Women of Winter | Mel O’Halloran

Mel O’Halloran’s incredible dedication to snowboarding, sense of humour and personal connection to her athletes is what makes her such a renowned and respected snowboard coach.

As a snowboard coach at Mt Buller Race Club, and a member of the Snow Australia Coach Academy, Mel became the first Australian female certified snowboard instructor, and has coached the likes of Olympians Tess Coady, Belle Brockhoff and Cam Bolton over her years at Mt Buller.

From humble beginnings, Mel used every dollar she had to spend time on the snow, and her snow network slowly became like family. Overcoming her own health battles and challenges, Mel connects with her athletes on a personal level, to give them the skills and confidence to overcome their own battles, and have a lot of fun along the way.

We recently caught up with Mel to reflect on her snowsports journey, career highlights, and coaching advice.
 

2023 What pathway took you to a career in Coaching? 

In 1992, after finishing Year 12, I managed to scrape together enough money for a one-way ticket to Europe. It was while cross country skiing around Chamonix, France, that I saw people snowboard. I sold the skis, spent the last of my money on a snowboard set up, and found odd-jobs to fund my one-track mind.

I spent five years hopping around the world, and teaching myself how to snowboard properly (or so I thought!). After many years of poverty, I decided I had what it took to become a  snowboard instructor in 1996. I loved to analyse technique, I was a fast learner, and I was a bit bossy - perfect! In 1996 I was hired at the same time as Ben Wordsworth, Ben Alexander and Andrew Burton, so I had talented and hilarious company whilst getting certified. I became the first  woman to pass the Level 3 exam, back in 2000. I became a trainer and was grandmothered up when that became Level 4. 

I struggled my whole life with depression, though I was unaware that was the problem. Luckily, the Canadian Health system is awesome, because I spent three months seeing a psychiatrist in Whistler! I taught park and pipe during the day, afternoons spent in therapy, and nights spent  partying! Not exactly a conventional road to enlightenment, but it worked.

Also working out that I had a Serotonin Uptake disorder and starting on Zoloft changed my whole outlook on life. I’d like to apologise  to all my friends and colleagues for my mood swings previous to  2000! 

Most females find the big jumps and steeps scary, but I never have. Having had little respect for my life and limb meant that I enjoyed Big Air and Snowboard X events. These skills in turn lead to instructing kids of a higher ability, and this in turn led to me coaching. Getting to spend more time with these kids in a coaching role was awesome, I felt like together we just kept winning. 

What stage of an athlete's progression do you like the most? 

Maybe surprisingly, it’s not competition results that get me jazzed. It’s when they begin to use the snowboard dynamically, to bend and pop it. It’s like ballet, to move in such a way as to control the forces upon your body and accelerate. The athletes themselves can feel the difference and find it as addictive as myself! Maybe that’s why so many of the athletes I’ve coached have gone on to compete in World Cups. 

Can you tell us about a few of your career achievements? 

I’ve been riding back to back winter seasons for 32 years now, so that’s a long time! In that time I got my APSI Cert 4, got up to Trainer Level 3, and most recently gained the Coaching Cert Level 1. In Mt Buller, my awesome home ski resort, I was Head Instructor Trainer and MA  Trainer for around 15 years. I began working full time for MBRC (MtBuller Race Club) in 2003, either as Head Coach, or as a full time coach. I took a year off to coach for Transitionist Snowboard Camp, a freestyle program, and was actually pregnant with my son during that time! 

Of course, my taking part in the Snow Australia Coach Academy has been rewarding, listening to athletes and coaches from different sports. The focus tends towards those coaching Aussie teams, not those coaching at the club level, but there are still bits and pieces to keep my  own coaching fresh. 

What are your core values as a coach? 

The athlete is an independant, intelligent and potentially excellent athlete. Basing my interactions around this belief builds psychological strength in the athlete. A feeling that they can achieve anything. I wish for them to bring this feeling with them into every part of their life. I also like to be very even tempered, predictable, and wherever possible, funny, because we should be having fun, it’s snowboarding! 

What skills/abilities make for a great coach? 

The athlete needs to believe in the coach, to trust them, so the first thing the coach needs is to be respected. Respect is earned, but can come quicker through a good reputation, enormous emotional energy, skills as a snowboarder; and a sense of humour. Of course excellent  movement analysis skills, combined with the ability to apply the corrections to the athletes’ skills. One of my first qualifications was as a gym instructor, and that greater understanding of the muscular and  energy systems made that part easier.

Why do you love snowboarding? 

Snowboarding through the forests, down gullys, over big, white  boulders, is just beautiful. I just feel such joy. Using the board dynamically, to go faster than gravity allows, fills me with a sense of  power. Exercising and hanging with friends makes me happy. Finally, listening to Pantera or Metallica and charging makes me feel alive.