Snow Sports NZ and Triathlon NZ strengthen future pathways
The Framework, supported by a one-off $2.5 million investment, focuses on six key pillars: leadership, pathway clarity, athlete development, coaching, daily training environments and investment. Across all nine sports, the emphasis has been on creating stronger, more connected systems that better prepare athletes and coaches for the demands of future high performance campaigns.
Strengthening snow sports development environments
For Snow Sports NZ, funding is supporting two key initiatives: enhancing athlete development leadership and strengthening pathway programme coaching. Together, these initiatives are focused on building high quality development environments that allow athletes to remain in regional programmes longer while receiving the support needed to progress towards elite performance.
High Performance Athlete Development Lead Sarah Gillespie says the goal is to strengthen regional programmes such as the Cardrona Park Squad and Remarkables Academy, while building coaching capability and development opportunities across the wider snow sports pathway.
“We want to keep athletes in those programmes for as long as we can, ensuring they have really strong development environments and coaching targeted towards athletes who want to follow a competitive pathway,” says Sarah.
The enhanced athlete development role provides oversight across technical, physical, psychological and personal development, helping athletes build the habits, skills and resilience needed for long-term success.
Athletes identified as having potential for future Olympic campaigns in 2030 and 2034 will receive targeted support designed to ensure a safe and healthy transition into the elite pathway.
“The key benefits are a safe and healthy transition into the elite pathway, with more athletes successfully progressing from development into elite programmes. Progress will be supported through quality, consistent coaching,” says Sarah.
Building international experience in triathlon
For Triathlon NZ, the focus is on creating more structured development opportunities for talented junior and under-23 athletes as they prepare for the realities of international campaigning and competition.
Triathlon NZ General Manager Performance Travis White says the investment supports a deliberate long-term approach to athlete development, ensuring young athletes gain international experience and performance behaviours much earlier in their journeys.
“A big focus is providing opportunities and environments for athletes to develop the skills and behaviours needed to compete internationally. When they move into elite racing, we want them already equipped with those experiences rather than learning them for the first time,” says Travis.
The funding is helping expand international training and competition opportunities, including camps in Spain and junior international campaigns throughout Europe. It is also enabling greater support from Triathlon NZ’s athlete development and pathway staff, while strengthening connections between nationally dispersed athletes and coaches.
“Previously we were prioritising funding from our core investment into development. This investment allows us to ring-fence that work and provide greater support to a larger cohort of athletes,” says Travis.
The initiative is expected to play an important role in building towards multiple future milestones, including the 2028 T50 World Championship Tour Finals in Tauranga, Brisbane 2032 and beyond.
Creating lasting impact across New Zealand sport
HPSNZ Head of Performance Pathways Tracey Paterson says the implementation of the priority initiatives for the nine sports marks an important milestone in strengthening New Zealand’s future high performance pipeline.
“Across all nine sports we’re seeing genuine commitment to building stronger, more intentional pathways for future success. While the initiatives look different in every sport, the common thread is creating better environments for athletes and coaches to develop and thrive, while connecting their long term goals in sport and life.
“This investment was never about short-term gains. It was about giving sports the opportunity to make strategic shifts that strengthen New Zealand’s performance pathways for France 2030, Brisbane 2032 and beyond.
Measuring success over the long term
“We’ll measure success in a number of ways. At a system level, we’ll be looking at how effectively sports implement the initiatives they identified and whether those initiatives create stronger, more sustainable pathways,” says Tracey.
“We’ll also be tracking indicators such as athlete progression, coaching capability, quality daily training environments and the strength of connections between development and high performance programmes.
“Ultimately, success will be reflected in having athletes and coaches progressing through robust, well-supported pathways and arriving in future campaigns better prepared and ready to perform. The real measure is whether the changes being made today increase New Zealand’s capacity to deliver repeatable success on the world stage over the next decade and beyond.”