Brett O’Riely: New Zealand Performance Academy Aotearoa Board Member discusses opening of NZ’s first sports school

New Zealand's first sports school will open next year, in a partnership with Wellington Phoenix. 

The New Zealand Performance Academy in Upper Hutt will operate as a charter school for serious aspiring sportspeople. 

The academy will initially offer elite football training alongside the Wellington Phoenix Academy, as well as rugby training. 

New Zealand Performance Academy Aotearoa Board Member Brett O’Riely told Kerre Woodham that, “a lot of the momentum came from the students and parents.” 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Kerry Wood and Morning's podcast from
News talks'b.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
The New Zealand Performance Academy ALTOR is opening its charter
school for athletes in term one of next year. Bretto
Riley is one of the board members of the new school.
Very good morning to you, Brett Kerrie Goda. I'm stunned
it's taken this long for us to have a dedicated
sports school, given our given our country's history. How long

(00:33):
has it taken to get here?

Speaker 3 (00:35):
Well, it's it's been a little bit of a process
getting through the charter school application exercise, but it's been
worth while. It's given us a good opportunity to get
the right partners together with the Wellington Phoenix, the New
Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport. We've got a really
great group of teachers interstead of being part of it,

(00:57):
and a good cohort. We think of first year students
that will be starting next year.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Was it a hop down idea or did the idea
come from students and their families who are like, we
really need somewhere we can go to further our careers
but maintain our schooling.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Look as always, it was a combination of both, but
a lot of the momentum came from the students and
parents because if you look at the Phoenix Academy today,
you've got students there that are having to juggle the
requirements of being in a high performance football academy with
the requirements of the school, and often there are clashes

(01:40):
or conflicts between those two. So this allows us to
create an integrated experience for the students both for football
and rugby, but the lock room planners to expand into
other sports. Young men and young women both learning together.
So it's a really exciting from parents and from the

(02:04):
students to being fantastic.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
I am amazed, given it's Wellington and given our success
that we haven't got basketball there as one of the
foundation sports.

Speaker 3 (02:12):
Well we definitely definitely got our eye on basketball and
a number of other sports. Our aim is to have
one hundred year, eleven, twelve and thirteen students in the
school when we open next year, and we'll definitely look
to expand to other sports. There's also been a bit
of international interest in what we do, so in time

(02:34):
we think there'll be interest from international students and being
part of this obviously there's always interest from international students
in New Zealand and now there's an opportunity for them
to be part of what we're doing. Of course, there
are other schools in New Zealand today that offer high
performance sport as part of what they do, but not

(02:55):
any in the charter school environment. So I think it
really adds to the local educational landscape what we're doing.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
So it's only for senior students initially it is.

Speaker 3 (03:06):
We'd like in time to look at expanding down into
years nine and ten, but for this first first year
it'll be years eleven to thirty.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
And is there their ability to board or will you
have to be a day day boy and girl.

Speaker 3 (03:23):
We have accommodation on site at the New Zealand Campus
of Innovation in Sport. That's the old Central Institute of
Technology for those of us that are a little bit
older and remember when that was the thing in the
Wellington region. So there's still some of the accommodation from there,
and we know that some of the students are who
are already in the Phoenix Academy will definitely take advantage

(03:47):
of that. We've got opportunities to expand that accommodation if
we need to in the future. And obviously we've got
plenty of capacity on site to increase the school from
the initial building that we'll be starting in next year.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
And how does the funding work for these schools?

Speaker 3 (04:06):
Funding through the charter school program is basically the same
funding that that other schools in New Zealand get, but
it just gives you a little bit more flexibility in
terms of how you how you operate. So there's no
no charge for parents or for the students, so it's
it's consistent with with state schools. But obviously we're able

(04:30):
to do some interesting things with the curriculum. It's still
based on the New Zealand a curriculum, but we'll be
able to integrate their training in some of their other
requirements as athletes and with their with their academic life.
And that's that's something that the students and the parents
have told us is really important to them. They want,

(04:51):
you know, they want to be high achievers of both.

Speaker 2 (04:54):
Well, that was what I was wondering at how many
people are going to see this just as a school
for for sporty slackers.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
Yeah, we made that point as the launch this morning.
You know that we're as focused on academic achievement as
we are on sporting achievement, and that's because you know,
one it's important, but too that's the feedback from the
students and from their parents. I mean, you know, we
all will know cases of people that have been very

(05:22):
good at sport, but maybe their careers have been cut
short by injury or other things. So it's really important
that we're focused on both. And obviously we're already seeing
you know, a number of sports people moving into professional
careers after their sporting life and that's aided by the

(05:43):
fact that they have good academic qualifications. So that's really
important for us.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
And can people look online if they want to have
a look at the school.

Speaker 3 (05:52):
Yes, the website for the New Zealand Performance Academy ALTERO
is up, so please have a look at it. We're
interested in students from around the Wellington region but also
right around New Zealand and if there is an inter
just in boarding, we can we can address that. It's
it's an exciting time for education in New Zealand and

(06:12):
an exciting time for support, so it's nice to be
able to bring those things together.

Speaker 2 (06:16):
And would it have opened without the charter school facility?

Speaker 3 (06:21):
No, The to try and do something like this, you
just don't have the flexibility within the within the state
education system. So that is what the charter school program enables.
It enables you to take advantage of fantastic you know,
thirty million dollar New Zealand Campus of Innovation in Sport.

(06:45):
While we were doing a launch day, we had All
Blacks training in the background. We even thought David seem
will do a bit of a bench press which was
which was interesting and.

Speaker 4 (06:55):
How much bench press he did fifty kgs and he
in a suit, So in a suit that's a handicap
with So so we've got the Campus of Innovation Sport,
You've obviously got some amazing franchises that are based there.
Obviously the Wellington Phoenix have led this initiative, but you've
also got the All Blacks, Hurricanes and Wellington Rugby there.

(07:19):
So in time, you know, we've certainly been talking to
them about being involved. As you said, carry these other
sporting codes in the Wellington region and around New Zealand
that I'm sure will be interested in getting involved with us.
And then we've got a really great.

Speaker 3 (07:32):
Group of teachers leaders in the profession who see this
as an exciting opportunity to bring together the best of
the New Zealand curriculum and the best of New Zealand's
sports science and high performance and a package. And the
people that are going to benefit from that are ultimately
the students and their families. So yeah, we're ready be

(07:56):
more delighted.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
Sounds really exciting. Well done. Thank you Bret bred O'Reilly,
who is a board member of the New Zealand Performance
Academy ALTER or New Sporting Academy. But as he's made
the point, they're looking for their students to achieve academically
as well as on the sports fields.

Speaker 1 (08:15):
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