Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Jaydn Che Robson. I am 22. My family are from a small city called Barry, just outside of Cardiff. I moved to New Zealand when I was three, with my whānau. First, we lived in Taranaki, before moving to Wellington in 2016. I studied at Aotea College in Porirua. Now I work at Petone FC as the Senior Men’s U20 Head Coach and at Newlands College as Assistant Director of Sport.
What does a typical work day look like for you?
My day starts at 8:30am and from there it is just a constant stream of emails and conversations with coaches, students, teachers and parents. I could be sending out parent consent letters for a tennis trip, finding accommodation for the girls’ football tournament in Nelson, sending reminder emails about a softball meeting and checking all the KAMAR (student management system) groups are up to date. And all that before morning tea.
Morning tea time is for giving out uniforms. Afterwards, I’ll be liaising with coaches and conveners about upcoming winter sports trials, checking students are set up on PlayHQ for cricket, sending comms out for netball trials and meeting with our senior leadership team over an event or something that has come up.
At lunchtime I will either be handing out more uniforms or having a meeting with all students interested in softball in the gym. Then, back in the office, I’ll be organising more trials or finding coaches for our football teams and scheduling training times. Later, I will head down to the pavilion to stocktake all the football, rugby and cricket gear in the shed.
While that is happening, there are constant interruptions. Students are coming into the office at various points, asking questions and picking up uniforms because they couldn’t come at interval. I’m also often taking phone calls from coaches, asking me to email their students about training being cancelled or time changes, so that pauses whatever I am doing at that time.
During the football season I also coach the Newlands College 1st XI Boys’ Football, so that adds up a lot of time too. It is pretty non-stop.
What do your friends think you do all day?
I think when I first told my friends I was a sports coordinator, they thought I just coach teams, run trials and give teams sports equipment. Now, I do do that, however, there’s also health and safety documents and EOTC forms that need to be made for the 15 teams we send to tournament weeks, all the College Sport Wellington tournaments, talking with parents about transport for the tournaments, making sure the students have their parents’ consent sent in with all the emergency details correct. All this goes on at once for all the different sports I convene.
What’s your favourite part of your day?
My favourite part of my day, apart from coaching football, is genuinely any time I am interacting with the students. When giving out uniforms you’re talking to students about the season, what other sports they are playing, talking to them about getting involved in another sport or telling them about an upcoming event. Sometimes we just discuss their plans for the upcoming weekend.
I would say that you cannot work in a sports office without having good relationships with students, and you can’t have that without good interpersonal skills. We will be dealing with 600+ students for winter sports alone, which means you are also dealing with their parents and caregivers and then the coaches and managers of all the teams they are playing for.
We are not friends with the students, however, treating them with respect and getting to know their wants and needs and how they act and behave makes life so much easier. It makes the students want to keep coming back and play sport, and encourages them to get involved in running events, or even just to help out by taking photos of the sports and teams.
Tell us about any mentors or favourite teachers you have had.
I would say three of the most influential adults, aside from family, were all teachers from Aotea College. My English teacher in year 13, Mr Murray, taught me the most about critical thinking, and being reflective about not only myself but of the world around me. He also introduced to me Marxism, so that’s a bonus.
Ms Jackman was my English teacher from year 10-12, and, for me, was the most caring and understanding teacher I have ever had. She really cared for us students, not only to succeed and do well with assessments, but cared for us as people. She once made a 15-page study guide for us and then said, “I’m sorry, I can’t do much more”. That was 15 more pages than any other teacher had ever given us; that class really loved her.
Finally, Mr O’Connor, Deputy Principal at Aotea College. He has mentored me in football coaching in the last two years and has been one of my biggest influencers since I left school. He is someone I can reach out to about anything to do with football coaching, and just generally about working at Newlands College too. I truly do not believe I would be where I am as a coach, as a professional and as a person without his mentorship.
I try to use all the things I have learnt from these three people to become a better person and pass it on to the students at Newlands College.
Our Day in the life series highlights the incredible mahi done by our NZEI Te Riu Roa members. It shows the reality of our educators who care for the tamariki of Aotearoa, and celebrates all the parts that make us a diverse and inspiring bunch!
If you would like to see a colleague or yourself in this series, please get in touch with us at ako@nzei.org.nz.
