On the Show today I'm speaking with the man behind the Crusaders Rugby Academy, Aaron Webb. The programme operates in line with the New Zealand Rugby Union's six pillars of development - technical, tactical, physical, nutrition, mental skills and holistic life skills. Aaron shares how he goes about his work with a clear focus on developing young men with the skills to reach their goals in professional rugby and grow into excellent community citizens. This is a conversation about the...

Brian Shelley is Head of Football at Saint Kentigern College in Auckland where he coaches at the premier level and oversees the development pathways. He earned his UEFA A License with the English FA. Prior to his coaching career, Brain played professional football in the UK where he competed for clubs in both the UEFA Cup and Champions League.  In this conversation we discuss school versus club football, Brian's coaching approach and the experiences that have led to it, how he thinks...

Head of coaching at Birkenhead United FC in Auckland, New Zealand and Co-founder of Player Development Project, Dave Wright (@davewright07), rejoins me for another episode of The Curious Mind. We discuss our experiences in youth sport over the past couple of months, including using street football as a development tool and why Dave loves it as a format, accounting for skill variability in our athletes, planning for all-round development, designing cultures of learning,  and much more....

Tim Brazier (@coach_brazier) has been coaching in high performance sport for over 15 years. After earning a Master's degree from the University of Otago, Tim took up a lecturing role at Otago Polytechnic for two years.  He went on to coach at Triathlon New Zealand for 7 years and attended two Olympic Games. Tim now coaches at Fitter, a New Zealand based triathlon coaching business offering highly personalised, professional coaching to a wide range of athletes. He also works for Snow Sports...

This is a rebroadcast of episode 162 of Athletes Authority ON AIR podcast, featuring Dr Craig Harrison. "Craig gives us a breakdown of his coaching background, why he chose to work in the youth space over other areas of physical development, how his diverse background set him up for success, how he implements mental skills or the "unseen" side of training into his programming, how environment and parenting plays a massive role in the success of an athlete plus a whole lot more."...

Jordi Taylor (@coach_jorditaylor) is a Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach at Athletes Authority, a strength and conditioning gym for athletes in Sydney and Melbourne, in Australia. Jordi also heads up Media & Partnerships at Athlete Authority and hosts their ON AIR Podcast. In this conversation, Jordi takes us inside Athletes Authority's Emerging Athlete Programme, a service specifically designed for young athletes. I really enjoyed hearing from Jordi and his no filter approach to...

Head of coaching at Birkenhead United FC in Auckland, New Zealand and Co-founder of Player Development Project, Dave Wright (@davewright07), rejoins me for another episode of The Curious Mind. We discuss our experiences in youth sport over the past couple of months, including how Dave goes about creating team culture, the pros and cons of tournament play, the essential ingredients in coach development, and much more.  Enjoy! Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at...

Dr Sarah Chantler is a registered dietician and performance nutritionist. Originally from South Africa, Sarah is now based at Leeds Beckett University in the UK where she is a senior lecturer and applied practitioner. Sarah's fascinating work highlights why we should prioritise teaching food skills over food knowledge to the adolescent athlete. We dig into this idea during the episode and Sarah gives some great examples to use with your athletes. We also discuss the role of the coach in...

"Grass was a luxury, if you saw grass, you'd go and roll in it." My conversation today is with Royston Dsouza. Hailing from India, where he spend much of his childhood playing football on the streets of Mumbai, Royston is now based in Auckland, Aotearoa, where he works as a movement skill coach and as a football coach.  Royston played top level club football in India for five years before quitting and making the move to New Zealand to study. In this conversation, I chat with Royston about...

This conversation is with Austin Einhorn and Dr Jeff Moreno, recorded live in Santa Cruz, California. Enjoy! Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletter Get Craig to speak at your club or school here.  Connect with Craig: Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/ Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrison Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison Support the show Support the show

On the show this week, I'm speaking with Pathways Manager and A-League Women's Assistant Coach at Melbourne Victory Football Club, Gareth Turnbull. Gareth has been full time in football since 2008, beginning his career as a Football Development Manager for Coastal Spirit Football Club in Christchurch, and moving on to New Zealand Football where he served as the High Performance Athlete Development Manager, Head Coach of the National U17 and U20 Woman's programmes, and the Football Ferns...

It's an absolute pleasure to bring Golf New Zealand's National Coach, Jay Carter, on the show. Jay and I met not long ago when he reached out to ask me on his fantastic podcast, Talking Performance. We had a great conversation and barely scratched the surface on some topics I wanted to talk more about. So, here we are. While Jay and I spend our days in different sports and with athletes at different stages of development, we share a lot in common. Most significantly, the common goal to help...

Head of coaching at Birkenhead United FC in Auckland, New Zealand and Co-founder of Player Development Project, Dave Wright (@davewright07), rejoins me for another episode of The Curious Mind. We discuss our experiences in youth sport over the past couple of months, including a recent trip Dave took to Tonga and what he learnt from it, the importance of joy and how to find it, and the continued rise in negative parent behaviour.  Enjoy! Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at...

"Fun is a fleeting moment. Joy is something that's enduring, something that brings you back." Mike Hester works for New Zealand Rugby and is responsible for leading their approach to the evolution of the game at participation level. Prior to this role, Mike spent 28 years at the New Zealand Defence Force where he worked as a Career and Talent Manager. Mike is also a former FIFA referee and has officiated at the highest level at pinnacles events across the world, including the Beijing...

Dane Baker is a Performance Dietitian who has worked extensively with New Zealand's elite athletes and organisations over the past 15 years, including the Chiefs, Blues, Black Ferns 7s, NZ Hockey and NZ Swimming.  He was also the NZ team dietitian for the Rio Olympics and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Dane is an active researcher in the field of RED-s, a lecturer at the University of Otago and has a leadership role as part of WHISPA, a specialist group dedicated to optimising female health...

We all have times in our lives that change us. Watershed moments that force us into thinking differently. Kylie Cox had one of these very moments a few years ago while training for an Ironman World 70.3 Age Group Championship. Despite continuing to perform in training, a number a life stressors coincided with a heavy training load. She became concerned about how her health might impact her menstrual cycle and sought help. Now, after exercising her own curiosity and earning a Master's degree...

My conversation this week is with Mark Upton and Ken Willner. Mark is passionate about supporting people's WayFinding endeavours by facilitating the emergence of new connections, new capacities, and meaningful stories and refections as we journey together. He has a particular interest in helping people find their way in sport. You can find Mark's work @ myfastestmile.com Ken Willner is a sports photographer passionate about keeping children in sport. Through collaboration with international...

Today on the show , I'm winding the clock back to May 2020 when I sat down with my good friend Samuel McKenzie.  In 2019, Sam completed his Master's degree at AUT University focusing on 1st XV rugby players' perceptions of their coaching environment. Sam's research findings have had a huge impact on the way I think about environments for developing skilled, creative and resilient athletes and so, heading into the winter season, I thought I'd share our conversation again. Sam now works as...

This week's conversation is with Zane Winslade. Zane is the owner of Flow Sport Mental Performance Coaching, and works with athletes from youth to the elite level across multiple codes. Zane has a a Bachelor’s degree in Sports and Leisure Studies, a Graduate Diploma in Teaching and a Master’s degree in Sport Psychology from John F Kennedy University. On the show today , Zane shares how he works with young people to help them manage their mind and perform as their best self. We also...

Head of coaching at Birkenhead United FC in Auckland, New Zealand and Co-founder of Player Development Project, Dave Wright (@davewright07), rejoins me for another episode of The Curious Mind. How much is too much? In this conversation, we dig into training load. We discuss what load is, where it comes from, how it changes across developmental stages, the danger of doing too much, and how to start thinking about managing it. Enjoy! Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at...

Living a life in balance is about finding flow. It's about capitalising on all of the things that make you a better person without one of them taking over the flow. My guest on today's show is Reed Maltbie, and he's a master at helping athletes find flow. With a Master’s degree in sports psychology and early childhood development and 30 years of professional coaching experience, Reed has dedicated his life to creating the very best environments for athletes of all ages to achieve peak...

When we value how movement helps us grow, we see invitations to move everywhere we look. In this conversation, I'm bringing two very special people together to share their efforts to change the movement culture inside primary schools in New Zealand. The first is Celia Fleck. For the past 3 and a half years, Celia has been working on a joint government initiative between Te Whatu Ora, the Ministry of Education, and Sport NZ called Healthy Active Learning. The goal of the initiative is to...

There are two types of people in the world - managers, and leaders. Managers work hard to maintain the status quo that their jobs and reputations were built on. They seek comfort in the certainty of the way things have always been done. Leaders, on the other hand, seek change. They imagine a better world, and are driven to create it. My guest on today's show is, without doubt, a leader. His name is Dr James Vaughan and he is an UEFA A licensed football coach and coach developer. James' work,...

James Leath (@jamesleath) has been coaching student-athletes for over 20 years. He has a master's degree in performance psychology and has worked with companies like IMG Academy, MINDBODY INC, and Under Armour. He currently works with EXOS Human Performance in the US. James has a new book out, entitled "Team Building Activities for Athletes: How to master the art of building a successful team culture through intentional activities." I love the book and wanted to bring James on the pod to...