Understanding women coaches’ experiences of navigating high-performance coaching pathways in a New Zealand context

Women remain underrepresented in high-performance (HP) coaching despite increasing investment in gender equity and women-focused coach development initiatives. This qualitative study explored how six women coaches navigated HP coaching pathways within a New Zealand HP sporting context. New Zealand provides a valuable context for this exploration, given its small and centralised HP system and limited coaching opportunities within Olympic and Paralympic sports. Semi-structured interviews were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, generating three interrelated themes: navigating progression within HP coaching systems; learning and development through relational and experiential pathways; and opportunities for more inclusive coaching pathways. This work illustrates the impact of pathways on women coaches in a sport with only one or two top teams, one head coach and limited progression opportunities. Participants described progression as shaped by interacting relational, organisational and structural influences. Mentoring, sponsorship and experiential learning supported confidence, development and access to opportunities, while caregiving demands, gendered expectations, informal progression processes and challenges to credibility influenced coaching careers. Participants identified opportunities to improve pathway transparency, flexibility, and inclusive environments. The findings add contextual nuance to existing research by illustrating how limited coaching opportunities within a small, interconnected HP environment may heighten the influence of visibility, professional relationships, and organisational practices on women's progression. Supporting women's progression requires attention not only to individual coach development, but to relational and organisational environments through which learning and progression occur. The study provides grounded insights from one Olympic team sport that may inform women's HP coaching pathways in other sporting contexts.