Being a high performing athlete can be challenging at the best of times. We spoke with Andrea Hewitt about how she deals with the balance.

Talent will take you so far, Ben will tell you, but it’s not enough. What you also need is resilience, realistic goals, the right attitude and the ability to communicate. 

“Mum and Dad could see I was good at sport and they'd keep encouraging me. They weren't pushing me—they didn't tell me I had to win—but they did challenge me."

If 22 year-old Tactix midcourter Erikana Pedersen could say one thing to up-and-coming athletes and sportspeople it would be “look after your body. And if that means saying no, say it.”

“If you really want to make it to the elite end you need to enjoy it, and you need to really persevere. And when times get hard, go to the people who support you – your coach, your parents, your wider family. They are there to help you.”

They call it the ‘flow experience’, or ‘being in the zone’… that sensation people have when they are so totally absorbed in something they are very good at, that things seem to be happening without conscious thought.

For the Thorpe family, dinner time is important parenting time – a time when parents Julie and John can focus on supporting and developing their children as balanced people, not just developing triathletes.

World bowls champion Shannon McIlroy agrees with Sport New Zealand’s view that athlete development is complex and non-linear and that childhood success doesn’t necessarily lead to adult success.

"Living away from home is hard, but it’s a choice I had to make: initially to Christchurch and more recently to Europe because this is where the competition is and the coach I wanted to work with is based here.”

“Playing a range of sports has been a huge benefit,” says Amy. “For a start, I’ve mixed with many different people, from different cultures and that helps, coming into a team environment."

Elette Fleming, proud mum to two of New Zealand’s exciting young BMX talents Zoe and Jayden Fleming, reflects on the importance of being a supportive parent and, above all, giving our kids life skills.

Competitive runner and recent school-leaver Izzy Hegan shares what she has learned about balancing her personal development and enjoyment of sport against a focus on winning.

As player development manager for the Bay of Plenty Rugby Union Les Elder has seen first-hand the impact the focus on winning has on young people.

It’s taken me a long time to realise that how I play doesn’t define who I am: some days you have a bad game, but that doesn’t mean you’re not a good player, or a good person.

Golf NZ uses insights from Sport NZ’s nationwide participant survey Voice of the Participant (also known as the Club member experience survey) to help its clubs better understand their participants’ membership journeys and work to continually improve the club experience.

We look at the great work NZ Football has done to grow the game of Futsal – now one of the fastest growing sports in New Zealand.

Starting with that ‘why’, Wellington College has been reviewing its sporting programme. Not because it was considered broken, says David, but more to explore how it could be better.

As the country hosts a series of major sporting events over the next few years, Sport New Zealand is leading a project, called ‘In Our Backyard’, with four national sporting organisations to further shape learning through sport in schools and kura.

In this case study, we hear from Golf NZ on their Golf for Life insights project, and how they use the insights gathered in this project as a starting point to help the golf sector better understand the experiences and needs of participants at different life stages.

In this case study, we hear from New Zealand Rugby about the change they undertook to the design and delivery of under-11 boys’ rugby competition structures.

Unshackling our ties to tradition can sometimes allow for the creation of exciting and better sport experiences for young people.

Six of the top sports in the region have joined forces with Sport Hawke’s Bay to emphasise the importance of participation, no matter what level, across all codes.

Girls Smash is a modified, girls-only cricket programme for years 3 -6 (going to year 8 in some areas) developed by Otago Cricket in 2016.

The Pledge provides 10 points of guidance for individuals and organisations wishing to create positive sport experiences for children.

The All Blacks’ Team Culture and Legacy - The questions these researchers ask are: 1) how do successful teams and organizations like the All Blacks create a winning ethos? and 2) how do cultural values, beliefs, and leadership play a role in sustaining this success?

The Sport Development team at Sport NZ hosted a hui with sector partners in Auckland in December 2019, with an agenda covering the theme for the day: “Balance is Better – show me the evidence”. Ken Martel from USA Hockey was the keynote presenter, sharing his success story on similar system changes they made 10 years ago to improve participation numbers.

A diverse audience of 180 arrived at Pulman Arena, to korero, connect and learn at the Sport Development Hui earlier this June. With this hui’s focus on Bringing Balance is Better to life, attendees were treated to presentations from sport development leaders about changes that had been introduced to their respective sports and communities which were aligned to Balance is Better.

On Tuesday 2nd March the Sport Development team hosted a Balance is Better Online Hui for the sector workforce. Over 180 people tuned in live to get an update on what the Sport Development Team is planning for the rest of 2021 and to learn more about Bio-banding from NZ Cricket and AUT. 

Balance is Better is about creating quality experiences for all young people to keep them active and in the game.

Ultimately, the true impact of Balance is Better will be seen through the actions of individuals and organisations who bring change and improvement to youth sport in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Sport NZ has been interviewing athletes, coaches and administrators across the sector as well
as researching best practice around the world. Applying what we’ve learned will pay dividends. This resource contains case studies and actionable insights to achieve balance in sport and winning in the long run.

In September 2019 Sport NZ and five of the country’s largest participation sports took a stand to bring the fun and skills development focus back into the game for all young people.

A public awareness campaign targeted at those delivering youth sport, parents, coaches and administrators, to raise awareness of why we’re losing young people from sport and what can be done about it.

Some of New Zealand’s most well-known athletes were not selected in early-age rep teams. Many speak of how they now benefit from having played multiple sports in their childhood.

Using Active NZ survey data we look at participation in play, active recreation and sport for rangatahi between ages 12 and 17 in New Zealand.

Using Active NZ survey data we look at participation in play, active recreation and sport by disabled people in New Zealand.

Using Active NZ survey data we do a deep dive into the impact of socioeconomic deprivation on participation in play, active recreation and sport.