World Rugby has appointed one of the Directors of High Performance Sport in New Zealand to the new role of General Manager for Women’s Rugby.
The appointment of Kate Sadleir is a critical one for Ireland with Dublin and Belfast hosting the Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2017.
Sadleir represented New Zealand in synchronised swimming at the 1984 Olympic Games and won a medal in the same sport at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. She will take up the new role on 1 November, 2016.
She brings with her a wealth of experience in sports and sports governance.
As the GM Sport, she was involved in the transformation of New Zealand’s High Performance System over the past two decades to a position where it won four gold, nine silver and five bronze medals in Rio, despite a population less than Ireland’s.
High Performance
From 2009-2015 she held directorships with both Sport New Zealand and High Performance Sport New Zealand.
She has also served as Director with the International Association of Elite Sport Training Centres, a board member on the New Zealand Swimming Federation and a New Zealand Olympic Athletes’ Commission committee member.
Sadleir, who lived in Canada before moving to New Zealand, will be responsible for the development of the women’s global game, increasing participation numbers and will have input into the women’s high-performance strategy.
Excited
“I’m very excited about joining the team at World Rugby and contributing to a truly global sport,” she said.
“My focus will be on moving the women’s game forward and capitalising on the global excitement and potential following rugby’s involvement in the Olympic Games last month.
“One third of all participants from our Get Into Rugby programmes are women and the aim is to keep these participants in the game as registered players. This will involve developing competition pathways at both national and international level, as well as improving the performance of national teams. I’m really looking forward to engaging with all our unions as well as learning from other sports that have positively developed women’s sport.”
Calibre
“It’s great to see someone of Katie’s calibre join the team at World Rugby, and bring a wealth of experience to the Women’s GM role,” added World Rugby Women’s Advisory Committee chairman and Australian Rugby Union CEO, Bill Pulver.
“With the massive lift given to the women’s game from the Olympics and Women’s Rugby World Cup 2017 less than a year away, she has all the attributes to ensure the continued sustainable growth and success of women’s rugby.”
