Women Who Lead with Charlotte Dickensen

This month on the couch, Whanganui born Charlotte Dickenson kept the audience well entertained with her journey so far, sharing her time spent internationally as a cricket coach, through to her many years working at a school for children who had been excluded from mainstream school.

Charlotte was mainly raised on the grounds of Whanganui Collegiate School as her father was a house master for many years, and her mother was the very first woman to receive the equivalent of an Honours tie for her dedication to the school. Charlotte spoke of her early years and growing up at (what was at that time) an all boys campus and how that shaped their lives as a family.  

Speaking openly and honestly, Charlotte shared her love for sport and her loathing of school which has interestingly paved her path into coaching several international women’s cricket teams through the United Kingdom and the Americas, making her mark as one of 40 Master Coaches in the world as well as spending around 20 years as a teacher working with children living with severe behavioural challenges.

The challenges Charlotte has faced herself have driven her to reflect on her role in womens sport in order maintain her love of hockey and cricket in particular and how she can support young people in particular to succeed, including at her new role at Nga Tawa Diocesan School.

Charlotte had the ability to capture the attention of the room with her charismatic storytelling, always weaving a humourous quip or two into the mix.