Grassroots Sport

Active New Zealand has a special responsibility to advocate, promote, and assist implementation of sport at the informal, club and school levels of participation - the grassroots of sport. Sport, as indicated in Part 2 of this report, has been shaped and reshaped by various forces and the decrease in volunteers has been felt in virtually all sports. Clubs are the traditional volunteer domain of New Zealand sport and have the potential to enhance or negate a positive engagement with sport.

Recreation and sport play an important part in the non-working time of New Zealanders. Many engage in what is often called "social sport". This informal dimension of sport is not usually governed by national or regional organisations or subjected to traditional parameters of competition structures. Social sport may include, for example, informal workplace teams, street sport, local touch competition, or "pick-up" matches at the local park. It is essential local government is aware of, and responds to, the need to provide facilities for social sport. Local clubs and Regional Trusts must look to assist in this growing recreational activity.

Club sport is the base of organised sport in New Zealand. Clubs reflect the diversity of New Zealand local sport organisations, provide sequential levels of competition for participants of different abilities and goals, and have social roles in towns, suburbs and rural districts. It is through the club experience that most children - and their families - receive their grounding in sport. It is also to the clubs that secondary school students return on completion of their schooling. However, the Taskforce is concerned at the limited number of students who re-engage with a club to further their sport participation. It is the club that gives New Zealand sport a local habitation and a name.

Regional sport is the progression for participants above club and local level competition. Clubs are linked with the national sporting organisations through their regional organisations. Grassroots sport participation demands the effective local outreach of national sport organisations to ensure, in partnership with regional trusts and regional sport bodies, that all New Zealanders who so desire have the opportunity to engage in this level of sport. The grassroots level of local sport must be marked by devolved national leadership, encouragement of novice participation, inclusion, clear structures, a vibrant volunteer base and local support.

Sport Development will:

• Establish a participation policy in association with National Sport Organi-sations that builds upon school, social and club sport regionally and locally. This policy is critical to New Zealand sport and its effective implementation will be monitored by Sport Development.

• Ensure National Sport Organisations recognise social sport and consider appropriate links.

• Support the rationalisation and amalgamation of clubs and club facilities e.g. sporthouses and multi-sport clubs.

• Ensure the Policy and Services Unit assists Regional Trusts to provide clubs and grassroots organisations with advice and expertise e.g. governance and strategic planning.

Coaching

Coaching is the cornerstone of any sport programme. It will be a special area of Sport Development. The Taskforce is adamant that coaching is a key priority in advancing sport participation and elite level excellence. This focus area will develop, implement and monitor an effective coaching structure that leads, coordinates and supports coach development from beginner through elite levels. If the strategies below are achieved then the confidence of coaches and athletes will be raised.

To achieve its strategic focus in coaching, Sport Development will:

• Critically examine the present coaching structures and develop a detailed coaching programme for New Zealand sport.

• Lead coach development programmes by working closely with national sport organisations. This will include the support and promotion of coaching as a career in sport through planned professional career structures.

• Ensure core New Zealand coaching qualification programmes are inte-grated with sport specific qualifications and the national qualifications framework.

• Liaise with tertiary institutions to ensure mutual understanding of coaching programmes and courses.

• Ensure that funding of National Sport Organisations is conditional upon the National Sport Organisations having an Active New Zealand approved coaching structure and programme.

• Work actively to increase the number and quality of coaches in each sport at all levels.

• Assist National Sport Organisations in the development of accountability and competency profiles for key coaching positions and monitor the selection process.

• Have a representative on all key coach appointment selection panels where the sport concerned is receiving a grant from Active New Zealand.

• Assist National Sport Organisations with the monitoring and support of elite coaches. In particular develop remuneration levels for elite coaches that reflects their value.

• Explore bringing overseas coaches to New Zealand on limited term contracts to initially meet the need for outstanding coaches to develop our top coaches and utilise best coaching practice.

• Ensure the provision and use of state-of-the-art technology and resources, including the development of online coaching programmes and resources.

• Ensure the development of an efficient coaching structure, career path and resources to most effectively optimise the role of coaches in sport.

• Provide an avenue for coaches to meet and share information, ideas and coaching programmes.

Elite Sport

Elite sport will be a focus area of Sport Development. It will lead the development and implementation of strategies for elite sport in New Zealand. This will result in the development of an integrated elite sport structure which fits the vision of Active New Zealand and has an insistence upon excellence. It is not the intention of the Taskforce to subject elite sport to wholesale changes but it must be the subject of ongoing critical examination. The successful development of elite athletes is dependent upon opportunity, participation, identification, education, skill development, coaching, and family and volunteer support. Rationalising and developing elite sport will take effort, expenditure, initiative and high level decision making in order to raise the success levels of New Zealand athletes internationally.

The Taskforce is not convinced that financial handouts to a large number of promising athletes are necessarily going to produce world champions and Olympic medallists. The achievements of a team such as the Black Sox should be examined to determine the factors that are significant in the success of champions who have not been supported by high levels of funding or material support. The views of outstanding sport achievers should also be considered by Elite Sport in determining its funding and resource policy. An examination of these athletes' views may indicate factors other than financial and resource support that are integral to achievement at an elite level.

Sports that have the ability to achieve high level results should have access to the national athlete carding system and involvement in other associated high performance support programmes delivered by Active New Zealand through the New Zealand Academy of Sport. It is expected, for example, that elite coaches, athletes and teams receiving public funding from Active New Zealand will have an understanding of their country and act appropriately as representatives of a bicultural nation.

Sport Development will develop policies for elite sport that are visionary and realistic, based firmly on research, best practice and coach knowledge. The policy must focus on international achievements in sport.

To achieve its strategic focus in elite sport, Sport Development will:

• Ensure that excellence of coaching is the first priority in elite sport.

• Ensure administrators develop and implement a vision for elite sport achievement that is coach driven, athlete focused and sport science supported.

• Lead National Sport Organisations in the development of clear and cohesive structures that provide a pathway to elite athlete achievement.

• Lead the efforts of relevant academies - and work with the New Zealand Olympic Committee - in order to optimise coach and athlete support and the attainment of agreed goals for elite sport.

• Forge alliances for athletes and coaches with elite sport institutions overseas, particularly in Australia, Europe and the United States.

• Ensure that elite athletes are not disadvantaged by living in New Zealand and have the opportunity to realise their talent at the highest level.

• Ensure implementation of a robust classification of national non-professional sports. The Taskforce suggests broad categories of support for elite athletes, noting that exceptions will always occur. Possible categories are noted below with indicative criteria. The criteria and categories should be periodically revised.

  Group A Sports

  • sports with the proven ability to achieve top three results at Olympic Games
  • sports with the proven ability to achieve top three results at World Championships that are considered important to New Zealand

  Group B Sports

  • sports with the proven ability to achieve top three results at Common-wealth Games
  • sports that are significant on a world stage but unable in the foreseeable future to achieve success at an international level but have high participation levels and strong development programmes in place that warrant further support
  • sports that achieve top world rankings in events that are considered important to the sport but not necessarily to the nation

  Group C Sports

  • sports that are minor or emerging sports and, in the main, have participation numbers in New Zealand less than 1000
  • sports that have the ability in the foreseeable future to achieve world rankings in events that are considered important to the sport but not necessarily the nation
  • support for exceptional individuals being granted support whose sport does not meet the criteria for substantial support

• Incorporate the present functions of Sport Science New Zealand and Coaching New Zealand into Active New Zealand.

• Develop and implement systems of talent identification at all levels of sport.

• Determine funding levels for elite sport.

• Set clear performance indicators and monitor funding allocations and resources to the National Sport Organisations, coaches, athletes and support services to ensure their most beneficial use.

• Ensure sports will only be financially supported for elite sport programmes if they have:
  • a plan for elite sport that is effectively operated and monitored
  • an approved coaching scheme
  • a coach development plan
  • clear monitored criteria for funding and resourcing athletes
  • key performance targets and indicators
  • effective detailed records of an athlete's development and perform-ance

The Taskforce does not support provision of public funds for recreation and sport to professional codes.

Elite Sport Academies

Active New Zealand must develop a central administration for leading the development and resourcing of the network of specialist sport specific academies. If New Zealand is to compete successfully in international sport all current initiatives must be integrated into an aligned structure that best serves the needs of New Zealand's elite coaches and athletes. This structure should emerge from the recently launched New Zealand Academy of Sport, provided administrators ensure the development and implementation of a vision for elite sport achievement is coach driven, athlete focused and sport science supported.

The future elite sport framework must:

• support coaches as essential persons in elite programmes
• optimise the potential for sport specific centres and the critical cohesion of sport specific support on a networked basis
• ensure the athletes' and coaches' needs for elite sport training facilities are unrestricted
• ensure selected advisors and support staff are of the highest quality

In meeting the needs for elite sport, the delivery structures must:

• Develop fully integrated sport specific programmes that serve their sports and have the appropriate coaching director, national coach and other coaches located at coordinated sites.

• Develop a fully integrated package for elite sport that is coach driven and includes training and practice facilities, coaching, and stringently monitored sports medicine and sport science support through an athlete carding system.

• Recognise athletes' needs for an appropriate and supportive environment that recognises individual needs in a context of elite competition expectation e.g. education scholarships, career education and flexible employment schemes.

• Ensure the provision of leading edge knowledge, information, service delivery, facility use and programmes on a coordinated and networked basis. In doing so, elite coaches will benefit from the interaction with coaches from other codes.

• Ensure, in conjunction with national sport organisations, a clear and supported pathway is available for all talented athletes.

• Ensure each elite sport academy has the ability to encourage higher standards of regional sport through association with leading coaches and athletes and specialist facilities and services. In doing so each site must be assisted by Territorial Local Authorities, post-secondary education institutions and specialist health authorities.

• Improve coordination and usage of existing facilities and the planned development of new facilities. The operation of all sport specific academies must be closely linked and provide the sharing of expertise within each sport and across sports.

The core operational costs of the elite academies should be fully funded by Active New Zealand. Any additional funding for elite academies must comply with Active New Zealand guidelines.