Report calls for better welfare of Kiwi athletes

Members of the New Zealand Commonwealth Games team during the opening ceremony on the Gold Coast. Photosport

The report into elite athletes' rights and welfare has been released today saying Sport New Zealand and High Performance Sport New Zealand need to take more of a leadership role in resourcing and advocating for athlete wellbeing.

The 119-page document was conducted by lawyer Stephen Cottrell and involved interviews with 107 people.

The key findings recommend that the privilege of wearing the silver fern cannot be a blanket justification for placing unreasonable or excessive demands on athletes.

The report suggests creating an environment where athletes have the ability to speak up without fear of repercussion.

"HPSNZ is currently reviewing its funding model. In doing so, it must genuinely take into account both the performance and welfare needs of its participants including Elite Athletes," the report said.

One interviewee in the report said: "Sport should be about caring about people and looking after each other. It's not okay to have a government funded system that leaves people broken."

The report said the current funding model creates a "focus on short term performance goals, inadvertently at the expense of the holistic or longer term development of the athlete and the sport as a whole".

The current funding model is recommended to have an overhaul and the All Blacks and Black Caps were held up as examples of ideal models.

One interviewee in the report said coaches have a noose around their neck under the current structure that has a focus on short term performance.

"The reality for these sports is that they are judged on short term performance outcomes and if I am an HP [high performance] coach I effectively have a 'noose around my neck' – my sport's future funding is dependent on my athletes and teams delivering on the expected performance outcomes.

"Is it realistic for a coach in this position to spend time developing the whole athlete?"