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Molly Meech admits it's daunting thinking about life after high performance sport but knows she will be better armed after earning selection to join a paid internship.
The two-time Olympian and former world champion, along with fellow Olympic sailor Paul Snow-Hansen, was among 10 athletes today announced as recipients of a new Prime Minister's athlete scholarship internship pilot programme running in 2022.
Prime Minister's scholarships have been around for 20 years but this is a new initiative with a greater focus on work experience and each recipient will undertake a paid internship with a partner organisation or business aligned to their chosen area of career interest and/or tertiary education.
Meech is completing a masters in environmental sustainability and will gain valuable work experience alongside that, while Snow-Hansen will be involved in the art, design and engineering sectors.
"I have been a sailor since I was 15 years old and haven’t actually had any work experience, so it’s quite a daunting prospect to be stepping outside your sport," Meech said.
"I looked into the programme and thought it was a really awesome opportunity to get some experience but also understand where I might want to take my career.
"When Covid hit, it left me questioning a little about what I was going to do so I went back and started my masters. It’s such a broad topic and really relevant right now but I just don’t know which way I would take it or what sector I would want to be in.
"I think this internship will give me a perfect opportunity to experience different sectors within the environmental management or sustainability areas. Hopefully that will help me figure out where I might want to go."
Meech's situation is not unique.
High performance sailors, like all athletes, are encouraged to pursue opportunities outside sport, whether it's study, work experience or a trade.
This year a total of 28 sailors were accepted into the wider Prime Minister Scholarships programme, which aims to help athletes, coaches, support team members and officials to gain educational or professional qualifications while continuing in sport.
Yachting New Zealand, in collaboration with High Performance Sport New Zealand, have long encouraged sailors to take a holistic approach so they are well placed to succeed in both sport and life.
Vicki Hudson is an HPSNZ athlete life advisor and often sit downs with New Zealand's top Olympic class sailors to help formulate a plan.
"We want the journeys of our athletes through high performance sport to be focused on wellbeing and resilience," Hudson said. "It's about having options and building skills and resources so they can take advantage of opportunities when they arise.
"They need to identify as more than an athlete. They are a person with interests, passions and career aspirations. That creates resilience if results don't go their way, or things like Covid-19 hit, but it also helps them in their high performance sport. They are more likely to be successful if they follow a path that interests them."
While many enrol in tertiary education, others take the opportunity to do apprenticeships. Many institutions and organisations are happy to offer more flexible working and studying conditions which allow the sailors to have dual careers.
It also helps them commit to multiple Olympic campaigns and allows them to exit the system with some idea of what happens next.
"We wholeheartedly support our sailors taking advantage of opportunities like this," Yachting New Zealand high performance director Ian Stewart said. "Only a few will make it to the very top of our sport but the skill-set required to be a competitive sailor, coupled with a wider education, can provide life opportunities, whether it's within yachting or takes them in a completely different direction.
"This holistic development of our sailors is a key value of our programme and our sailors value the athlete life support and education advice they receive from HPSNZ. It's definitely something we encourage our new development sailors to engage with."
Applications for Prime Minister Scholarships are submitted in November each year and must be endorsed by the national sports organisation. You can learn more about it here.
- Pic: Molly Meech in action with Alex Maloney at last year's Tokyo Olympics. Photo: Sailing Energy / World Sailing.
