From the Chief Executive
Kia ora tātou,
The holiday season is almost upon us, but before we all depart for our beaches and spend precious time with our whanau, I want to reflect on the significant achievements of the sector in 2024 and update you on our final few announcements of the year.
The successes celebrated in Paris are not only highlights of the year, they are the perfect capture of our sector that supports the complex jigsaw puzzle required to have an athlete or team get to an Olympics or Paralympics. From the NZOC to the NSOs, from the doctors to the physios, from the social media people to the media. You are all a very important piece of the puzzle.
I’ve been asked a number of times for my personal highlights from Paris which is no easy task. This was the most successful Olympics in terms of gold medals. However it was the way our athletes presented New Zealand to the world, outside of competition, that made me the most proud. On many days the NZ Olympic Team were the talk of Paris.
These achievements can’t be measured in terms of gold medals alone.
- Hamish Kerr became the first Kiwi man to win gold in a field event at the Olympic Games
- Finn Butcher struck gold as a first time Olympian in a first time Olympic discipline
- Lucy Spoor and Brooke Francis broke new ground for rowing mums with their golden success
- The Canoe Racing team were the first to strike the golden treble for women
- Ellesse Andrews became the first New Zealand track cyclist to win two golds (and a silver) at an Olympics
- The back to back golds by the Black Ferns in the Rugby Women’s 7s were a first.
Looking forward, we are pleased we have finalised the high performance investment process that will see us through the next four year cycle to LA 2028. It is a very challenging financial time for New Zealand and the fact that we have been able to maintain a similar level of investment for this cycle should be acknowledged when many of our colleagues across government have seen their budgets significantly reduced.
HPSNZ recognises that with a set amount of funding to allocate, some partners will be happy with the decisions, whilst some will not. What we can assure you is all the decisions are designed to maintain the targeted approach that has helped deliver ongoing international success for New Zealand athletes, while continuing to increase the wellbeing support within the high performance system.
I want to thank all involved in the process. I’d like to acknowledge the mahi our partners put into their proposals, particularly for those sports who run on a part time or volunteer basis. The applications reflect the thinking, care and consideration of many people within our high performance system. Specific details of the investment decisions are covered in this email and are available on our website.
I also want to acknowledge all those who have been a part of the Coronial Inquest in Hamilton which has now been adjourned to the new year. Our thoughts have been with all of Olivia’s whānau, friends and colleagues during this challenging time. Much has been done in the intervening years since 2021 to transform the high performance system and put athletes and their wellbeing at the centre of what we do. The inquest is, however, an important step in helping us understand whether what we are doing is enough, ensuring high performance sport is a place where all athletes can thrive.
On behalf of everyone at HPSNZ, we extend our warmest best wishes for a restful and relaxing holiday. We hope you take a quality break to spend time with whānau and friends and return refreshed to head into what will be a big year as we head towards the two pinnacle events in 2026 – Milano Cortina and Glasgow Commonwealth Games, and as we lay the foundations for LA 2028.
Meri Kirihimete me te Hape Nū la! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Raelene
HPSNZ announces four year investment into high performance sport
HPSNZ will invest $162.8 million into 36 NSOs over the next four years through to Los Angeles Olympics and Paralympics.
$40.7 million per annum will go directly to NSOs for their campaigns, high performance programmes and performance pathways.
In addition, HPSNZ will invest $22 million per annum in Tailored Athlete Pathway Support (TAPS), a programme of investment which supports the wellbeing and performance of eligible athletes in the high performance system.
This TAPS investment is made up of $11.9 million per year which goes to athletes for financial support, and includes training and excellence grants, and health insurance. From 2025 eligible athletes will receive $50,000 per annum as an Elite Training Grant, an increase of $17,500, while the Potential Training Grant will increase by $14,000 to $25,000 per annum.
The remaining $10.1 million will be available for performance support which allows athletes to access health and wellbeing focussed performance medicine, nutrition, physiotherapy, performance science and performance life.
An additional $800,000 per annum is available in a standalone fund for wellbeing initiatives.
New resources from the HPSNZ Wellbeing team
Bruna Lima
A new team member, new measurement initiative and soon to be released Onboarding Guidance resources are just some of the Wellbeing initiatives being introduced as 2024 closes out.
Wellbeing and Engagement Lead, Dr Toni Minniti, says the team has made a big push to get important new resources out into the sector so that National Sports Organisations (NSOs) can head into the new year with a growing toolbox of support.
“Introducing the new resources is exciting and we hope to supplement the existing resources which are available through our Wellbeing Programme pages on the website,” says Toni.
New sports, former elite athletes feature in fifth Te Hāpaitanga group
Carla Hohepa
An Olympian, a Women’s Rugby World Cup Black Fern and coaches from two new sports are among the eight women selected for the fifth Te Hāpaitanga group.
Rowing Olympian turned athletics coach, Sonia Waddell, joins Black Ferns’ Carla Hohepa in the group who have been selected for the high performance women’s coaching programme.
The two new sports – squash and skateboarding – will see Squash coach, Emma Millar, join the programme as the sport eyes up its first time Olympic inclusion at LA 2028, along with Skateboarding coach, Amber Clyde, who will be targeting an Olympic qualification.
The other successful candidates joining Sonia, Carla, Amber and Emma are:
Paula Smith – Netball
M J Araroa – Netball
Kat Jones – Basketball
Gabby Olopu – Waterpolo
Career focus for Olympic and Paralympic athletes
A number of athletes coming off the Paris Olympics and Paralympics are among the successful candidates for the 2025/26 HPSNZ Athlete Internship programme.
Programme lead, Hannah McLean, says many of the athletes saw an internship as the opportunity to put some focus on developing their career outside sport at the beginning of the LA cycle.
Nine athletes from six sports will undertake internships for up to 12 months and will gain their work experience across a diverse range of sectors. Successful candidates are:
Manaia Nuku, Rugby Sevens – Māori Development, Broadcasting
Michaela Blyde, Rugby Sevens – Broadcasting, NZ Police
Anna Taylor, Para Cycling – Health & Wellbeing, Governance
Nicole Shields, Track Cycling – Finance, Marketing
Max Brown, Canoe Racing – Consulting, Marketing, Business Development
Hamish Legarth, Canoe Racing – Engineering, Technology, Mining
Isabella Carter, Rowing – Finance, Marketing, Fashion
Charlotte Spence, Rowing – Health Science, Nutrition, Communications
Greer Sinclair, Netball – Marketing, Real Estate.
The focus for the internship programme team will now be on matching successful candidates with prospective employers.
Getting the match right is critical to the success of an internship and 2022 World Champion Freeride skier, Jess Hotter, shares her experience as an intern with the New Zealand Winter Games as a film and video content generator.
Surf Lifesaving benefits from Performance Pathway regional hub
Photo by Jamie Troughton/Dscribe Media.
A group of talented young women are not only forging a path in their academic journey at Otago University, but are also gaining exceptional skills that will benefit their aspirations as competitive surf lifesaving athletes thanks to HPSNZ’s Performance Pathway regional hub in Dunedin.
While the four women – Olive Pearce, Pippa Nicol, Rae Kwan and Claudia Kelly – hail from different parts of the country, they have converged on Dunedin to study medicine, law and biochemistry and have been onboarded into the Dunedin Regional Hub as pre high performance athletes, with the view to supporting their transitions and progression in sport and life, alongside their studies.
Dunedin Performance Pathway regional hub lead, Belinda Colling, says it is exciting to see the group from such aspirational sports that typically don’t receive a lot of specific attention, onboarded and engaged in progressing their sporting goals, working alongside each other and other pre-hp athletes based locally.
Calling coaches, officials and support teams
A reminder that applications for the 2025 Coach, Officials and Support Team Prime Minister’s Scholarships open 1 January 2025 and close at 12 pm, Friday 31 January 2025.
