In the face of increasing climate chaos, hope is not a strategy. And for a sport and recreation sector already feeling the impacts of severe weather events, ignorance is no longer an excuse for inaction.  

Those were the hard-hitting home truths delivered by Climate Change Commission Chair Dr Rod Carr as he delivered the opening keynote address at Connections 2023. 

Human wellbeing is inseparable from the natural environment. That fact is becoming increasing clear as the impact of global warming bites.  

It’s also a core belief that underpins the Māori world view. It’s a view of Māori, but not just for Māori, insists Ngāti Whātua leader Rangimarie Hunia, who delivered a keynote address at Connections 2023 outlining how the Māori world view could help shape the future of sport and recreation. 

The path to environmental sustainability might ultimately require less international travel for competition – but that should be offset by greater international coordination, cooperation and collegiality from the global sport and recreation community. 

That was the message from Sport England chief executive Tim Hollingsworth, who provided an international perspective at Sport NZ’s climate-focussed Connections 2023 conference. 

For Kiwi sport and recreation organisations already reeling from the impact of severe weather events, being asked to step up and play their part to reduce global warming will likely be a daunting prospect.

Emma Pocock, the founder and chief executive of Australian climate advocacy group Frontrunners, had some helpful advice for sector leaders at Sport New Zealand’s Connections 2023 conference who find themselves in that exact position: start simple.

Don’t worry about sentient robots attacking humanity and wiping out the planet – it’s your staff members and kids with AI apps on their smart phones that you really need to be paying attention to. 

Because artificial intelligence is here, and its implementation across just about every walk of life and sector – including sport and recreation – is being driven from the ground up. 

If you’re still feeling flat and washed out at work despite the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on our day to day lives having receded, you’re not alone. 

Nick Petrie, an international leadership consultant who delivered a workshop on the art of avoiding burnout at Sport New Zealand’s Connections 2023 conference, is well-qualified to offer insights into the effect of the pandemic on workplace happiness and productivity. 

Predicting the future is tough, controlling it, borderline impossible.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t work hard to shape it as favourably as we can.

First, check your perspective.

And then check your baggage at the door.

That’s the message from Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Chief Executive Arihia Bennett for organisations tasked with ensuring their operations adopt a bi-cultural approach.

Dave Letele is happy to share the secret behind a weight loss journey that saw him morph from an angry, depressed 200kg loser into a fit, healthy, tireless campaigner for the disadvantaged.

“Here is the secret,” the founder of Buttabean Motivation (BBM) told delegates at Sport New Zealand’s Connections 2022 Conference.

If the language emanating from sports administrators becomes just a little more colourful in coming times, it might well be being guided by the hidden hand of former New Zealand Poet Laureate Selina Tusitala Marsh.

A professor at Auckland University’s Faculty of the Arts who lectures in creative writing and Māori and Pasifika literary studies, Marsh gave delegates at Sport NZ’s Connections 2022 conference a crash course in poetry writing - and was impressed with the results.

“Know who you are when you tell your story,” professor Marsh implores.

“Don’t ever use the word challenge in the same sentence as Covid. Only ever use the word opportunity.”

That was technology pioneer Sir Ian Taylor’s message for delegates at Sport New Zealand’s Connections 2022 conference in Christchurch.

Sir Ian recounted the experience of his Dunedin-based company Animation Research Limited (ARL) – a company that delivers animation such as cricket’s DRS and ball tracking for golf tournaments and baseball matches - to augment the broadcast of major global sporting events.

Like many elite sportspeople, Burling’s life often sees him jump on a plane in one part of the world and exit in another, ready to hit the water and compete. It’s an experience he describes as like being “teleported”.

“You get on the plane, go to sleep and get off the plane in a different environment. It’s a different temperature, a different outlook, and you don’t think it is connected at all,” Burling told delegates at Sport New Zealand’s Connections 2022 conference.

Burling attended the conference with Sail GP team-mate Josh Junior, who is also dipping his toes into the water of preservation and sustainability.

NZ Esports attended the conference to demonstrate the technology employed in competitive gaming to an audience largely made up of traditional sports administrators.

It was a chance to correct some of the misconceptions around esports – such as that it is antisocial and results in a sedentary, unhealthy lifestyle.

“It’s a chance for us to show all the sports sector what Esports really is,” said Jonathan Jansen, chief executive of the NZ Esports Federation.

A challenge to envisage the best possible future for sport and recreation and to act now to ensure it becomes a reality was laid down to sector leaders on day one of Sport NZ’s Connections 2022 conference in Christchurch on Monday.

Sport NZ’s Head of Strategic Foresight Dave Adams challenges the sector to think about, and make sense of the future differently.

Sport NZ Chief Executive Peter Miskimmin says in our changing world, the sport sector will face a significant challenge to sustain both the number of Kiwis participating in sport, and the number winning on the world stage.