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Sport Leaders & Administrators
Are you measuring what matters?
Body and mind
The Risks of Early Specialisation
Sport Leaders & Administrators
Setting coaches up for success – A guide for Sport Leaders & Administrators
Sport Leaders & Administrators
Creating a positive parent culture: A guide for schools and clubs
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Coaches
There is still a race to win
Featured
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...
Balance is Better in Action
How Sport Hawke’s Bay found a win-win with Good Sports® and Great Partnerships
Parents
How do I support my child to maintain a love of sport, regardless of ability?
In this article we respond to the following question submitted to the Balance is Better team – Help, my boy is not as talented as other players (including his siblings) and he now knows it. How do I help...
Coaches
How Coaches Can Help Young Athletes Develop a Growth Mindset?
Coach, do you want to develop confident and resilient athletes? Then coaching your athletes to develop a growth mindset should become a key part of your coaching toolbox. Research has shown that having a growth mindset is a...
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Parents
Do athletes from rural backgrounds get a development advantage?
Bobby Newport is a senior lecturer in sport & recreation at NorthTec | Te Pūkenga. In this Q&A, Hamish Rogers talks to Bobby about his research looking at the development backgrounds of some of New Zealand’s best hockey...
Coaches
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...
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
Case Study: Good Sports and Golf New Zealand
Golf New Zealand has relied on a magic formula to navigate challenges, pairing their junior and youth participation approach with the Good Sports® programme. Introduction Golf NZ Futures is about creating quality experiences for young people aged 5-18....
Sport Leaders & Administrators
Multi-sport upbringing sets foundation for good physical activity habits later in life
New Canadian research has found multi-sport participation may act as a protective factor against non-participation in sport and physical activity later in life. The Monitoring Activities of Teenagers to Comprehend their Habits (MATCH) study examined the sport participation...
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Coaches
Transforming Character Strengths into Productive Results
Take five minutes and write down on a piece of paper: How you define character? What are three to five character qualities of the team or individual you coach Ask another coach the same two questions and compare your answers. What...
Coaches
Balance getting better with doing too much
For every aspirational athlete, there comes a time, when the pursuit of excellence clashes with the maintenance of their own well-being. Not being aware of this (and having strategies to manage) can be a recipe for ill-health and...
Coaches
Skill Development for All
All young people should be offered participation and skill development opportunities. In this article, Sport Development Consultant, Hamish Rogers, discusses why and how. Talent programmes. Skill centres. Academies. Extension coaching. Should these types of skill development opportunities be...
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...
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...
Coaches
Nutrition 102 for adolescent athletes: The vitamins & minerals you should be concerned with
In our prior article, Nutrition 101, we outlined the key nutrition information coaches and parents need to know about macronutrients (carbs, protein and fats) for supporting teenage athletes. Additionally, there are some really important vitamins and minerals that...
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,...
Being a sports parent
Creating an Environment for Youth to Flourish
In this article, NZ Secondary Schools Netball Coach, Charissa Barham shares some valuable ideas on creating positive sporting environments and understanding our...
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. ...
Body and mind
Nutrition 101 for Adolescent Athletes: What all parents & coaches should know
Carbs, protein, fat. In this article, we introduce the key nutritional information parents and coaches need to know to support healthy adolescent athletes. There are a lot of mixed messages about nutrition on the web. No wonder it’s...
Coaches
Nutrition for adolescent athletes who participate in endurance sports
Athletes who participate in endurance sports have particular nutrition requirements that differ from those involved in more general sporting codes. In this article, we discuss how young athletes can optimise their nutrition intake to maximise sport performance. General...
Body and mind
Nutrition for strength-based sports
In this article, we discuss how parents and coaches can support the nutrition needs of adolescent athletes that participate in strength-based sports. One of the functions of protein is to build and repair muscle. This makes it especially...
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Coaches
There is still a race to win
Have you seen Sebastian Vettel’s retirement announcement? It is a powerful watch. In the four-minute video, Seb spends 90% of the time talking about who he is and what he wants to do. Away from the track. “There...
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: ...
Parents
Key Ways Parents Can Use Sport to Develop a Growth Mindset in Their Child
Our mindset determines the way we learn, what motivates us, our approach to adversity, and has a huge impact on our development as human beings. Understandably, as parents, we want our children to form positive, productive mindsets that...