Harvey Norman NSW Sky Blues head coach Kylie Hilder and assistant Ruan Sims are among the first intake of female coaches to graduate from the Women In Sports Leadership program.

Earlier this week at the Ignite HQ Centre of Excellence, 13 elite female coaches representing Rugby League, Rugby Union, Athletics and Football, were celebrated for completing a 20-week pilot program.

The program was designed by NSWRL in collaboration with UNE Partnerships, offering both online learning and four two-day face-face workshops to elite female coaches. 

Also in attendance to congratulate the graduates were Stuart Ayres MP, NSW Blues coach Brad Fittler and Channel Nine sports reporter Emma Lawrence. 

NSWRL chief executive, David Trodden, said: “This is an opportunity that not many people have to get this kind of experience.”

“The Australian sporting sector has the potential to become a leader in gender equity, but to achieve this we need to enhance the recruitment and retention of women leaders, coaches and match officials.

“We hope this program will help enable women to explore greater career opportunities. 

“It not only supports the development of the women’s Rugby League competition; it promotes the advancement of women into senior coaching and leadership roles in other sports and workplaces too,” Trodden said.

NSWRL female pathways manager and NSW Sky Blues women’s origin coach, Kylie Hilder, added: “I work in a very male-dominated environment in Rugby League and we need more women coaches at all levels,” she said.

“They need the opportunities, but also the tools to gain the confidence to take up those opportunities. 

“Rugby League is evolving.

“It’s no longer just about the men and women are highly capable of assuming leadership roles within women’s and men’s teams.

“What we have learnt during this program will be valuable in our professional but also our personal lives,” Hilder said.

UNE Partnerships chief executive officer, Benjamin Gilmore, said as a result of the success of the program, a second course will be offered from September 2022 to January 2023.