Former Springbok Women’s Sevens player Marithy Pienaar is among seven female rugby coaches selected to participate in the Women’s Sport Leadership Academy for High Performance Coaches (WSLA HPC) as part of a pilot programme in partnership with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Pienaar is a former pupil of Hoërskool Oos-Moot in Pretoria and started her rugby career for the Tuks women’s team. She received the SA Rugby Women’s Achiever award at the 2016 SA Rugby Player of the Year awards.

She is the only South African selected to participate in the programme.

Pienaar entered coaching this season with Bridge House School in Franschhoek after retiring from the game following several seasons a contracted Springbok Women’s Sevens player.

The programme, which also features women from Samoa, Spain, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Wales and Australia, supports Recommendation 6 of the IOC’s Gender Equality Review Project, which seeks to increase the proportion of female coaches at the Olympic Games.

“I’ve had the privilege to represent my country as a Springbok Women’s Sevens player for a number of years. I am thankful for the career I could build and for the mentors, role models and systems that supported me, and it is fantastic that I am now able to serve and use my experience to give back to the next rugby generation,” said Pienaar.

Six international federations have teamed up with the IOC to offer the 14-month programme, namely World Rugby and the international summer sports federations of cycling, rowing, tennis, triathlon and wrestling. Their objective is to help to develop the leadership and technical skills of 25 high performance female coaches from across the globe.

Additionally, the project will facilitate the sharing of good practice as well as developing close links and networks between the participants and international federations.

According to Katie Sadleir, World Rugby General Manager for Women’s Rugby, the rugby coaches selected to be a part of this programme are an extremely talented group of individuals with a varying range of playing and coaching experience.

“There is no doubt that their involvement in the Women’s Sport Leadership Academy will be of great benefit to them and to our sport as we strive to increase the number of females coaching at the highest level of the game,” Sadleir concluded.

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