From the Director of High Performance
Kia ora tātou,
Over the past month we’ve seen a string of encouraging results including New Zealand’s most successful World Athletics Championship, seven medals (including 3 golds) at the Para Athletics World Championships, a world championship for Rowing’s men’s pair, a return to form at the Para Swimming World Championships, Sammie Maxwell becoming the first New Zealander to win UCI World Series title and success for many of other Kiwi athletes in international events. Congratulations to all involved.
At this stage of the Olympic and Paralympic cycle, no doubt the sports involved will be happy to bank these results but not rest on them. There is an old saying in high performance that if you are standing still, you’re going backwards.
For HPSNZ, this year has been about working with our NSO partners to ensure we do not rest on previous successes and that we move forward in a way that meets the needs of the sports, their athletes and coaches and sets them up for sustainable success in the evolving high performance sporting landscape.
We’ve made shifts in the implementation of the Performance Pathways pillar of our Strategic Plan, with a more targeted approach to the way we support NSOs in their athlete and coach development.
In recent weeks we have announced an additional one-off investment of $2.5 million over the next three years in direct funding and targeted consultancy support to accelerate NSO capability and maturity in Pre-HP athlete identification and development. An investment application process will be published shortly.
We have also turned our attention to our Women in High Performance Sport programme, again in search of continuous improvement.
This month we have announced that within that programme, Te Hāpaitanga, which has increased the visibility of and opportunities for female coaches over five cohorts, will change to one-on-one consultancy with Te Hāpaitanga alumnae coaches. This is about deepening impact: positioning alumnae coaches to contribute directly inside NSO high performance environments, strengthening campaign delivery, and ensuring women coaches are embedded as valued leaders in New Zealand’s high performance system.
There will be a similar shift in the Residency Experience programme. The programme’s services will remain but will move to a targeted NSO-led approach with flexibility through bespoke opportunities for individuals. These opportunities will be designed in partnership with the NSO, with support and expertise from HPSNZ and/or others. This will include working in partnership with NSOs to develop the conditions to enable the women, and the sport, to thrive.
Our overall focus remains firmly on performance outcomes, ensuring that TAPS athletes have what they need to thrive on the world stage. These shifts are all designed to enhance the system that supports these athletes and contribute to ongoing, sustainable success.
In this edition of HPSNZ Update we catch up with the medical leads who are helping prepare the NZ Team athletes for Milano Cortina 2026. We also check in with Basketball NZ as they prepare their 3X3 teams to compete at Glasgow 2026, and Head of Performance Psychology, Dr John Sullivan has advice for successfully transitioning out of sport.
Ngā mihi
Steve
Glasgow 2026 – 3×3 Basketball eyes second Commonwealth Games opportunity
Having featured as a debut sport on the Birmingham 2022 programme, 3×3 Basketball is eyeing up the opportunity to make real inroads at Glasgow 2026.
Despite a scaled back sports programme in Glasgow, 3×3 Basketball – men’s, women’s and wheelchair – made the cut, reflecting the growing popularity of the short form version of the sport.
Qualifying for LA28 is a target for the sport, however HPSNZ Performance Team Leader for Basketball, Sulu Fitzpatrick says the Commonwealth Games are an important benchmark event and an opportunity to try and podium.
Basketball NZ High Performance 3×3 Programmes Manager, Nikolay Mikhalchuk, says 3×3 Basketball has seen massive improvements and changes in New Zealand over the last four years.
Milano Cortina 2026 – Smooth baton handover for medical team
Snow Sports NZ Medical Director, Dr Sarah Beable, had been looking forward to her first Olympic Winter Games as the NZ Team’s medical lead, however the scheduled arrival of a baby will coincide with Games time.
For Sarah, an HPSNZ Athlete Performance Support practitioner embedded in Snow Sports NZ and a medical support member for two summer Olympic Games and three Commonwealth Games, this has meant the build up to Milano Cortina 2026 will be more than planning and preparation for the athletes.
As the Medical Director of Snow Sports NZ for the past three years, Sarah works with most of the Park and Pipe team as their doctor in New Zealand, and offshore via Telehealth. Her changed circumstances mean drawing on the support processes already in place to ensure a seamless transition to the NZ Team Olympic environment for Dr Eloise Matthews who has picked up the baton as medical lead during Games time.
Goldmine takes aim to support Shooting Para Sport athlete
When Paralympics NZ’s Kristin Farrell reached out to HPSNZ looking for support for Shooting Para Sport athlete Neelam O’Neill to revisit her shooting position, a group of HPSNZ representatives from Physiology, Physiotherapy, Performance and Technique Analysis, Performance Life and Goldmine Innovation put their heads together to identify the best team to work with Neelam to find a solution.
Goldmine Innovation Mechanical Engineer, Bex Cider, and Performance Physiotherapist, Isobel Freeman, became that team and attended Neelam’s training to identify opportunities to improve her shooting position and hence performance.
Balanced Athlete Health – The four dimensions of wellbeing
Credit: Michael Thomas
A well-known Māori model of wellbeing is proving a helpful tool for athletes to help find their balance by considering all aspects of what wellbeing means for them.
Te Whare Tapa Whā is a holistic Māori model of health and wellbeing that uses the metaphor of a wharenui (meeting house) with four walls to represent the interconnected dimensions of health: taha tinana – physical wellbeing, taha wairua – spiritual wellbeing, taha whānau – family and community wellbeing, Taha Hinengaro – mental and emotional wellbeing
The model emphasises that for a person or collective to be healthy, all four dimensions must be in balance.
Rowing’s Team Behind the Team
Recent Rowing Hub articles and a podcast provide insights into Rowing NZ’s Team Behind the Team, made up of the NSO’s support staff and HPSNZ practitioners, and the role this group plays for New Zealand’s most successful Olympic sport.
The first article, entitled ‘The Hidden Champions’, introduces and talks with the team of coaches, athlete performance leads, athlete wellbeing leads, performance life coaches, strength & conditioning coaches, performance physiologists, performance and technique analysts and nutritionists, all of whom play a critical role in preparing the men and women who wear the black singlet.
The second article features the Performance Health staff who support the rowers – doctors, physiotherapists, massage therapists, sports psychologists, nurse and performance health operations support.
In the first episode of a podcast, HPSNZ Performance Nutritionist, Julie Bone, shares key nutrition insights for her rowing charges.
Prime Minister’s Scholarship intern shares experience
With applications for the fourth year of Prime Minister’s Scholarship Internships due to close on 31 October, a current intern shares his experience.
Working with schools is the common denominator for Olympic kayaker Max Brown who has swapped his 12-year role as a school music teacher for an internship in the schools, sport and not-for-profit sector working for Olympic rower, Rob Waddell, at his consultancy Waddell & Associates.
Mental health and the transition out of sport
By Dr John Sullivan, HPSNZ Head of Performance Psychology
In this month’s column on specific areas of mental health and performance, John addresses the mental health challenges athletes face when retiring from sports and provides guidance for navigating this significant life transition. A link to further resources is provided at the end of the column.
25 years of Prime Minister’s Scholarships – Dr Lesley Nicol giving back to athlete health and welfare
The first Silver Fern centurion, Dr Lesley Nicol (Rumball) was destined to work in the field of athlete health and welfare, even before she ended her 20 year international netball career.
A long time player and captain of the Silver Ferns, the Otago Rebels and Southern Sting, Lesley was able to play while completing degrees in Physiotherapy and Medicine, partly thanks to a PM’s Scholarship and latterly a PM’s Gold Scholarship.
Today, Lesley is a HPSNZ medical provider, a board member of the Sport Integrity Commission Te Kahu Raunui, medical director of the Mainland Tactix, an NZOC Selection committee member and provides medical support at Silver Ferns’ tests in Christchurch.
Note: applications for the next athlete intake for PM’s Scholarships are open from 10 to 30 November, 2025. This intake will adopt the new 2025-2028 Athlete Guidelines which will be published on the HPSNZ website, along with a refreshed portal application.