I am Shannon Thomas, the Director of Coerver® NZ, and owner of the Tāmaki territory in Auckland. I grew up in Western Australia where there were just two sports to choose from – cricket and rugby. I loved playing cricket and would spend hours in the backyard perfecting my craft with the ball. When I was 14 my family moved back home to Blenheim, and I was invited by my group of new friends to join their team – I had never even kicked a football before then. I fell in love with the game and this passion has stayed with me since then. The obsession grew and although I enjoy watching a variety of codes, English Premier League became my religion throughout my teenage years. I still start the Monday morning work day watching the overnight replay of Sunday football (a habit that’s far more socially acceptable now I am running my own business)!  

I trained hard for the rest of my playing days but was always well behind all the other players as they had about 10 years of technical skill development and game experience ahead of me. I still enjoyed it for the social aspect of the game, and loved being part of a club and community. I managed, coached and played at Glenfield Rovers and Eastern Suburbs before calling time on my football career in 2019 after rupturing my ACL.

At the same time as playing, I worked hard in the corporate sector developing a broad range of business skills working for some major New Zealand companies. I spent time as a Project Manager, Programme Manager, Account Manager, Business Development Manager and more, learning from some great leaders. I had always wanted to run my own business and had shared this dream with my wife Laura, so we started to look at businesses for sale.

When I saw the Coerver® Coaching opportunity – I was excited. The chance to combine my passion for football, coaching, developing technical skills along with my business skills seemed like a perfect fit. After studying the opportunity, researching the brand and seeking advice, we decided to invest and buy the NZ Master Franchise for Coerver® Coaching in New Zealand.

In March 2021, I travelled to Canberra in the middle of a pandemic to undertake the training to run the business. I stayed there for a week learning all about Coerver® in both the classroom and on the field. It was a long week but extremely worthwhile. When I returned to New Zealand, I had to stay in an MIQ facility in Rotorua for 2 weeks before returning home. This was pretty tough but also allowed me some concentrated time to plan and prepare for the launch of the business.

It’s now been just over a year since we took over Coerver® Coaching NZ. It’s been a challenging time (as it has been for many businesses) but with plenty of successes and good news too – and we are filled with optimism for the future.

I want to thank all the parents and players who have supported us by being part of our programmes over the last year - and we look forward to seeing you as well as welcoming new children and parents to Coerver® Coaching programmes across New Zealand in the coming seasons.

We look forward you seeing you on the field again soon.

Regards

Shannon & Laura