Sports Mentoring delegate hopes to bring lessons from NHL to home in New Zealand

NEW YORK -- Nicky van den Bos said she was "blessed to be in a household of women who strongly support empowering."

The 2024 delegate for the U.S. Department of State Global Sports Mentoring Program lives in Auckland on the North Island among an urban population of about 1,531,400 and is CEO of Women in Sport Aotearoa for two years running.

From her early days as an advocate for women in sport, to about two weeks with the NHL and subsequent return to Auckland, van den Bos is learning to fly. Six days before presenting her action plan to mentors and other delegates at NHL headquarters in New York, she had a quiet moment to reflect.

"The journey so far, meeting with women from other walks of life and other communities around the world, is a very interesting way to end up," van den Bos said. "You have very different views, worldly views. Same passion and mind around sports and women and girls, but different ways and different cultures."

The 34-year-old came to the United States and Washington, D.C. for program orientation, before attending the espnW: Women + Sports Summit in Ojai, California, on Oct. 19. Days later, she joined the NHL for a collaboration between espnW, the University of Tennessee and U.S. Department of State. She then returned to Washington DC and another presentation Wednesday with a mic drop, a promise to close the inherent gap in female leadership in sport in New Zealand, those who aspire and get the chance to do in real life.

There's one thing she's not, a show-off. The United States, through her point of view, is a peacock showing off its bright feathers. Her home is less overtly confident.

"New Zealand is a bit of a culture where we don't really like to shout about ourselves or shout about success or put ourselves very front and center, but we have a lot to be really proud of," she said. "So, seeing that in action was quite bit of an obstacle to start but in saying that the women that I've met have been pretty incredible."

There are inequities in New Zealand, untold stories that directly impact women's pathways into leadership in sport. Rugby, cricket, soccer and netball (a variation of basketball) are widely played but structured around a national sports body in lieu of extensive privatized sports leagues.

Van den Bos' research unveiled 50.4 percent of New Zealand's population -- 5,223,100 as of 2023 -- are women, 62 percent are parents, but only 15 percent of national sports organizations have women CEOs. Her ambition was fine-tuned and elevated through working with Susan Cohig, NHL executive vice president of club business affairs, and meeting Val Ackerman, Big East Commissioner, Jamie Morningstar, senior vice president of ticketing, New York Rangers/Madison Square Garden, and Amy Scheer, senior vice president of business operations for the Professional Women's Hockey League.

Cohig was her mentor, a reservoir of knowledge with healthy room for growth in her 28th year at the League. She was director, corporate sponsorship of the Denver Nuggets who played a major role in helping relocate the Quebec Nordiques to the Mile High City and establishing the Colorado Avalanche for the 1995-96 season -- in 90 days.

The NHL as a host organization has grown from just Cohig on the NHL mentoring team when it started 11 years ago to a total of 13 members now.

"Nicky is incredibly smart," Cohig said. "She is a huge advocate for girls and women's sports in New Zealand. And just as we think about the breadth of what GSMP is, her knowledge and experience extend beyond that in terms of what I believe she'll be able to contribute over the time of her career."

Even with a lot of work yet to be done, it's happening during an inspiring time for women's athletics. New Zealand hosted the 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup, the Women's Cricket World Cup three times (1982, 2000 and 2022) and co-hosted the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup with neighboring Australia.

Then there's Jessica Campbell, the first woman to coach behind an NHL bench after the Seattle Kraken hired her as an assistant to Dan Bylsma.

"Females bring a different kind of coaching style," van den Bos said. "I think the balance of both is really important. They bring a bit more of an empathetic style to leadership and coaching, so seeing Jessica on the bench, inspiring and definitely someone that I'm keen to connect to and understand her journey.

"She's done so much to get there, and she needs to continue to celebrate and leverage that to continue to do more. She's got to where she is through her own backing of herself. That's really quite special, that she can then reflect and continue that forward."

Moving forward is van den Bos flipping the narrative 8,814 miles southwest of New York City. Her influence is spreading as a CEO and volunteer director on the governance board of Baseball New Zealand looking to attract girls into the sport. Ahead are new and ongoing challenges, perhaps made a bit tougher through motherhood – she has a 3-year-old daughter, Isla -- mentoring and the wonder of her homeland famous for surrounding hills covered in rainforest and nature's wonders used to film "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

"Being able to walk outdoors and the mountains and hiking and lakes, rivers, beaches, it's very inspiring and you can't not feel inspired," van den Bos said. "When you've got that at your doorstep, it's quite different."