From ice baths to waka ama, buses to meals, the team liaison officers for the Rugby World Cup will make sure every team's needs and desires are met. Angela Walker speaks to two Kiwi women who've taken on the task.
When the best female rugby players on the planet depart Aotearoa after the Rugby World Cup, the enduring legacy of their time here won’t just be whether they won or lost. It will also be the people they met, cultures they glimpsed, and experiences they shared.
One person who’ll help shape those experiences for the 12 nations competing in just three weeks' time is the team liaison officer, or TLO.
Attached to a team from the moment they arrive here, the TLO is tasked with ensuring the smooth day-to-day running of their team’s many requirements while they stay, train and compete in Whāngarei and Auckland.
For the Canadian team, that person is rugby coach and school teacher Katie Bowmar. And she’s looking forward to introducing them to her corner of the world.
“When the team are in Whangārei, they’re scheduled to train at my rugby club, Hora Hora. I’m pretty excited to show them around,” the 30-year-old Bowmar says.
Hora Hora RFC – Bowmar explains – is a Māori rugby club steeped in traditional values and tikanga.
“We sing waiata at the end of every after-match,” she says. “The club is built on our old pā site. The rugby fields are where food used to be grown, so we look at ourselves as a place that is rich, not in money, but in values.
“It’ll be cool to have conversations with the Canadians and tell them, ‘You’re training on a pretty prime piece of land’. And to introduce them to places like the local maunga where they’ll probably do their recovery walks.”
For Bowmar, being a TLO feels like the culmination of her life so far.
“I never thought I’d be able to share what I’ve done for the last 14 years and pass it on to someone visiting from another country,” she says. “And be able to take what I learn from this opportunity and give it back to my women’s rugby players.
“It’s definitely one of those serendipitous scenarios.”
Bowmar will take time-out from her job as a teacher at Dargaville Intermediate School – a role, she says, that has equipped her to be a TLO.
“As a school teacher you’ve got to be able to balance everything. You have to have great communication skills and be able to sort out problems as they arise. That’s why I thought I would be suited to being a TLO,” she says.
She wasn’t the only person who thought so - multiple people encouraging her to apply.
When Bowmar is not in the classroom, she “loves, lives, and breathes rugby”. She began her coaching career 14 years ago because her brother’s U12 team desperately needed a coach. She soon realised she was “better suited to the sidelines than actually running around on the pitch”.
Now she coaches the Hora Hora women’s premier team who this year won the coveted Rana Paraha Trophy.
In fact, it was the trophy’s namesake who originally inspired Bowmar to become a rugby coach.
“I take my coaching philosophy from ‘Aunty Rana’. She was my rugby coach and I hope to be that person for other people,” Bowmar says.
In preparation for the Canadian team’s arrival on September 25, Bowmar has attended a TLO training weekend along with her counterparts attached to the other teams.
And she has the benefit of having already met the Canadian team when they were here for the Pacific Four Series in June. It means she’s in regular contact with them.
“I often converse with them – with the team manager or the video analysis person. And I share their social media content so when they arrive, people will know who they are. They’re a really awesome bunch of people,” Bowmar says.
As well as ensuring the Canadians have a seamless and memorable experience while they’re in New Zealand, Bowmar appreciates getting the opportunity to broaden her rugby horizons.
“Having the chance to work alongside New Zealand Rugby rather than just working in my own province, I see many opportunities out there. My end goal is to coach the Black Ferns or an international team,” she says.
Most of all, Bowmar is excited about what the Rugby World Cup means for her community.
“The kids are so excited about coming to the games,” she says. “At the end of the day, that’s how you grow the game, getting people interested and making them feel comfortable. Our women’s rugby game is quite inclusive in this country, and I think that is something we should be proud of.”
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The Australian women’s rugby team – the Wallaroos – have been assigned the highly experienced Karen “KJ” Skudder as their TLO.
During her interview for the role, Skudder told the panel: “I want to be an ambassador for New Zealand and make sure everyone has the best time possible.”
“I love different cultures. I love meeting people and finding what we have in common and just going with it,” says Skudder, who’s of Māori, Tongan and Scottish descent.
A former police dispatcher now based in Te Puke, Skudder has been a TLO before – for the Canadian men’s and Fijian women’s teams at World Rugby Sevens Series events.
During one of those tournaments here, Skudder arranged for the Canadian men’s rugby team to have a unique local experience.
“I organised for them to do a waka tour on Wellington Harbour – to give them an experience they otherwise wouldn’t have had,” she says.
Skudder says being immersed with a team for several weeks means they inevitably get to know each other well.
“Over time, you sit down with players and management and go to a deeper level. We end up knowing quite a bit about each other. It’s crazy how similar we all are really,” she says.
Some have even become lifelong friends. “One of the Canadians phoned and said, ‘Remember that time you took us out on the water?’” Skudder says.
This time, it’s the Wallaroos who Skudder hopes to introduce to waka ama. She also wants to show them some of her favourite places in Northland.
While most of the time she’ll be kept busy with a wide range of tasks – anything from transport logistics to organising ice baths – being a TLO is more than a support role for Skudder.
“Having lived overseas myself, and had an experience and a half, I want to reciprocate when people come here,” she says. “Sport is the thing that brings us together, but it’s the cultural experience that’s the icing on the cake.”
The other team liaison officers are:
Wales: Chanelle Salmonrugby
England: Chantal Baker-Smith
Japan: Georgia Calder-Lee
New Zealand: Jono Chappell
Italy: Kaine Robertson
South Africa: Ross Brazier
France: Peter White
Scotland: Maxime Ramiroz
USA: Steve Downie
Fiji: Jone Puamau
