Most Popular this Week
Sport Leaders & Administrators
Creating a positive parent culture: A guide for schools and clubs
Featured
Self-Determination Theory: What Is It, and What Does It Mean (Practically) For Coaches?
Research shows that the most common cause of young people dropping out of sport is their psychological needs not being met. But unlike many of the other major reasons that young people stop participating in sport (such as...
Sport Leaders & Administrators
What does sport in a non-traditional format look like? Ideas for sport leaders and administrators
Balance is Better in Action
Taranaki Hockey: Bringing back fun with festivals
Sport Leaders & Administrators
Let’s work together
It’s no secret we’re a fan of collaboration. In fact, one of the key principles of Balance is Better is about “Working together” We’ve previously outlined in detail what it means to collaborate (including tips for organisations wanting...
Coaches
The Number One Thing That Good Coaches Do
We all want to be the best coach possible. But what makes a good coach? And, by extension, is there a particular trait, ideology, or approach that all good coaches possess? In this article, we compile the opinions...
Watch
Coaches
Unpacking the Balance is Better principle – Collective Attitudinal Change
“Sport leaders, coaches, administrators, parents, and caregivers involved in youth sport must collectively lead attitudinal change.” In this video, Sport Development Consultants Alex Chiet and Hamish Rogers, unpack the Balance is Better principle – Collective Attitudinal Change. Key...
Sport Leaders & Administrators
From agitators to allies: How clubs and schools can get the best out of their sports parents?
In this webinar, we chat with international sport-parent expert, Professor Camilla Knight, about strategies and tactics that clubs and schools can use to create a positive parent culture in their organisation. Key topics covered in this webinar include: ...
Sport Leaders & Administrators
Are you measuring what matters?
Looking beyond the scoreboard to define success in youth sport In an age where youth sport is becoming more professionalised at an earlier age, it’s important we reflect on how we measure success in youth sport. And in...
Watch
Sport Leaders & Administrators
Unpacking the Balance is Better principle – Bold and Courageous Leadership
“Bold and courageous leadership at national, regional and local levels is required to design and deliver quality youth sport participation and development opportunities “. In this video, Sport Development Consultants Alex Chiet and Hamish Rogers, unpack the Balance is Better principle – Bold & Courageous Leadership. Key Points: ...
Coaches
How to Coach Different Skill Levels in the Same Team
A key challenge youth coaches will face is working with athletes with varying skill levels within the same team. It’s easy to just focus on the ‘good’ athletes, but great coaches know how to develop all athletes, regardless...
Coaches
The Path to Excellence: Developing Warriors not Winners
This article is shared by Player Development Project Winners and Warriors: What is the difference and how can you help your players adopt a growth mindset and a focus on process and performance over outcome? In this article...
Sport Leaders & Administrators
Creating a positive parent culture: A guide for schools and clubs
Are the parents at your sports club or school assets and allies or are they antagonists? In this guide, we outline four areas for sports clubs and schools to consider in order to create a positive culture for...
Coaches
A practical guide for monitoring athlete training and competition load
Though we want our young people to enjoy healthy, physically active lives, it’s also important to recognise that some young people are at risk of exercising “too much”. Typically, the young people most at risk here are the...
Sport Leaders & Administrators
How to lead change as a sports leader? An introduction to Kotter’s 8-step change model
In sport, as in any industry, change is constant. Administrators and leaders, whether they be in sports clubs, schools, regional or national organisations, must be able to manage and lead change effectively in order to keep their organisations...
Parents
Being a perfectionist in sport
For many people, perfectionism is a concern. It features in lots of different areas of people’s lives. Importantly for sport parents, perfectionism can be rife among athletes at any age. This article is republished with permission from Sport...
Coaches
The Other Side of Failure
This article is shared by Player Development Project Failure is crucial in human development. Whether as a coach, player, parent or another vocation, embracing failure as part of a journey towards improvement is crucial in the learning process. Reed...
Editor's Picks
A collection of articles curated by the Balance is Better team.
Coaches
How to coach with a Balance is Better Philosophy?
How can coaches bring the Balance is Better philosophy to life? In this article, Andy Rogers, National Coaching Consultant at Sport NZ,...
Coaches
Creating an Environment for Youth to Flourish
In this article, Sport Development Consultant, Charissa Barham shares some valuable ideas on creating positive sporting environments and understanding our purpose as...
Coaches
Book Club with Dr. Ralph Pim
Following on previous Book Club features (see the recommendations from Andy Rogers and Tammy Mehrtens), we hear from Dr. Ralph Pim. Dr Ralph Pim...
Coaches
No Coach is an Island: Coaching in Competition
This article is republished with permission from iCoachKids In this article, Simon Toole discusses coaching feedback and intervention from the sideline. The...
Coaches
The CPR Method: How to Support Players When They Make a Mistake*
* Important clarification: we are not talking about poor skill execution, but more about poor game-decisions. In this article, Dr Sergio Lara-Bercial...
Watch
Coaches
How to be a great secondary school sport coach?: Defining success, mistakes verses outcomes, and the importance of self-awareness
In this Q&A, we hear from Dan Stamp, mental skills coach and Unitec lecturer, about his observations of New Zealand secondary school coaches. Dan,...
Parents
What makes an expert sports parent?
In 2015, Chris Harwood and Camilla Knight, published an academic paper titled, Parenting in youth sport – a positioning paper on parenting expertise. In this paper...
Parents
A parent guide to child growth and development in sport
In this guide we discuss the key considerations relating to children’s growth and development that may influence their sport experience. This guide...
Balance is Better in Action
Fun without pressure – Ex-New Zealand footballer Wendi Henderson talks youth sport
Former New Zealand footballer Wendi Henderson wants young people to enjoy their sports without any pressure, just as she did in her youth. ...
Coaches
Performance is a Behaviour, Not an Outcome
This article is shared by Player Development Project Founder of Changing the Game Project and top Player Development Project contributor, John O’Sullivan shares his ideas about the definition of performance and how to create an environment of autonomy, learning and...
Coaches
How to Raise a Generalist: The Key Lessons from Range, by David Epstein
Conventional wisdom tells us adult experts benefit from being able to get a head start in their chosen field when they were younger – that is, compared to non-experts, they benefited from concentrating at an earlier age on...
Value of sport
The Unique Wellbeing Benefits of Organised Sport
A recently published New Zealand study has found that participation in organised sport provides wellbeing benefits to young people, above and beyond the benefits derived from other recreational physical activities. In this article, we take a deeper look...
Watch
Coaches
Coaches: How do you respond to repeated mistakes?
We often hear that mistakes are necessary for learning. But what does that mean for how coaches respond to repeated mistakes in decision-making? In this Q&A, Hamish Rogers sits down with Dr. Vince Minjares, to discuss his Ph.D...
Balance is Better in Action
Putting the Youth Voice in the Centre Circle
Gisborne Netball Centre has leveraged the power of sport to engage rangatahi, grow confidence and change lives. The challenge: a sporting decline Gisborne Netball Centre have seen declining participation from rural communities over the last 30 years. A...
Coaches
The art of vulnerability – Lessons on coaching with Ted Lasso
This is the first in a series of blogs by Dave Keelty looking at coaching lessons from hit television comedy, Ted Lasso. Ted Lasso is back, and I am excited! For those of you who haven’t discovered this gem of...