About Us
Proteus Sports Group was founded in 2018 by Ollie Hawkins to help schools and clubs save time by supplying suitable coaching resources. The Proteus team has grown and become the trusted name for coaching in the Canterbury region.
In 2024, Richard Dryden joined the leadership team, helping the business extend its offerings to other sports and regions.
We chose Proteus because, as the name suggests, we are all about transformation.
Proteus was a Greek god who could tell the future and change his form. From the story of Proteus, we get the adjective protean, meaning "versatile", "mutable", or "capable of assuming many forms". Protean has positive connotations of flexibility, versatility and adaptability.
We’ve adopted this symbol of transformation because our role in the community is to shape young players - impart new skills and help them become better and worthy team members.
At Proteus Sports Group, we work alongside a wide range of educational providers and community sports organisations to make sport inclusive, engaging, and accessible for all.
From early childhood through to youth sport and competitive teams, we deliver structured programs and coaching services that build fundamental movement skills, develop footballing talent, and foster long-term engagement with sport.
Meet the team
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Ollie Hawkins
Director of Proteus and Co-Founder
Current Director of Football and Head Coach of Halswell United AFC, Ollie has a wealth of experience coaching and managing football, with over seven years of full-time experience in the game.He has coached at all levels and now focuses on helping coaches develop skills within community sports and servicing Proteus Sports Groups Schools, including Christ’s College, where he is also the Head Coach of the First team.
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Richard Dryden
Director & CE
Richard has enormous experience and expertise as both a Sports & Business Coach, Mentor, and Facilitator. His unique experience as an Olympic and World Championship High-Performance Coach has given him a platform to deliver planning, goal setting, leadership growth & development skills, and sessions on strategy, culture & vision, wellbeing, and trust & empowerment.
Richard brings experience as a business leader with a proven history of strategic engagement and operational management, driving both business and customer outcomes through strong relationships, strong organisational skills, detailed planning & strong communication.
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Patrick Rouse
Sport Operations Manager
Patrick has been with Proteus Sports Group since 2023, working his way through the organisation as a Football coach, Pre-School Coach, and Club Coach at Halswell United AFC.
Patrick is a passionate sportsperson who was a football player for many years, representing Canterbury in many Tournaments in his youth and overseeing experiences as an Academy player. He has an Oceania C license in football coaching and a New Zealand Junior Level 3 Coaching badge.
Patrick manages our coaches and organisation, providing quality control and support for Proteus’s day-to-day operations.
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Josh McTurk
Head Of Pre-Schools
Josh has been with Proteus for nearly a year, first as a casual football coach while also playing First Team football and coaching the Academy at Halswell United AFC. He now leads our preschool programme, incorporating his passion for football and his current Bachelor of Sports Coaching studies at the University of Canterbury.
Josh, too, has his Oceania C License in Football Coaching and the New Zealand Football Junior Level 3 Coaching badge.
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Tom Kean
General Manager
Tom has been part of the Proteus team since the beginning of 2025 starting off as a coach then moving into performance analysis aswell as our General Manager. Tom is a football fanatic who played football during his childhood years before a big injury caused him to stop playing and move into coaching in 2015. Tom moved to Christchurch in 2021 studying a Bachelors in Sports Coaching which he now incorporates into his general manager role and Analyst role at Proteus