On the show today, I’m speaking with researcher and founder of the Atua Matua framework, Dr Ihirangi Heke. Ihi builds health, wellness and performance practices based on traditional environmental knowledge. In this conversation, Ihi and I discuss the good ol’ days of PE school in Dunedin and the changes that have taken place since. Ihi shares some of his early experiences growing up in the great outdoors and what led to his work studying environmental science. We talk about genetic ways of knowing developed over multiple generations and how learning takes place from a Māori perspective. And we discuss how you can use an environmentally centred approach to development to take you past what you ever imagined was possible. Enjoy!Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the Show.

On the Show today I'm speaking with  Head of Performance Pathways Science at the National Youth Sports Institute in Singapore, Dr Matthew Wylde. Matthew has been within the Singapore high performance system for over 15 years, having held roles with the Singapore Sport Institute, Singapore Sports School and now with the National Youth Sports Institute. He holds a PhD from Bournemouth University, which explored the use of wearable technologies to reduce injury rates within a youth athlete population, and a MSc in Performance Analysis from Cardiff Metropolitan University.In this episode, Matthew shares a fantastic new initiative at the Singapore Sports School. If you're after an example that exemplifies alignment between what we know from the science and what we do in practice, you're going to love this. Enjoy!Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the Show.

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 artistry of people development. Enjoy!Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the Show.

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 about building resilience, growing the game in New Zealand, and much more.   Enjoy!Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the Show.

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. Enjoy!Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the Show.

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 New Zealand as a physiologist.  In this conversation we discuss the power of the supportive relationships, developing resilience, creating filters to makes sense of information, micro-dosing of reflection, dealing with increasing expectation in sport, how Tim thinks about balance, the problem with fun, and much more.    Enjoy!Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the Show.

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." Enjoy!Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the Show.

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 sharing what they do and how they do it. There's plenty of gold in this one so stay tuned to hear from one of the best. Enjoy!Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the showSupport the Show.

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 athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the showSupport the Show.

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 nutrition, how age should impact what we focus on and the value of snacking as a starting point for younger kids, how the sporting system can influence poor nutrition, appetite and the challenges that come with higher training loads, the power of role modelling in nutrition, social media, and why we should all be having more conversations about food. Enjoy!Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the showSupport the Show.

"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 his joyful childhood, including his wide range of movement experiences and playing sport based on the season. Roy describes the difference between football in New Zealand compared to India and what led to his decision to quit the game he loved. We also chat about Roy's approach to developing movement skill and how he aims to keep kids in sport. You can check out Roy and his awesome work @Roystondsouza on instagram. Enjoy! Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the showSupport the Show.

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/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the showSupport 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 Assistant Coach. I love Gareth's perspective not only on football development, but on life. And in this conversation, we dig into all of it. If you see sport as a way to develop joyful, intrinsically driven, all-round young people who just so happen to also be great at sport, you're going to love this conversation.Big thanks to Garth for taking some time out on his holiday back home in New Zealand to sit down with me for a yarn.Enjoy! Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the Show.

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 young athletes lead themselves. Jay and I cover a lot in this conversation, including solving problems over learning techniques, identifying potential rather than performance, creating talent systems, play versus practice, what happened when Jay literally froze on the tee back in his playing days, thinking out loud to build awareness, slowing down to speed up, and much more. Enjoy!Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the Show.

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 athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the Show.

"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 Olympic Games in 2008 and the FIFA World Cup in South Africa in 2010. On the show today, Mike shares some of the skills required for a referee to be at their best in emotionally volatile sporting environments and why investing into early stage referees is so important for the game of rugby. We also talk about the shift NZ Rugby is making from a game-centred approach to one that is more participant-centred.The work Mike is doing is challenging not only the foundations of New Zealand's national game but also the fabric of the culture it sits within. Enjoy!Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the Show.

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 and performance at High performance Sport New Zealand.  He also leads the nutrition provision for the HPSNZ core knowledge coach education program.In this wide ranging conversation, Dane and I discuss how to properly fuel a developing athlete's performance, fad diets and the influence they are having on our kids, Dane's love of fishing, and the dangers of low energy availability in sport. We start the show hearing about Dane's formative years growing up playing golf in West Auckland.Enjoy!Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the Show.

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 focusing on energetic injuries, Kylie is passionate about helping young athletes and their families understand what it really means to stay healthy. Kylie also works a the physiotherapist for Netball New Zealand's secondary school programme and recently developed the first national resource on female athletic health for NetballSmart. We start the show hearing more about Kylie's story. Enjoy!Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the Show.

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.comKen Willner is a sports photographer passionate about keeping children in sport. Through collaboration with international and local professionals, Ken provides a fresh approach to helping young people flourish in sports. You can find Ken's work @ yellowforyelling.comOn the show today, Mark and Ken share their Game Hubs idea. Game Hubs are local community spaces that promote freedom, creativity, collaboration and competition through games. They embrace the voices and choices of young people, are low cost, and rather than coaching, call for adults to just facilitate play.  We start our conversation hearing from Ken and his thoughts on the intensity of emotion parents bring to sport.Enjoy!Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterGet Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the Show.

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 a coach developer in the talent pathway for the AFL. We pick the conversation up hearing Sam talk about how experiencing some of the darker side of sport drives the work that he loves today. Enjoy!Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletterHost Craig to speak at your club or school here. Connect with Craig:Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrisonTwitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrisonSupport the Show.