Board of Directors

Chérie Harris (Co-Chairperson)

Cherie has several decades of sport development experience, backed up by an academic career in sport psychology. This has provided her with the privilege of understanding how different cultures and global communities work to develop disability sport.

Chérie is motivated by lifting the profile, creating opportunities and awareness of possibilities for everyone to become involved and enhance their lives with sport.  

Nicki Turner (Co-Chairperson)

Nicki, a founding Director of NTM Consulting, brings extensive expertise in strategic partnerships and sport development. She has held leadership roles at Unitec and the Halberg Disability Sport Foundation, and remains deeply involved in disability sport.

She is a former New Zealand cricketer, coach, and commentator, Nicki was awarded a Queen’s Honour (MNZM) in 1998 for services to the community and cricket. She has served as President of Coaching New Zealand and held board positions with Sport New Zealand, Gym Sports NZ, Canterbury Cricket, and currently ParaFed Canterbury.

Blair Gilbert

Blair is from Rotorua.  He is the current CE of Rotorua Trust and worked previously for Blind Low Vision NZ in the sport and recreation area.  He is a qualified ski instructor and enjoys the outdoors and hiking in his spare time.

Thomas Coysh

Thomas, born with retinitis pigmentosa, is a passionate adaptive sports enthusiast pursuing high-performance downhill ski racing. His achievements include joining the Paralympics Para Sport Collective, sailing across the Atlantic, and becoming the first blind person to complete a 21-day Outward Bound course. As a BSNZ Board member, he’s driven to make sport equitable and fulfilling for all, regardless of age, vision, or ability

Stephanie Rigter

Steph is passionate about inclusive communities and creating meaningful opportunities for all to engage in sport. With a lifelong love of netball and basketball, she brings that energy into her role as General Manager of People and Culture at MOVe Logistics. Recently completing her MBA at the University of Otago, Steph is based in Auckland and enjoys hiking and exploring the outdoors with her whānau and friends.

Phil Warin

Phil, born in Whangarei, now lives in Auckland with her partner, daughter, and cat, and brings marketing expertise from the B2B global sector to the Blind Sport New Zealand Board. Her passion for blind sport was sparked through her daughter Megan, who is legally blind. A founding board member of The Aunties, Phil enjoys staying active through gym, Pilates, running, and hiking with her ‘gym girls’.

Jessica Parkin

Jess Parkin is a Chartered Accountant with 20 years’ experience across companies and NFPs in the UK and NZ. A strong advocate for inclusive sport, she has governance experience with New Zealand Wheelchair Rugby. Originally from London, Jess now lives in Wellington with her husband and three sons, and enjoys hiking and playing music in her spare time.

Kerrin Wheeler

Kerrin, a Dunedin local and father of three, has been visually impaired for 14 years and plays competitive lawn bowls, representing New Zealand for the past three years.

Outside of sport and family, he works full-time at Proctor Auctions.