Former Australian flanker Shannon Parry enjoyed a glittering career as a player and is now aiming to help others taste success in her new role as a coach.
A gold medal in the women’s Rugby Sevens at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, a silver medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast and four women’s Rugby World Cups are among the stand-out achievements already on her CV, but Parry’s involvement in rugby is not over.
She is now head coach of the Australia A team and Queensland Academy of Sevens, and is looking forward to further developing her knowledge and skill-set on the Gallagher High Performance Academy.
“For the development of the game, I think it is really important to provide opportunities like this to female coaches and high performance staff,” Parry told World Rugby.
“For many years, rugby has been a male-dominated sport but more recently, society has started to accept that female athletes can play typically male-dominated sports.
“The coaching world is exactly the same. Programmes like this, and creating opportunities for women to be exposed to this environment, are critical for the development of elite women in high performance roles.”
Parry taught PE before spending nine years as a professional rugby player and decided to move into coaching rather than go back into teaching when she retired after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
She won 24 caps for the Wallaroos and cites Tim Walsh, head coach of Australia’s side when they won Olympic gold, as her biggest coaching influence.
“I like the way that he builds confidence around his playing group and how he masterminds being ahead of the game,” Parry said.
“He is always one who challenges the norm and thinks outside the box.”