Crystal Kaua is quick to stress she isn’t in a race to be “the first”.
Of course, she wants the rugby teams she coaches to win. And she’s already being hailed as a pioneer – as the first woman in a professional coaching role in New Zealand rugby, and as a coach in the first Super Rugby Aupiki.
But the job titles, as imposing as they are, aren’t what she’s there for.
“No accolade would be worth it without my family,” says Kaua, who’s mum to two sons, Ryda (10) and Kona (7).
During the four years Crystal Kaua and her husband, Brent, coached rugby together in Japan, she realised what she really wanted out of life.
“Before we went to Japan, I was head down, arse up, and I couldn’t see that,” the 37-year-old says. “But over there I was able to stop and look at what was important.
“I’m not in a race to be the ‘first whatever’; the title isn’t what I’m here for in life.
“I want to be an epic coach, an epic mum and an epic wife. And I’m willing to play the long game for that. I definitely fall off the wagon sometimes, but the intention is there.”
Since the Kaua whānau returned home to New Zealand late last year, Crystal has taken up two roles – as skills coach and performance analyst of the Olympic champion Black Ferns Sevens, and more recently, assistant coach of the Waitomo Chiefs Manawa women’s XV.
After making both the Black Ferns Sevens and 15s squads in her playing career, Kaua started coaching in her early 20s. “I love coaching more than I loved playing. I was always meant to coach,” she says.
The husband and wife team began working together with successful rugby sides around the world. First they established something of a dynasty in schoolgirl rugby, coaching Hamilton Girls’ High School to three straight Condor Sevens national titles and world youth titles in Hawaii and Japan until the end of 2015.
They then guided both the Auckland and Cook Islands women’s sevens teams, and sold their home to set up Athlete Nation, a large sport performance facility in the Waikato. She was CEO of that business, with two kids aged under five, while still coaching.
In 2018, they moved their young family to Japan and coached the women’s sevens and 15s for the Mie Pearls club in Yokkaichi, collecting national titles.
When they returned home and settled in Mt Maunganui, Crystal took up her full-time role with the Black Ferns Sevens this summer, the first woman to hold a professional coaching role in New Zealand sevens history. But this time she was on her own.
“It’s different not coaching with my husband – not being able to debate things, and discuss different players. He’s always had this deep honesty,” she says.
But Brent isn’t idle – he’s working with individual rugby players on top of his day job running his construction business.
They’re still working as a team raising their sons. “I want my kids to grow up and say: ‘My mum is awesome, and she’s that person at home too’,” Kaua says. “It’s so important to nail that at home as well as the coaching environment.”
Kaua admits she never envisaged herself as a professional rugby coach. She sees it more as a passion than a job.
“Coaching for me is like surfing or waka ama for other people – it’s my out. I need to do the on-field stuff like someone else needs to do yoga,” she says.
Right now, Kaua is splitting her weeks in two – Monday to Wednesday with the Black Ferns Sevens getting ready for another important year, and Thursday to Sunday preparing the Chiefs women for Super Rugby Aupiki, kicking off in three weeks’ time.
“It’s a big year ahead, but I’m excited by it,” says Kaua. “The two roles complement each other well, based on my personality type. I’ve always got quite a bit on my plate – I like intent and purpose in my life.”
If the two roles had been quite similar, Kaua wouldn’t have taken on the Chiefs job, working alongside former Black Ferns Sevens head coach Allan Bunting and Bay of Plenty Volcanix coach Rodney Gibbs (pictured below).
“I’m more hands-off with the sevens, which is something I’m not that used to,” she says. “I’ve only been a head coach in the past.
“So to be able to work with the Chiefs out on the grass, it just feels right. I wouldn’t do it if the positions were the same.”
Kaua says she’s fortunate Black Ferns Sevens head coach Cory Sweeney has allowed her the time to work with the Chiefs.
“The beautiful thing about Cory is that he sees this as a genuine opportunity to develop my skills. And he’s the same with the players. We’re lucky he sees the world like that,” she says.
Six of the Black Ferns Sevens squad are playing in Super Rugby Aupiki – four of them with the Chiefs.
“You hear about the Chiefs’ mana in the outside world, but when you’re brought into their environment, it’s so special,” Kaua says. “I’ve never felt anything like it.”
Kaua understands how powerful a sporting environment can be. As a troubled teen growing up in Gisborne, playing touch and rugby turned her life around, keeping her in school.
“Growing up as a young rugby player, I had the best work ethic and I was driven. Those were my real strengths and I could be taught anything,” says Kaua, who played for the Aotearoa Māori Sevens and 15s for Waikato and the Auckland Storm.
Now she’s paying it back. Coaching, she believes, gives her a platform to change lives.
Kaua, who’s also helped establish sevens in Nicaragua and Malaysia, sees herself as a humanistic coach, and looks up to Silver Ferns coach Dame Noeline Taurua and former All Blacks coach Wayne Smith. But she also understands the importance of technical and tactical knowledge.
“I always teach the latest and best information so people can thrive. It’s a balance of performance and culture, and you’ve got to find the sweet spot,” she says.
“These two different roles are giving me a new perspective on coaching. ‘How can I be the best version of myself here, how can I contribute?’ I want to leave an imprint on both programmes.”
This isn’t her first time in the New Zealand sevens environment – she was head coach of the national women’s development team in 2018.
This isn’t an easy time for the Black Ferns. They haven’t played on the World Series circuit since March 2020 because of the global pandemic, and their return to the circuit is still on hold. They’re due to defend their champions titles at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in August, and the World Cup in South Africa in September.
Last week at their home field at Blake Park, they replicated a World Series tournament, but playing against each other.
“Our biggest focus is to be agile this year and take whatever comes – but do it better than anyone else will,” Kaua says. “I’ve been so impressed with the sevens environment.”
Kaua is also part of the latest intake of the Te Hāpaitanga project, furthering the knowledge of women in New Zealand high performance coaching and leadership roles.
She’s come a long way from the 19-year-old, who was studying psychology at Victoria University – “the first grandchild in my family to go to university” – when she rang her parents to tell them she wanted to change her degree to sport and leisure studies.
“Mum and Dad said: ‘Sport is not a job,’” she recalls. “But I argued that I wanted to be happy every day, and now I get to do what I love every day.
“I think I will always be an apprentice as far as coaching goes. After 15 years I’m still hungry to learn every day.
“I don’t want that feeling to ever go away.”
