International Scholarships
Any athlete who has indicated they are considering accepting an international scholarship will continue to receive support from Rowing NZ and their eligibility to trial and become selected for a New Zealand representative team will remain unchanged. Similarly, any coach who provides assistance to athletes and recruiters in regards to international scholarships will continue to receive support from Rowing NZ, and there will be no impact upon their future careers.
Rowing NZ are disappointed in recent media interest surrounding our position towards New Zealand athletes accepting international scholarships. Experiences recounted in regards to the treatment of both athletes and coaches are outdated, and are no longer in alignment with our organisation’s stance.
Trials and training for all New Zealand representative teams take place at the Rowing NZ High Performance Centre on Lake Karapiro. All athletes aspiring to represent New Zealand, including athletes returning from international scholarships and those who have remained in New Zealand throughout their rowing careers, are given equal selection opportunities. Athletes based offshore may row for New Zealand upon their return, but when deciding whether or not to accept a scholarship or other overseas opportunity, they will need to consider their availability to trial and train in New Zealand.
Rowing NZ acknowledges that every country has a different approach to selection timing, something that is largely dictated by the northern and southern hemisphere summer seasons. New Zealand’s selection is governed by our domestic season, which concludes in March each year.
Crew combinations selected immediately transition into a training block in preparation for that team’s pinnacle event e.g., World Rowing Championships. It is important to Rowing NZ that teams are not negatively impacted by individual athletes who may only be available for a short training period due to commitments related to their international scholarship.
Rowing NZ do not have a policy specific to New Zealand athletes who are undertaking an international scholarship, and our approach is simply to ensure athletes and their family make informed decisions based on balanced information. To encourage more athletes to remain in New Zealand, and in some instances to return to New Zealand, Rowing NZ’s strategy is to offer a better programme for athlete development, which includes encouraging New Zealand representative athletes to undertake tertiary study and vocational qualifications while pursuing elite level sport. Rowing NZ also work closely with High Performance Sport New Zealand facilitating athlete’s New Zealand based tertiary study. The purpose of the Prime Minister’s Athlete Scholarship Programme is to invest in educational opportunities that enable world leading performances from New Zealand’s top athletic talent, by assisting athletes to develop holistically outside sport in ways that contribute towards their post-athletic career and enable the sustainability of our athlete talent pool.