Breaking the Machine
This article is shared by Player Development Project The machine that is premature professionalism in youth sport is a growing problem. Environments created to replicate professional sport, ‘elite’ pathways at...
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Case Study: Netball New Zealand
Every weekend over the winter season thousands of Kiwi kids gather on netball courts around the country. From the outside, the sport is as strong as always with netball continuing...
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Keep up with the play: the case for taking youth sport less seriously
Sport NZ and five of the largest participation sports in New Zealand – Rugby, Cricket, Football, Netball and Hockey – have launched a major public awareness campaign calling for enablers...
Sports Bodies Join Together to Change Youth Sport
Youth sport is set to undergo a dramatic shake-up as the leaders of Sport NZ and the country’s five largest participation sports speak out in a united front against negative...
Case Study: Auckland Football Federation
In 2017, Auckland Football Federation was facing two interrelated problems. For the last 65 years, the federation had been selecting representative teams to attend the Weir Rose Bowl Tournament, an...
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Case Study: New Zealand Cricket’s new social innovation: Yeah! Girls
Cricket is one of New Zealand’s quintessential summer sports, with young and old lining up wickets and fast bowls on backyard cricket pitches around the country. It is a sport...
Case Study: Tasman Rugby aim for fair play
Poor behaviour from fellow players, coaches, parents and spectators can have a devastating effect on our young people’s experience of sport. Bullying, harassment, aggression and a disregard for the concept...
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Was it specialising in one sport too soon?
In this series of Balance is Better articles, Sport NZ explores the myths surrounding youth sport and the shift in thinking needed to halt declining participation levels in kiwi teens....
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The Principles of Player Development
This video is shared by Player Development Project In this interview, Player Development Project Editor, Dave Wright speaks New Zealand U17 Football Coach, Jose Manuel Figueira on his guiding principles...
