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Featured
Webinar replay: Athlete, Parent & Coach
Building Better Relationships in Youth Sport In this webinar, our host, Dave Wright is joined by two world class youth sport experts – Dr. Craig Harrison and Reed Maltbie. Dave, Craig and Reed dive into a wide ranging...
Balance is Better in Action
Q&A with Balance is Better Champion, Jack Wang
Tell us a bit about you and where you grew up. I’m currently a badminton player in the Badminton New Zealand Development Squad, and a student at the University of Auckland. I was born and grew up in...
Balance is Better in Action
Q&A with Balance is Better Champion, Stacey McKerchar
Tell us a bit about you and where you grew up. As a child I grew up on a farm in Mayfield, about 30km out of Ashburton. Having three older brothers, I always had to stand up for...
Balance is Better in Action
Q&A with Balance is Better Champion, Shontayne Hape
Tell us a bit about you and where you grew up. How did you first get involved in sport? Te Atatu Roosters Under 6s (rugby league) was my first sports team. I loved the social skills involved with...
Balance is Better in Action
Q&A with Balance is Better Champion, Amy Nield
Tell us a bit about you and where you grew up. I grew up in the Hawkes Bay and moved to Auckland when I was 10. I have lived on the North Shore and now reside in East...
Coaches
Build a better connection with your athletes: What I wish my coach knew
This article is republished with permission from iCoachKids Have you ever been frustrated, disappointed, or puzzled by your athletes’ behaviour? Of course, happens all the time, right? We all experience those moments when we witness one of our...
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Coaches
How Do I Help Individuals in a Team Setting?
Working with individuals is a fundamental part of coaching. Even in team environments, it’s vital that we support every athlete individually to help them improve. So how can we help everyone in our group while maintaining a wider...
Value of sport
The Benefits of Community Sport
The benefits of physical activity and playing sport are far-reaching. For participants, research shows that sport is a form of recreation that makes us remain active, and be happier, healthier people. At a community level, we know sport...
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, outlines 12 key things coaches can do to incorporate a Balance is Better philosophy into their...
Coaches
Coaching Your Own Child – 5 Tips for the Parent-Coach
Being a parent-coach presents a unique set of challenges. Coaching is all about relationships, but sometimes the relationship between a parent and child poses different demands to that of an athlete and their coach. Balancing both can be...
Balance is Better in Action
Q&A with Balance is Better Champion, Samuel Tanner
Tell us a bit about you and where you grew up. I’m the eldest of five children with two amazing parents, Paul and Krissy. I am a Māori athlete and Ngāpuhi is my iwi. Pāpāmoa Beach has been...
Balance is Better in Action
“Understand that it’s their journey”: Willy Benson’s coaching philosophy
Balance is Better Champion Willy Benson is a former Olympic swimmer and now head coach at the Heretaunga Sundevils Swimming Club in Hawke’s Bay. While Willy achieved success in elite swimming, he believes the most profound impacts on...
Balance is Better in Action
Q&A with Balance is Better Champion, Tom Abercrombie
Tell us a bit about you and where you grew up. I grew up on the North Shore, Auckland, and as the middle child, was in a constant battle to beat my older brother at every sport under...
Balance is Better in Action
Q&A with Balance is Better Champion, Irene van Dyk
Tell us a bit about you and where you grew up. I am the youngest of four; my oldest brother is 10 years older than me and there is a six-year difference between me and my little brother....
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...
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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. ...
Webinars
Webinar replay: Building strong sport partnerships with schools
Do you want to learn the ins and outs of navigating the school sport system to make a lasting impact? Schools are a key environment for rangatahi in sport, and it can be challenging at times for clubs...
Coaches
The value of variety
“Variety is the spice of life” – When it comes to youth sport, this old saying is apt for summing up the benefits young people get from being exposed to a variety of sport and physical activity experiences. A key principle of...
Balance is Better in Action
Parents vital in growth of surf life saving
Changes in focus and structure for Surf Life Saving New Zealand (SLSNZ) is bearing early fruit as kids return to the sport. Over the summer months, New Zealand’s 74 surf life saving clubs offer junior programmes that help...
Coaches
Are late developers really at a disadvantage?
In this article, Dr Jason Tee discusses how late-developers may be advantaged (as opposed to early-developers) in their development pathways, and ultimately become more successful in sport. David vs Goliath… During the first week of July, I had...
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Coaches
Maximising Player Potential with Rob Sherman
This video is shared by Player Development Project In this Player Development Project Masterclass Discussion, Dave Wright is joined by Rob Sherman to discuss how coaches can maximise player potential. This interview (recorded while Rob was NZF Technical...
Coaches
Teaching athletes about winning it all
This article is republished with permission from iCoachKids How do champions behave and train? What sets apart the best from the rest? How can coaches help athletes learn these behaviours? In this article, Prof Wade Gilbert unpacks some...