Athlete welfare suffering under high performance funding model
The report into elite athletes’ rights and welfare was released yesterday saying Sport New Zealand and High Performance Sport New Zealand need to take more of a leadership role in resourcing and advocating for athlete wellbeing.
The 119-page document was produced by lawyer Stephen Cottrell and involved interviews with 107 people.
The key findings recommend that the privilege of wearing the silver fern cannot be a blanket justification for placing unreasonable or excessive demands on athletes.
The report suggests creating an environment where athletes have the ability to speak up without fear of repercussion.
“HPSNZ is currently reviewing its funding model. In doing so, it must genuinely take into account both the performance and welfare needs of its participants including Elite Athletes,” the report said.
One interviewee in the report said: “Sport should be about caring about people and looking after each other.
“It’s not okay to have a government-funded system that leaves people broken.”
The report said the current funding model creates a “focus on short term performance goals, inadvertently at the expense of the holistic or longer term development of the athlete and the sport as a whole”.
The current funding model is recommended to have an overhaul and the All Blacks and Black Caps were held up as examples of ideal models.