February 19, 2016
Athlete Life in 2016
The Athlete Life Team have been looking at how we work over the last few months and what are focus areas are going to be in the coming years. Our new look infographic clarifies our purpose and emphasises our focus on adding value to performance.It aligns closely with our vision of 'Athlete Smart Life Smart', supporting athletes who have chosen to pursue their goal of winning on the world stage.
Career Development...
Through career development we look at identity and values, interests, character traits and strengths, decision making processes and planning.
These skills can be developed in both sport and life and are transferrable across both. We work in a variety of contexts and build capability in athletes to manage their time and energy, communication and relationships, change and finances along with their sporting lifestyle.
So how do we do what we do?
Our delivery is targeted to individual need with the goal of the programme being athletes who are able to take responsibility for their performance in all aspects of their life. They can behave professionally in the High Performance environment and lead their support team to achieve their goals.
The ability to forward plan and regularly review, along with effective communication and continuous learning are key skills which are a focus for our programme. These are identified as common skills in successful athletes and we believe can speed the progress of athletes achieving their goals.
January 28, 2014
Help your support team understand you (Anna Simcic)
HPSNZ Athlete Life Advisor and ex swimmer Anna Simcic has won 3 Commonwealth Games medals (1990 and 1994), one of them gold. She represented New Zealand at two Olympic Games (1992, and 1996), finishing 5th, and 6th in the 200m backstroke and has been a short course world record holder.
She was just 18 years of age at her first Commonwealth Games but had a strong support team around her that not only helped, but also understood just exactly what she was trying to achieve.
Anna talks to us about how you can get your support team to understand you and how it was for her as a high performance athlete building to her pinnacle event.
3 October 2013
Life Priorities (Julie Jorgensen)
Life seems to go at a pretty hectic pace and it’s not very often that we stop and consider whether it is going in the direction we want. With everyone getting the same amount of time, the only thing about that that we can control is how we spend it.
I’ve been spending plenty of time of late talking to both social and elite athletes, colleagues and friends discussing life, sport, and career goals. It is amazing how often we are not super clear within ourselves of what these things are. Or, we have an idea of what it is that we are after, but we are not confident that we are doing everything in our power to achieve it.
26 September 2013
The Value of a Network (Karin Adelinger-Smith)
Whether we officially recognise it or not, we all belong to some form of a network. Many of us think that in order to network we have to put ourselves out there in a truly uncomfortable way, the way that public speaking makes many of us feel when we are standing in front of a room full of people, our hearts pounding and our palms sweating. This isn’t the case.
It’s important to recognise the value of a network because a network comprises a group of people that provides support, advice, sharing of ideas and expertise which can only enrich our learning. The network I am referring to is a network of people, be it family, friends, a friend of a friend or a business colleague who just happens to be the vet of your great uncle. These connections and relationships will be with people who want to support you throughout each phase of your career.
