‘Here to be heard’: Dame Val ready to speak up on HPSNZ board

Two time Olympic champion Dame Valerie Adams says she won’t be afraid to speak up as she makes the switch from the shot put circle to the boardroom.

Dame Valerie Adams
Photo: PhotoSport / Steve McArthur

Dame Valerie is one of four new members appointed to the board of High Performance Sport New Zealand along with Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua, former Paralympian Duane Kale and former Black Sox player and coach Don Tricker.

HPSNZ Board Chair, Bill Moran, said all four appointees are internationally renowned and bring deep expertise in the areas of player and coach development, talent development, paralympic pathways, wellbeing, as well as long-term experience in the high performance system.

Adams said while she wasn’t going into the role with any agendas, she wouldn’t be afraid to say what she needed to.

“I’m not here to be liked, I’m here to be heard and to have a connection outside of that boardroom with the rest of New Zealand and the athletes within the system.

“Ultimtaely, the changes that need to happen need to be positive changes. We need to work together to help our athletes with their wellbeing but more importantly to perform.”

Having recently retired from competitive sport after winning her fourth Olympic medal in Tokyo, Adams said she was looking foward to playing a part in helping “shape the best possible environment for our athletes”.

She said New Zealand’s evolving high performance sport system needed to reflect the changes that had happened and were happening in society.

“When I competed and won my first Olympic Games there was nothing. We were training at the back of the Warriors carpark, we just did what we needed to do. It was all on you to make a difference and bring the medals home. There was no system.

“I was brought up in a time where, I know we don’t like to say ‘harden up’ and all that, but it did play a massive role in my performances. I also had a really tough upbringing. I lost my mother quite young etcetera, so I used that as a positive stimulus.

“However, as the years have gone on the system has been built and grown and evolved. It’s completely different now but there are more pressures elsewehere.

“Social media, sponsors, cost of living … the pressures are different.”

Coach of the World Champion Silver Ferns, Dame Noeline Taurua, said being appointed to the HPSNZ board was “a different pathway.”

“I have experienced sporting life from grass roots through to high performance…. it is crucial that the high performance system is integrated and streamlined and that it continues to grow, prepare and support world class people to compete on the world stage.”

Dame Noeline Taurua and Ameliranne Ekenasio with the Constellation Cup.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

-RNZ