Powering up our Parents

Incorporating the principles of Balance is Better and Good Sports Wellington Region, powering up our parents aims to raise awareness on the role of adults and their behaviour to help young people reach their full potential through participation in sport.

We recognise that the sporting environment has the potential to change a young person’s perspective on being active and that a significant barrier for our young people enjoying sport can be the behaviour of parents, caregivers, coaches and players, on the sideline and in the game.
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By supporting parents, caregivers, coaches and officials to understand the value of positivity and advocate for volunteers, we can help make sport a place we all want to be. Let's stand up and help our parents and adult influencers make sport a place we all want to be. At its best, sport is a source of fun, friendship and development.

View the power up parents handbook

Good Sports - Wellington Region

Good Sports® aims to create positive sporting experiences for Kiwi kids by supporting and educating the key adult influencers in children’s sport: parents, caregivers, coaches, teachers and sport leaders.

Nuku Ora, alongside Capital Football, are leading the Good Sports approach for the Wellington region; partnering with many sporting organisations and colleges across the region to deliver on the Collective’s kaupapa. Each of these organisations are committed to the Wellington region’s Good Sports initiative over the next two years.

Practitioners and researchers supporting Good Sports agree that issues in children’s sport, such as poor side-line behaviour, early onset of overuse injury, burnout and disaffection with sport, stem from adult involvement in children’s sport and can ultimately hinder success on and off the field. To address these issues and give Kiwi kids the greatest chance of developing a lifelong love of sport, Good Sports believes we need to raise adults’ awareness about their behaviours in children’s sport, and if necessary, promote a positive shift in that behaviour.

We all know sport can be a vehicle to help children to be active, healthy and learn life skills; critical in the success of these things happening, is the quality of support that adults provide children in sport. 

Good Sports advocates for adults to move towards a Climate of Development and consider:

  • What's your voice on the sideline?

  • How can we grow the person, not just the 'player'? 

  • Should selection be based on current ability or future potential? 

  • Does winning at all costs matter? Has every child had fun?

  • How do you talk to coaches and referees? 

  • Do your actions affect the participants' experience positively or negatively?

Sports Parents Information E-Guide

As Sports Parents, we are all doing our best to support our children in their sporting lives. Trying to find expert information on the best way to support them can be a challenging experience, so it is fantastic that Sport NZ have put together the Balance is Better website with lots of information for parents, coaches and sports administrators.

Nuku Ora has picked a number of resources from the website as well as resources from other websites that we feel will best support you on your sports parenting journey. The resources have been organised and split into sections so you are able to utilise the most relevant section to you as a parent at a particular time.

View the Sports Parents Information E-Guide!

If you would like to know more please contact Nuku Ora's Community Development Lead - Play & Parent Education, Marie Kinloch on Mariek@nukuora.org.nz

Initially designed by Aktive (Auckland Sport and Recreation) as a Sport NZ-funded Active Communities Project, in partnership with Aktive, Good Sports has been incorporated into Sport NZ’s national approach to parents.

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The Good Sports Spine is a sense-making tool to help adults understand how they impact children's sport experiences. 

Wellington Region Good Sports

Read the media release