Elliott Jenkins (second from right) created Waipa Workforce while training the NZ U23 rowing team. Photo: Igor Meijer/Photosport
Personal experience of trying to do paid work and perform at a high level as an athlete has led a Waikato rower to set up a labour hire company staffed with high-performance sportspeople.
Elliott Jenkins started Waipa Workforce in 2020, while training with the New Zealand U23 rowing team.
"I couldn't physically go and do a 9-5, and didn't want to hang the oars up," he said.
Jenkins started off doing small local jobs and the business grew from there.
Waipa is home to high performance cycling and rowing in New Zealand, and rowers made up the bulk of the workforce.
Josh Gordon is one of them. He had just returned to the country from rowing at Harvard and aimed to break into the national team, a task that required training several times a day.
"Before you actually get on the payroll with Rowing New Zealand, you have to train pretty hard, almost like it's a full-time job, but you don't have any money coming in," he said.
Elliott Jenkins has switched his sporting ambitions from rowing to golf. Photo: Steve McArthur/Photopsort
Gordon said fitting a normal job around training was very difficult, but the work through Waipa Workforce was a good way to balance work and sport.
"I've got to have some money coming in somehow to just pay bills, buy food and stuff, while training full-time."
Jenkins had also returned to New Zealand from rowing at an American university. He fell out of love with rowing after that, but not with the idea of a professional sports career and is now pursuing professional golf.
He said their Waikato clients were very receptive to the idea of a workforce of high-performance athletes.
Abby Boobyer from Love Club Hire regularly uses Waipa Workforce to set up marquees and furniture for events. She said she didn't hire them because they were athletes, but being able to support them on their journeys was a nice side result.
"It's like a nice to have," she said. "Look, I'm an accountant, so I'm pretty business focused, but the cost was kind of the same, no matter where you go.
Elliott Jenkins and Josh Gordon of Waipa Workforce. Photo: RNZ/Libby Kirkby-McLeod
"It's cool to support young guys that are out there having a go and following their dreams, but still have to make ends meet."
She thought their training as high-performance athletes resulted in a willingness to work hard.
"Literally, the best work ethic you can really get, which I think is just a natural part of athletes and their personalities," she said.
Gordon said there were many more athletes than people realised chasing the professional dream, but were not supported financially by a national body.
He said the path to professional sport was a grind.
"There's a long pathway to get to the top and you've just got to make it work somehow," he said.
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