Coaches

Born into a family of elite level coaches and athletes, Maltese/Australian Coach Mel, has a diverse sporting history. She competed in track & field, cross-country running, tennis, hockey, and cricket at a representative level, and swimming, gymnastics, and squash at a club level. Coming to the sport of kayaking much later in life, she represented Malta at the World Championships in 2019.

With 25+ years experience coaching physical movement, skill acquisition, and deliberate practice, Mel is passionate about helping her athletes move more efficiently and train smarter. She uses an athlete-centred coaching model which focuses on question-based learning in order to help athletes develop better body awareness, and encourage them to become independent thinkers who understand and engage in the what, why, and how of their training. The athletes she works with have had podium success at all levels of the sport.

Alongside being a KKZ coach, she is also the head coach for two of the members of the Senior Slovenian National Sprint Kayak Team and a regular conference presenter in many areas around sport and high performance. Mel is also an advisor with international sports coaching consultancy firm Kaiwa Consulting.