Former Wales international flanker Catrina Nicholas-McLaughlin has already felt the benefit of the Gallagher High Performance Academy, having been a participant in 2023.
The experience of sharing ideas and knowledge with other female coaches from across the rugby world helped Nicholas-McLaughlin in her dual roles with the Welsh RU as Head Coach of Wales Under-18s Women and Assistant Coach of Wales Under-20s Women, having progressed through the men’s pathway system with Welsh Colleges, and a lecturer and Assistant Rugby Coach at Coleg y Cwmoedd.
So much so that Nicholas-McLaughlin will also be a participant at the Gallagher High Performance Academy WXV 2024 helping to achieve the programme’s objective of increasing the number of female coaches and other high performance roles at elite levels of the sport.
“This programme strongly encourages and supports unions in giving female coaches opportunities within the sport,” she told World Rugby.
“I can honestly say that without this programme I don’t think that I would have the full-time role that I currently do within the WRU.
“The programme helps to showcase the excellent work other unions are doing with supporting female coaches within the sport and, through that visibility, encouraging other nations to do the same.
“I believe the programme challenges unions to be more inclusive and provide opportunities they would not otherwise have within the sport.”
Creating opportunities and breaking down barriers is something that Nicholas-McLaughlin is passionate about as they were subjects she studied for her MSc.
“My background is in teaching sports. I was able to teach in an environment where my role was 50/50 coaching and teaching,” she said.
“During my MSc, I studied barriers in sport and came across Sport Ireland’s slogan: ‘If she can’t see it, she can’t be it.’ This inspired me to pursue a career within coaching on a full-time basis and be a visible role model for players and my daughter to help close the dream gap and show women and girls can be whatever you want to be.”