Athlete Leaders Network Forum
Hope everyone is well as we approach the end of the year... some of you may be winding up towards Christmas and competitions along the way, either way we hope things are going to plan.
Just wanted to do a quick wrap on the Athlete Leaders Network Forum 2023 for those who attended and to provide some info for those who missed out.
Also, a quick thank you to everyone who completed the Forum feedback survey, still a few more to come in so please complete asap so we can use it to guide some of our planning moving forward.
The Athlete Leaders Network (ALN) Forum was a great success and based on the feedback so far, majority would agree, with great keynote speakers and a day of connecting with other sports and athletes from across the sport sector a real highlight for some and something that we intend to do more of.
The day started with a mihi whakatau from Eliza McCartney (Athletics) to open proceedings followed by DJ Forbes - ALN General Manager, who gave a brief overview of the ALN, it’s purpose and scope along with the newly formed strategy and immediate focus areas - Advocate, Support and Engage. We then heard from Casey Eden on behalf of the ALN Board in regards to the ‘why’ for the ALN.
Keynote presentations begun with Dave Mackay & Dr Lisa Mackay co-founders of Sideline Advisor who presented on Mastering Critical Conversations. They worked through a 5-step process to help athletes prepare and have the confidence to use their Athlete voice.
A critical conversation is one with high stakes, differing opinions and where emotions run high. First, it is important to pause and process the situation before moving forward in a constructive way. Key tips to plan and prepare were discussed and worked through as well as some engaging breakout sessions to get everyone connecting. You can download a worksheet for preparing for conversation by scanning the QR code on the final page of their slides.
Next up was an opportunity to engage with High Performance Sport NZ on Navigating Athlete Wellbeing and potential changes in the sector, implementation and how the network could engage in consultation moving forward.
Dr John Sullivan (Head of Psychology) and Fiona Mather (GM Athlete Performance Support) presented on the changes to the HPSNZ Wellbeing & Engagement Strategy, which has expanded its focus on mental health. The expanded strategy was presented to the HPSNZ Board in December 2022 and focuses on three key pillars to improve athlete health, wellbeing, and performance. These pillars are Awareness and Education, Evaluation and Early Intervention and Response and Specialist Care.
As proposed on the day and the call to action from our Board Chair Sarah Cowley Ross, the intent is to feed into this conversation directly, so another email will circulate where will be asking specifically for thoughts and idea's from you all to shape their thinking and ensure all things to be considered are on the table.
We had Marco Marinkovich founder of Sportlink present to us the newly created platform for athletes to better leverage their brand, grow a bigger fan base while connecting athletes more effectively to sponsors and partnership deals, all in one place. He also offered an exclusive Free Pro Plan to the network athletes... all you need to do is email team@sportlink.io and put in the subject title "ALN sent me" and his team will walk you through the process from there.
Finally, the last session of the day was with Dave Wood from WMW Integrated Training who brought theory into practice through both breathing/meditation techniques and getting some of you to use that to self-regulate. Whether it was after 100 burpees or jumping in an ice bath for the first time the ability to try what was taught was invaluable. Dave's in-depth understanding of the human body systems and how they are interconnected highlighted the need for balancing the two in order for sustainable peak performance. Dave shared practical skills in stress mitigation and the ability to remain calm and focused under pressure, whether that's on the biggest stage in sport or in everyday circumstances of life it's a skill we all need. (Presentation slides available on request)
And that's a wrap, thanks again for your time and we look forward to growing this network to best cater and support you all as leaders in your disciplines developing more athlete leaders throughout the sport sector.
If any of these particular topics resonate with you and you think your sport would benefit hearing more, please get in touch with us.