As soon as Leanne got to work with the national team she prepped the athletes for the Oceania Mixed Team Championships in New Zealand, held from 17-19th February, which saw Australia win the tournament with a 5-0 sweep of the hosts in the final.

Her playing career took the now 31-year-old to two Olympic Games (London 2012, Rio 2016) and two Commonwealth Games (Delhi 2010, Gold Coast 2018). Adjusting to retirement after the home Commonwealth Games was not a linear path and this is where she discovered her passion for coaching.

After the 2016 Olympics, Leanne moved to Toronto, Canada, to plan her next move after her badminton career. She initially coached at a private country club for a few years and then decided to go back to university to complete a Bachelor of Health and Medical Science, majoring in Neuroscience. However, it was a chance meeting with a coach developer in an Adelaide gym after moving back to Australia that provided her a new-found perspective on coaching and the motivation to explore it.

“I was at the gym one day and a guy had a South Australian Sports Institute (SASI) top on. I told him I used to be a SASI athlete and asked him what he does at SASI,” Leanne said.

It was Ashley Ross, who has spent decades in coaching with prior experience coaching the New Zealand Cricket Team.

“We connected on LinkedIn, and since then, he has been a tremendous help and mentor with my journey of coaching. He completely changed my perspective of coaching and is an absolute gem of a human.

“Ash has taught me that coaching is about people and relationships and not only about feeding shuttles and badminton. It’s about finding ways to build a strong culture and a positive team environment, how to manage expectations or how important reflections are, just to name a few things. He always reminds me, we as coaches, are in the people business.”

This change of mindset paired with the learnings from her university neuroscience studies has seen Leanne climb from coaching recreationally as an athlete, to coaching schools, the South Australian state team and now the national team.

Leanne particularly credits her mother and father, who immigrated from Brunei and raised her and her two brothers, for instilling a high work ethic, resilience and facilitating opportunities throughout her lifetime.

“My mum is a powerhouse of a woman, and my dad is an incredible man. They moved to Australia 30 years ago to give my brothers and I more opportunities than they had growing up. They have both sacrificed an enormous amount for me to pursue a badminton career and I am forever grateful for this.

“My parents didn’t grow up with many opportunities - especially my mum. There was an expectation of a specific gender role you had to fulfil as an Asian female and that did not involve sports. I never felt that pressure from my mum and I’m fortunate she allowed me to do what I love.”

Everything Leanne is doing with the national team now is focussed on both athlete development and qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The first checkpoint in 2023 to gauge the team’s progress was the Oceania Mixed Team Championships in New Zealand a few weeks ago. The win earned Australia a continental qualification spot for the BWF Sudirman Cup Finals in China in May and showed Leanne they are adapting well to the new training load and intensity.

“They will get the opportunity to play against the world’s best at Sudirman Cup, which is a really exciting opportunity for the players.

“When I came in [last December], I wanted to do a tough physical block of training. This was to help prepare them for Oceania Championships and to get them better adjusted to training twice a day. They held their own at the Oceania’s physically and it was gratifying to see what they’ve been working on come to light.

“A top priority for the athletes and the program is gaining more international exposure. This will provide them with the opportunity to experience a variety of different playing styles and help them reflect and understand what they need to do in order to be competitive on the world stage. We have strong and young athletes coming through and I believe an important aspect to their development is providing the opportunity where they can learn and be exposed to different environments.

Leanne coaches 15 athletes on the national team in singles and doubles at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre. The athletes also train at the Victorian Institute of Sport where they have access to a strength & conditioning coach, physiotherapy and recovery services. Many players in the squad are in their early 20s and are currently on their first European tour where they will compete in Portugal Open, Poland Open and Dutch Open this month.

 
The reality for Leanne currently is female coaches like her are few and far between in sport. Part of her development to get to the top level in Australian badminton was aided by pathway programs such as the Elevate Coach Program at the AIS.

“There has definitely been a noticeable push for women to be involved in high performance sport. Badminton Australia has been extremely supportive with promoting opportunities for women. Both Badminton Australia and the AIS have been incredibly supportive of my coaching journey and have invested in creating more opportunities.

“These programs help raise the profile of the coaches involved and the need for more women in high performance coaching roles.

“I am positive there are plenty of female coaches who are willing, capable and deserving of coaching roles. However, the low number of women visible in high-profile coaching positions does little change to perceptions of sport being a male-dominated field or promote sport as something women can do as a professional career. Organisations should continue to encourage more women to work in sport, recognise that pathways within sport have been established for a long time and may have a gender bias and provide support networks for female coaches.

“I didn’t have any female coaches or female Asian coaches as role models."

 
She has a very positive outlook on the recent progress that has been made, and is set to be made, as International Women’s Day continues to encourage meaningful change in sport and society.

“I’m proud female representation in sports has come so far, especially in the last 5-10 years. It’s changed important things such as the coverage women’s sports receives, conversations about closing the pay gap and just general equality between men and women in sport.

“Even though there is still a long way to go, I feel that we are breaking through social and cultural barriers and International Women’s Day is a day to highlight this.

“It’s amazing to see Sam Kerr being the first female on the FIFA 23 video game cover and I believe this is another addition that helps normalise women in sports. It also changes perceptions and inspires a new generation of young females.”

When it comes to her own personal reflection on International Women’s Day, Leanne thinks of her mother, aunties and her friends.

“My mum is a massive female role model in my life and so are my close friends. They are all brilliant women who endlessly support me, empower me and most importantly, inspire me. They have played a huge role in my journey as an athlete and a coach.”

 
On International Women’s Day she most enjoys the opportunity to show appreciation for the important women in her life who have made a difference.

“Whether it's my mum, aunties, my friends in Toronto or Australia, it’s a chance to express my gratitude and respect to the women in my life who have played a significant role.

“It’s a wonderful day to pause and reflect on the progress that we have made, recognise achievements and highlight the importance of equality.”