Balance is Better
approach

Parents

8 Min

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 was adapted from work by Sport Parent EU. It is published...

Coaches

6 Min

The Risks of Early Specialisation in Youth Sports

In this article, we examine the ever-growing evidence of increasing injury to children in youth sport. Are high-performance behaviors creeping in too soon? Early specialization is a topic that is...

Coaches

9 Min

What Can We Learn from the Coaching Philosophies of Five Great Coaches?

As coaches, we should always be learning. The best coaches — even at the elite level — are avid learners, constantly seeking new ideas and information that might help them...

Coaches

12 Min

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...

Coaches

2 Min

Why specialising later can reduce the risk of injury and burnout

Good practice at youth development level can enable both life-long participation in sport and future high-performance outcomes. The High Performance Athlete Development team at High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ)...

Sport Leaders & Administrators

2 Min

Promoting Balance is Better Messages

Are you a sport administrator working in a national or regional sport organisation, a school or club and want to understand how you can promote Balance is Better? This article shows...

Coaches

3 Min

What does quality look like for young people?

How do you know what quality looks like when it comes to sport? In this article, we unpack what quality means in terms of: quality experiences; quality opportunities and quality...

Balance is Better Approach

3 Min

The Case for Delaying the IDing of Talent

Talent Identification is an important part of youth sport. But how, and when, we begin the Talent ID process can have a profound impact on the sporting experiences we give...

Balance is Better Approach

10 Min

Eight ways your organisation can take a participant-centred approach to delivering sport for young people

“Participant-centred” — you’ve probably heard the term thrown around. But what does it really mean? In this article, we outline tactics and actions that coaches, sports leaders, and administrators can...