{"id":1173,"date":"2019-06-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/reports\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-is-developing-its-approach-to-wellbeing\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:12:33","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:12:33","slug":"how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/","title":{"rendered":"How High Performance Sport NZ is Developing its Approach to Wellbeing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
\n\t
\n\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t
\n \n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n Jun 20, 2019 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

How High Performance Sport NZ is Developing its Approach to Wellbeing<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
Category<\/div>\n Human Performance<\/a> <\/div>\n
\n
Share<\/div>\n Facebook<\/a>\n Twitter<\/a>\n Email<\/a>\n Copy Link<\/a>\n
https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

The organisation\u2019s Martin Dowson explains that wellbeing is a firm part of what it takes to win in New Zealand.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

\n

Martin Dowson is talking about approaches to wellbeing in elite sport when he introduces the Leaders Performance Institute to a Maori proverb we had not encountered before.<\/h4>\n
\n

By John Portch<\/h6>\n

\u201c\u2018What is the most important thing in the world?\u2019\u201d he begins. \u201cAnd the answer, in Maori, is \u2018he t\u0101ngata, he t\u0101ngata, he t\u0101ngata\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt translates as \u2018it is the people, it is the people, it is the people\u2019. There\u2019s lots of signs you\u2019ll see across the nation with \u2018he t\u0101ngata, he t\u0101ngata, he t\u0101ngata\u2019 and it emphasises that we know it\u2019s about people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dowson is the General Manager of Athlete Performance Support at High Performance Sport New Zealand [HPSNZ] which, since 2011, has overseen the high performance sport system across the nation.<\/p>\n

Despite drawing from a population of under 5 million people, New Zealand can lay claim to world class teams in rugby, cricket, Americas Cup, field hockey and soccer, where it was recently competing in Fifa Women\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n

Additionally, New Zealand has placed in the top 20 of the final medals table at successive summer Olympic Games. It is a considerable feat given the limited resources at hand and points to the calibre of the work being done, which brings us back to wellbeing. \u201cWe\u2019re developing our 2030 high performance strategy and wellbeing and athlete engagement is one of the 12 workstreams,\u201d says Dowson.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to keep improving as a system to ensure that we\u2019ve got mechanisms, an environment and support network for our athletes. It is important to us is that it\u2019s not just about athletes, coaches and support staff \u2013 it\u2019s about people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here, we take a look at some of the first steps being taken at HPSNZ.<\/p>\n

Where does wellbeing begin and end for your athletes and staff?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MD:<\/strong> I think that New Zealand\u2019s culture is very sport-dominant and people-focused. High performance is about winning and \u2018winning\u2019 provides a platform to tell your story and then it is also about us inspiring the nation and inspiring communities.\u00a0 Wellbeing is engrained in our system.<\/p>\n

What are some of the biggest pressure points and stressors for your athletes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MD:<\/strong> We\u2019re making sure that the competitive training environment is a safe one and we\u2019ve got to make sure that we work really well in partnership with New Zealand\u2019s national sports organisations to ensure they\u2019re leading a good culture. It\u2019s about engaging with athletes and ensuring the decision-making process is strong because we\u2019re dealing with a new generation that expects to be engaged, empowered and consulted. We\u2019re also making sure we support the various sports in the different aspects of mental health, psychology and athlete life. We believe the athlete life programme we provide our athletes is world class.\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot of new initiatives and strategies being developed in those areas to make sure that we\u2019re really supporting our athletes in this regard.<\/p>\n

How significant is education when it comes to wellbeing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MD:<\/strong> At the end of 2018 we held a national mental health workshop. It was only one-day workshop and we invited CEOs of our sports organisations, high performance directors, coaches, and lot of other expertise including other stakeholders, to a workshop where we had athletes present, psychologists present, to try and increase knowledge of people\u2019s awareness of the complexity of mental health because that for me is increasing awareness, it\u2019s absolutely critical to ensure that everyone looks at how we can address, educate and inform and deliver better support. The first part of the day we spent hearing from experts and then in the second half of the day we began workshopping to further develop our mental health strategy.<\/p>\n

What is your process for raising red flags?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MD:<\/strong> We have begun monitoring incidence and severity and starting to understand the causes of wellbeing issues in HP sport. In New Zealand at the moment, our support staff of doctors, psychologists and athlete life are supported and contracted by HPSNZ. One thing we\u2019re doing well is that we do have really good people, with an increased amount of time, who are embedded and immersed in sports campaigns and programs. In regards to our athletes and campaigns, particularly those who are targeting the Tokyo Olympics, is that they\u2019ve got close support on a daily basis; so the accessibility is high. If there is a red flag it\u2019s very easy to address the psych or the medic; and we\u2019ve got our own centres so it\u2019s a regular training environment for elite athletes and that\u2019ll quicken the process really. It depends on their specific circumstances; getting people around the table or getting people to see the doctor is the first port of call. We also have contracted independent clinical psychologists who are immediately accessible upon need and developing a thorough network of specialists.<\/p>\n

How are attitudes towards wellbeing and mental health evolving in sport?<\/strong><\/p>\n

MD:<\/strong> If I think about my time in different roles in elite sport, work with a psychologist was generally done behind doors or avoided. In regards to the resource we\u2019ve put into performance, psychology support has just gone up and up in the last five or ten years. Every year we\u2019re increasing the resource and that is because of the demand, which comes from the coaches and athletes. They see it as an integral part of what it takes to win.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/div>\n \n \n \n <\/div>\n

\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The organisation\u2019s Martin Dowson explains that wellbeing is a firm part of what it takes to win in New Zealand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1174,"menu_order":0,"template":"","categories":[21],"pathway":[],"topic":[],"sport":[],"class_list":["post-1173","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-human-performance"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow High Performance Sport NZ is Developing its Approach to Wellbeing - Performance Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How High Performance Sport NZ is Developing its Approach to Wellbeing - Performance Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The organisation\u2019s Martin Dowson explains that wellbeing is a firm part of what it takes to win in New Zealand.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Performance Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-15T05:12:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1096415740.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/\",\"name\":\"How High Performance Sport NZ is Developing its Approach to Wellbeing - Performance Institute\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1096415740.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-20T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-15T05:12:33+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1096415740.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1096415740.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How High Performance Sport NZ is Developing its Approach to Wellbeing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/\",\"name\":\"Performance Institute\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How High Performance Sport NZ is Developing its Approach to Wellbeing - Performance Institute","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How High Performance Sport NZ is Developing its Approach to Wellbeing - Performance Institute","og_description":"The organisation\u2019s Martin Dowson explains that wellbeing is a firm part of what it takes to win in New Zealand.","og_url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/","og_site_name":"Performance Institute","article_modified_time":"2025-12-15T05:12:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1096415740.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/","url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/","name":"How High Performance Sport NZ is Developing its Approach to Wellbeing - Performance Institute","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1096415740.jpg","datePublished":"2019-06-20T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-15T05:12:33+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1096415740.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/GettyImages-1096415740.jpg","width":2000,"height":500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/how-high-performance-sport-nz-wellbeing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How High Performance Sport NZ is Developing its Approach to Wellbeing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/#website","url":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/","name":"Performance Institute","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32385,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1173\/revisions\/32385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1173"},{"taxonomy":"pathway","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pathway?post=1173"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=1173"},{"taxonomy":"sport","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sport?post=1173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}