The New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) launched an online network for women in sport on LinkedIn on October 11. The NZOC wants to continue to increase participation rates of women in decision-making positions in national sports organisations. At present females make up is 27% of sports boards. The NZOC aims to have 33% female representation by 2015, with the ultimate target being 50% representation in the long term. NZOC Secretary General, Kereyn Smith said that while real progress is being seen on the field of play in terms of participation and achievement by women, this is not the case off the field. The low participation rates by females on boards are disappointing since it has been heavily argued that women bring many benefits to boards, said Kereyn Smith. As a result the NZOC established the Women in Sport Network for women. This network is for those women who are interested in leadership at governance, executive, coaching and other roles in sport. Kereyn Smith hopes the online LinkedIn network will help develop confidence and capability in women though discussions, sharing resources, networking, events, providing C.V. tips, and mentoring, job or board opportunities. Professor Sarah Leberman of Massey University supports the Women in Sport network LinkedIn initiative. Leberman says, Providing opportunities for women to network together is important in order for them to assist each other in gaining leadership and governance positions. The LinkedIn group can be found by typing NZOC Women in Sport in the LinkedIn groups directory, alternatively the link is: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4656455&trk=hb_side_g
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