WCC Sport Development Programme 2023

The Wellington City Council Sport Development Programme is designed to empower young Wellington athletes to actively pursue their goals in sport and in life.

Guided by the Balance is Better principles, this programme focuses on the holistic development of athletes. It is founded on the belief that the diversity of experiences and opportunities participants are exposed to will form beliefs that will influence their performance in sport and in life.

The WCC Programme has been running in partnership with Nuku Ora since 2007. Up until 2023, the programme has been targeted specifically at Regional Sports Organisations who have been able to apply for funding to support specific athletes in their sport. Alongside continued funding for sports organisations, in 2023 the programme will also provide the opportunity for individual athletes to be involved.

The great news is that this is all provided at no cost to the athlete!

The athletes will access:

• An Individual Performance Plan (IPP) via the Raise My Game Training
• Physical Movement screening (If required from IPP)
• Access to health & wellbeing workshops
• Access to mental skills workshops
• Access to strength & conditioning fundamentals (If required from IPP)
• Talks from professional/elite athletes from within the Wellington region (TBC)

The basic criteria for athletes selected to be involved in the programme are:

• Reside within the Wellington City Council boundary, and is a member of, or affiliated to a Wellington-based College, Club or Organisation, or represent Wellington at the date of this application. PLEASE NOTE: Wellington City Council will accept applications from athletes outside of Wellington City, but priority will be given to those inside the boundaries and a maximum allowance of 20% of successful athletes can reside outside the boundaries.
• Year 11 – 13 (as of 1/1/2023)
• Currently performing, or aspiring to play/compete for your school or club’s first team, and/or representative, national or international level of competition

Regional Sport Organisations Funding

Wellington City Council and Nuku Ora have reviewed the Sport Development programme and determined that we’d like to see more sports and athletes accessing the programme to increase the reach to include more rangatahi. On that basis, the 2023 programme will provide an opportunity for Regional Sports Organisations and individual athletes to apply to be involved (as outlined above).

What does this mean for Sports?

As per previous years, Regional Sports Organisations were able to apply for funding to help with an existing programme targeting emerging athletes year 11 and above and/or costs associated with youth development and progression in their sport. 

Athletes signed up to your sport specific programme will be able to access all the opportunities provided by the individual athlete development programme. This means sports will not have to look to provide their own Sport Psychology workshops etc which may have been a major budget item for sports in the past. Successful organisations will receive up to $2,500.

 If you have any questions about this programme, please contact Grahamw@nukuora.org.nz 

 A massive thank you to Wellington City Council for their continued support of this programme!