below the wrist, she rides with some modifications and adaptions on her bikes.

Nicole represented New Zealand at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games in track and road race events. She won gold, her first road medal, at the Elzach 2022 Para Cycling World Cup in 2022 and followed that almost immediately with a silver and bronze medal at the Para Cycling Road World Championships.
Later in 2022, Nicole won two gold medals and a bronze at the Para Cycling Track World Championships, making her a double world champion.

Craig Palmer joined HPSNZ in September 2022 after 15 years with Cycling New Zealand (CNZ), where he worked successfully as both a sports scientist and head coach.

Craig has coached both the women’s and men’s endurance teams during his time at CNZ, including two-time World Champion Alison Shanks, double Olympic medallist Hayden Roulston and Tokyo silver medallist Campbell Stewart. He led the men’s endurance team through the Tokyo Olympic Games and Birmingham Commonwealth Games in before joining HPSNZ last year.

Kieran played rugby for New Zealand from 2008 to 2019. He is the forth-most-capped All Black in history, having played 128 tests. Read captained New Zealand 52 times, 2^nd only to Richie McCaw.

He won the New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year in 2010 and 2013 and the IRB

World Player of the Year in 2013 and was a key member of New Zealand's 2011 and 2015 World Cup-winning teams.

In the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours, Read was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to rugby.

Angus has been working in elite sport in both NZ (HPSNZ) and Australia (AIS & QAS) since 1998. His roles at Olympic level have included Sport Science Support, Coach, Strength & Conditioner and athlete. Between 1998 and 2016 he has worked with athletes across a multitude of sports in every Summer and Winter Olympics and since 2016 in every Summer Olympics.

Angus is currently working in both an S&C/power physiology role (largely with Athletics but also advising in other sports) and has a role within the Performance Pathways team. Notable current campaigns Angus is working with include Tom Walsh and Emma Twigg.

Angus has a PhD in Exercise Physiology and competed at three Winter Olympic Games (Bobsleigh 1998, 2002, 2006).

Katie Sadleir joined the Commonwealth Games Federation from World Rugby, where she was General Manager of Women’s Rugby.

A Commonwealth Games medallist and an Olympian, Katie has a wealth of experience as both an athlete and sports administrator. She represented New Zealand in synchronised swimming at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games and the Edinburgh 1986 Commonwealth Games, winning bronze in the later event. She served as the Assistant Chef de Mission New Zealand at the Victoria 1994 Commonwealth Games and has attended six editions of the Games.

Katie led the establishment of the New Zealand Academy of Sport network in the late 1990s before becoming General Manager of Sport and Recreation New Zealand (now Sport New Zealand) from 2000-2006.

She has held directorships and senior leadership positions with a number of organisations including High Performance Sport New Zealand and the New Zealand Swimming Federation.

Dylan Schmidt won the 2022 World Championships in men's trampoline, and the bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. It was New Zealand's first ever Olympic gymnastics medal.

Schmidt made his Olympic debut at Rio 2016, becoming the first ever New Zealander to compete in trampoline at the Olympic Games, and finishing 7th.

Schmidt works at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and is an Olympic Ambassador visiting schools around New Zealand to talk about his sporting journey and inspire children to lead healthier, more active lives.

Megan is a member of the NZ Team as well as a coach and a Women & Youth development mentor.

She has been competing in weightlifting for 10 years and represented New Zealand for the first time in 2017. Megan was selected for the Gold Coast and Birmingham Commonwealth Games teams as well as the Tokyo Olympic Games. Originally from the Waikato (Matamata) having had little sporting experience until she was 23, Megan learnt a lot from being among high performers of all sports. She has placed herself in multiple positions to express the athletes voice including other sport’s international federation Athletes Committee, its domestic Athletes Committee and now the Athlete Leaders Network which has been really rewarding.

For Megan, being a high performance athlete has not only been rich as an athlete but also as a vehicle to work in youth development, women in sport health and wellbeing, and mentoring others in their journeys.

Kereyn Smith is a Director and Consultant, who recently completed a successful 11 year tenure as CEO of the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) and has joined Cycling NZ as a Transition Director for 12 months.

Bringing a strong focus on integrity, athlete wellbeing and governance Kereyn provided strong and stable leadership and oversight for NZ Team campaigns spanning three Olympiads. This included Summer Games (London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020), Winter Games (Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, Beijing 2022) and two Commonwealth Games (Glasgow 2014, Gold Coast 2018).

Kereyn is a Vice President of the Commonwealth Games Federation where she chairs the Sport Committee and the Coordination Commission for the 2026 Victoria Commonwealth Games. She has served on the IOC Sport and Active Society Commission and was member of the IOC Evaluation Commission for the 2024 and 2028 Olympic Host City.

Kereyn was awarded the 2022 ISPS Handa Sport NZ Leadership Award, and in 2023 New Year’s Honours was named a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to sports governance. She has also received international acclaim for advocacy work to increase the participation of women in sport across all roles and functions.

Jane is a powerhouse of knowledge and experience in adaptive snow sports, having specialised in the industry for over 35 years. She plays a critical leadership role with the New Zealand High Performance Para Programme, and is currently the Snow Sports NZ Para High Performance Programme and Pathway Manager. Jane has coached in New Zealand and around the world.

Jane was the NZ head coach at the 2006 Torino Paralympic Winter Games. She was then the Head Coach for the British Disabled team for the Vancouver Paralympic cycle. Since moving back to NZ and to Snow Sports NZ she has been "go to" person for Adaptive snow sports in New Zealand. Jane works with athletes from the first-time experience on snow, through to becoming the best skiers and snowboarders in the world. She was the assistant coach at the 2018 PyeongChang Paralympic Winter Games and led the team to the 2022 Beijing Paralympic Winter Games as the Chief de Mission.

Jane sits on several FIS committees and is also the Course Manager for NZSIA for Adaptive instructor training.

Liam is a springboard diver and part of the NZ team. He has competed in the past three Commonwealth Games and is a contender for Paris 2024.

Liam spent four years based in the US at the University of Tennessee where he obtained a Bachelor of Science in Education majoring in Kinesiology. He was honoured to be named the captain of the swim and dive team in his senior year, as well as winning the NCAA championships in 2016. Currently, Liam works as a fitness instructor as well as coaching junior divers part time.

Paralympian Anna Taylor came into Para cycling following and injury (Acute Cauda Equina Syndrome – severe prolapse that compressed the spinal cord) and subsequent Paralympics NZ Training Camp.

She had a history as a highly accomplished rower prior to her injury. She took up Para cycling in 2018 and made her Paralympic debut at Tokyo 2020, lacing 5th in the Women’s C4 3000m Individual Pursuit and 8th in the Women’s C4 500m Time Trial.

She went on to win two bronze medals at the 2022 Para Cycling Track World Championships.

Marty has always been passionate about sport and has spent his working life immersed in high performance sport.

He has worked with individual athletes and teams at club, provincial and international levels as a coach, fitness trainer, sport scientist, HP Manager, HP systems designer and sports administrator.

Marty is currently the Chief Executive of Winter Games NZ, is a HPSNZ Board Member and is the NZ Team Chef de Mission for the 2024 Gangwon Youth Olympic Winter Games and 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games. He also led the New Zealand Team to the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, overseeing our most successful ever Winter Olympic campaign.

Marty’s specialties include strategic thinking, performance planning, relationship management, creating an environment that allows athletes to succeed and maintaining a positive performance culture.

Gordon is one half of one of sport’s most successful coach-athlete partnerships, as the long term coach of Dame Lisa Carrington (5 gold and 1 bronze Olympic medals). He has won Coach of the Year at the Halberg Awards four times and was named Coach of the Decade 2010-2020.

Gordon was given the role of intern coach with Canoe Racing NZ in early 2010 and has been part of the High Performance Programme since then. After the 2016 Olympic Games he moved into a lead coach role responsible for the NZ women’s squad to perform in K1, K2 and K4 boats.

Gordon has a keen interest in many sports and has coached a variety of sports including cycling, running, swimming, kayaking, triathlon and multisport. He is also a three-time winner of the Coast to Coast multisport race.

Sam has had a celebrated career on the track - career highlights include winning an Olympic silver medal in 2016 as part of the men's team sprint, four Commonwealth Games gold medals (8 Commonwealth medals in total) and three World Championship gold medals (6 World Championship medals in total).

After a 14 year career on the track, Sam joined Kerridge & Partners in late 2022 as an Associate Consultant in the executive search practice.

Damian has been working in high performance sport for more than eight years, completing his PhD research as part of his role with the Cycling NZ track programme.

He has been coaching athletes across several sports since the late 90s, with an emphasis on all disciplines of cycling in particular, track sprint. Damian has contributed to multiple World Championship, Commonwealth and Olympic medal winning performances.

He is the Para cycling hub coach for the Waikato region, working with track and road athletes and supporting the Para cycling head coach. Damian also delivers performance science support to the Para cycling programme.

Phillip Wilson is an Olympic gold medallist, claiming the top podium spot at Tokyo 2020 alongside his crewmates in the men's eight who won New Zealand's first gold medal in the men's eight since 1972.

Tokyo was Phillip's first Olympic Games.

He hails from Wellington where he began his rowing at Wellington College before moving to Cambridge in 2018 after making the elite team.