March 12, 2025 • 14 mins
Junior Rugby is potentially in for its biggest shakeup in decades.
Under a new proposal, kids wouldn’t play 15-a-side until they reach high school, playing 10-a-side until year 7 and 13-a-side in year 8.
The changes are aimed at improving enjoyment and confidence levels.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Duncie Wildergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Good evening, Mike, good evening, Darcy, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Well, thanks for joining us. It's a very interesting story.
Another tweak I suppose in the way rugby is rolled
out specifically aimed at the youth, which of course is
the green shoots, isn't it really of the sport? You've
got to look after that? So could you tell us
nice and simply what exactly this proposal is all this
(00:36):
rollout is going to be? What are we looking at?
Speaker 4 (00:40):
Yeah, So just to set that up, we've been going
through a whole series of changes over the last five
years around our small Blacks development model, and so that's
where kids learn how to play the game from when
they're very little right through to when they're sort of
ready to transition to the adult version of the game.
So over the last five years we've been steadily working
through a number of ages and stages, and the principle
(01:01):
behind those changes is obviously to create more meaningful minutes
for kids playing the aim and the way that we
want them to play, in the way they want to play,
reducing the sort of complexity in the structures where it's
not really necessary because they're not really able to contest,
and also making sure the game design sort of seats
suits their needs physically, mentally, cognitively, et cetera. And so
(01:21):
a lot of that's around principles of smaller sided games
for longer. So the changes that have been introduced over
the last sort of four or five years have been
sort of under six through to under eleven space. We've
got one more change in the under ten space which
will just close that piece of work off, which gets
introduced next year. And what we're now starting to turn
our minds to is proposals around what would happen around
(01:43):
the under twelve to thirteen under fourteen space. And so
some of the thinking there is around, okay, as kids
are moving into those stages around physical maturation, what's the
right level of rugby that suits their needs, that engages them,
helps them feel like they're progressing, but also is appropriate
for their age and stage.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
So at the moment, this is a proposition, it's not
set in stone yet, what are you going through in
order to make sure this does actually get its traction
and start yees.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
So we spent the last year doing a lot of
work both here in Zealand but also overseas looking at
other systems, trying to learn learn as much as you
can around you know, where is youth sport looking what
does it look like in terms of the future. And
we've developed a series of proposals around what under twelves,
under thirteens, under fourteens will look like and this year
(02:33):
we're starting to talk to our communities, clubs and schools,
provincial unions, stakeholders, parents, et cetera to then engage what's that,
what's their appetite for those changes? How might we best
staged them? Answering any questions they've got around the rationale.
We know that it will invoke some strong reactions because
it always does in this space.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
People have you want the best for their kids.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
And they want they'll have a picture of what that
looks like in terms of the rugby experience. But ultimately
we need to make sure that the game fits the
players by agent stage and so we want to share
that thinking with them and say, lookok, is what we
think it looks like. To ensure that the game continues
to thrive, we retain more kids in the game, so
they move into the sort of teenage space and then
ultimately at a rugby whether that's professional community.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
You know, we just want to create the best opportunities
we can for everybody.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
So what pushbacks are you expecting from what you've done
so far? Where is going to be the area where players, parents, schools,
and the light go.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
We don't like this, you know, I guess probably people
have a strong view about you know, if it doesn't
look like fifteen outside rugby with full lineouts and scrums
and all the systems and structures that go with it,
it's not really rugby. But the reality is we've been
moving from a sort of game centric approach where we're
just trying to make players fit that kind of mode
(03:55):
of play, to more participant centric approach where we're trying
to make sure the game fits the players. We know
that fifteen's is a really important part of the experience,
as it's now sevens, there's other ways that people want
to play, both in terms of how they learn, but
or also how they engage, so contact and non contact
formats become really important. So where we are expecting pushback
(04:16):
is just through the change of In some cases, kids
are playing fifteen side rugby now at eleven and twelve
years old, you know, we're proposing that that be deferred
to later, probably in that thirteen or fourteen year old space,
and also not introducing to the same degree scrums and
line outs with the same complexity, both in terms of
size and in contest when the kids are not quite
(04:38):
ready to be profiled.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Into those positions.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
We don't quite know what they're going to look like
just through meturation, but also because they're not able to
safely contest them. So we don't want to have undue
influence of these system and structures when actually we want
to create more minutes for playing open rugby, unstructured play,
more autonomy around making rugby decisions.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
So it's going to be staged the proposition. You've got
degrees of the amount of players, the size of the park,
and this moves up through the various age groups. So
what exactly are they.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
Well up until under elevens, it's what's now in place
is basically a scaffolded approach in terms of team size,
field size, game constraints, and so. At under elevens, which
has now been in place for about four years, they're
playing ten a side on a half field with like
(05:33):
an undercontested scrumb and uncontested lineout.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
What we're proposing to do is not.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Have such a rapid jump from ten a side to
fifteen a side and have it more scaffolded in terms
of moving to somewhere in between, with most likely thirteen
a side, which is really just the number that seems
to fit best in terms of that progression, and then
starting to provide a bit more support around how we
(06:01):
introduce the scrum and the lineout, both in terms of
what happens inside the field, but also development programs to
help players actually who are starting to look like they
might fill those positions actually support them with scrum technique
and lifting technique, et cetera.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
So you talk about adult transition, I'm presuming this is
at the end of this process you're going through. When
will that adult transition stare up? And we're talking with
Mike Kester to the participation and development manager for n
Z A, Have you guys got a line in the
sand where suddenly they're playing rugby as we know it
as adults.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Yeah, based on what we know from the physical naturation
problem of development, et cetera, but also what high performances
are telling us in terms of what they want to
see a sort of fifteen and sixteen.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
We think it's in that sort.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Of year ten spaces where they're probably the best place
to move to the adult version of the game fifteen
and side rugby scrums and lineouts with some constraints around safety,
but that's probably where it sits. And if you were
to go back five years ago, we were effectively making
ten year olds play the adult version of the game
under elevens. Back in twenty nineteen, we're playing fifteen a
(07:12):
side rugby full field, and if you think about that now,
that probably doesn't sound realistic, but that's actually what their
model look like for a long time, and we knew
that it had a detrimental impact on retention. So that's
where the proposal was suggesting, based on all the research
that we've got looking at other models, having a look
at our own system, that's where we think that's probably
where the best transition is. High performance are telling us
(07:35):
that they don't want to see talent ID programs really
emerge to that fourteen fifteen year old space for under sixteens,
and what they want is players that are really versatile,
strong game sceense can do all the fundamentals really well,
and from there they'll start to specialize them if they're
looking like they've got some potential to be specialized.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
The physical maturation, that's always going to be a difficult one.
Kids grow at different paces, different speeds, in different sizes,
So I suppose drawing a line around that almost too
hard to do. It has to be pretty much age
based more.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Than anything to some degree.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
But what we do know is that you've got big
numbers and you have team sizes that are small, then
it creates the opportunity for sitt of biobanding by age
and weight. So obviously a metropolitan centers, a number of
them have weight grades. They're always challenged in terms of
as the team sizes grow, then those weight grades become
(08:33):
quite hard to support. But with the shift back to
smaller sided teams for longer, it might create the opportunity.
Time will tell, but for more weight grades to make
relevant for longer in those in those junior grades, and
so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out,
but we certainly think that that might create some opportunities.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
Is this the same across genders? Do any in the
same drill and things changing there.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
Yeah, so up in two under thirteen it's largely considered
a mixed game and boys and girls play together. That's
permissible in terms of policy for reasons of safety. From
thirteen onwards, that then segregates into single sex rugby, but
those the thinking around.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
The models sort of still applies.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
What we do know though, is that there will need
to be some work around the girls model because girls
do go through physical meturation just a bit earlier than boys,
and so we just might need to just reflect on
that a little bit to make sure that the framework
does reflect their needs as they grow in numbers and
they're able to sustain their own competitions.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
So it's about increasing enjoyment. It's about keeping kids playing
the game from when they start, and encouraging parents, I
suppose as well to keep their children in the game.
The elephant in the room, he has got to be concussion,
doesn't it. Mike, How if you address that because a
number of parents so we don't want our children playing
(09:55):
this sport. It's dangerous. You mentioned some safety measures there,
but how does that work with the concussion debate?
Speaker 4 (10:03):
Well, we know that concussions in the junior space are
actually roughly low. We see concussion rates probably more of
a focus for us to address and the sort of
teenage and adult space, But that's not to say that
we're taking our off the ball in terms of safety.
In terms of what's happening between the white lines. Obviously,
it's been a big focus on reducing tackle height and
(10:26):
so that continues to be a focus for us, and
we've see the benefits of that already globally in terms
of the impact of lowering tackle height and getting heads
out of the same airsplace. Some of these changes that
we're making in the junior framework are actually also coach
centric and that we're trying to lighten a load a
bit for coaches about the curriculum they have to deliver
(10:50):
at each agent stage, so that can actly focus on
a real critical view tackle height and successful bull carry
or confident ball carrier, two of those things, whereas previously
when they've had to also deal with that as well
as scrums and mine outs and big numbers, it means
that the coachable moments around those critical safety bits gets compromised,
so that's also potentially a benefit. And then more broadly,
(11:14):
the more choices people have, the more opportunity. They have
to choose the.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Kind of rugby that they want to play in.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
So we know RIP has been a really successful, well
loved part of our game under sixes and the sevens,
but that largely up until a few years ago was
sort of the end of the non contact sort of
opportunity for kids, whereas in more recent times we've introduced
rip Rugby and we're now part of the sort of
world Rugby Tea on Rugby troll roll out across the world,
(11:40):
and so we'll be releasing that over the next year
or so into in the New Zealand system. And that's
a non contact variant. Produces all of the sort of
moments and the game sense that we want for kids,
but it's a non contact variant, and so we just
have to help and normalize legitimize these different ways of playing.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
And engagement for children. And this is really importantly been
touching on this as well. I know that when I'm
with a lot younger playing the game, didn't see the
ball a great deal, and I just want to get
my hands on the ball, and I wanted to run
the complexities around scrums and lineups and so on and
so forth. It detracted from the game for me, but
(12:21):
I was like, what is all this? I just want
to play on the mates pass, kick run. This is
a lot of what this is based on as well,
actually getting young people to enjoy the game in its
essence for what it actually is.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Yeah. Absolutely, So we know that running with the ball
in hand wind and you hear going for the tryline
is really catches the essence of what rugby is for
a lot of kids. So creating those sort of meaningful moments,
those opportunities is what we're trying to nextimize. We know
from other sports that largely heaving control of the ball
is power, and so how do we create more opportunities
(12:58):
for kids at all levels now as we go that
kids also want to progress, so as we can introduce
the complexity of game, scrum and line out systems and
structures that follow that they will relish that, but only
at the right time. So again a big focus on
how do we create more meaningful moments around the things
that they really enjoy And we know this from the
(13:18):
work that we've done, is that having minutes on the park,
getting compliments from the coach, getting to play all the positions,
seeing their mates play these are the things that they
really value as opposed to perhaps some of the things
that US adults think that are really important for them,
such as winning, meeting famous players, and getting what's a kid.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
So again, a lot of these changes.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Rooted in sort of deep research and experiences that we've
drawn from both here in New Zealand and across the world.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
So to find out more for parents and players, of
course at a younger age, is there any where they
can go to have a look at what these proposals are.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
So we're in our stage now starting to roll out
communication and consultation with the premianial unions who will then
flow that out into clubs and schools and stakeholders over
the course of the next six months. So there'll be
more to come. A lot of these changes are not
initially going to be immediately implemented, there potentially over the
next five years or will be wanting to talk to
communities about how best to stage them. But we do
(14:15):
know that we need to spend a bit of time
explaining that a bit of the why, and we've covered
a bit of that today, but we need to invest
more time with parents in particular and key influencers around
that so they can look out for that as we
engage with PUS over the next six months.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Into our participation in development Manager Mike Hester, thanks very
much for your time here on news Talk ZEB. You
have a wonderful week.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Thanks halving me on.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
For more from sports Talk, listen live to News Talk
zed B from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Duncie Wildergrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Good evening, Mike, good evening, Darcy, thanks for having me on.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Well, thanks for joining us. It's a very interesting story.
Another tweak I suppose in the way rugby is rolled
out specifically aimed at the youth, which of course is
the green shoots, isn't it really of the sport? You've
got to look after that? So could you tell us
nice and simply what exactly this proposal is all this
(00:36):
rollout is going to be? What are we looking at?
Speaker 4 (00:40):
Yeah, So just to set that up, we've been going
through a whole series of changes over the last five
years around our small Blacks development model, and so that's
where kids learn how to play the game from when
they're very little right through to when they're sort of
ready to transition to the adult version of the game.
So over the last five years we've been steadily working
through a number of ages and stages, and the principle
(01:01):
behind those changes is obviously to create more meaningful minutes
for kids playing the aim and the way that we
want them to play, in the way they want to play,
reducing the sort of complexity in the structures where it's
not really necessary because they're not really able to contest,
and also making sure the game design sort of seats
suits their needs physically, mentally, cognitively, et cetera. And so
(01:21):
a lot of that's around principles of smaller sided games
for longer. So the changes that have been introduced over
the last sort of four or five years have been
sort of under six through to under eleven space. We've
got one more change in the under ten space which
will just close that piece of work off, which gets
introduced next year. And what we're now starting to turn
our minds to is proposals around what would happen around
(01:43):
the under twelve to thirteen under fourteen space. And so
some of the thinking there is around, okay, as kids
are moving into those stages around physical maturation, what's the
right level of rugby that suits their needs, that engages them,
helps them feel like they're progressing, but also is appropriate
for their age and stage.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
So at the moment, this is a proposition, it's not
set in stone yet, what are you going through in
order to make sure this does actually get its traction
and start yees.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
So we spent the last year doing a lot of
work both here in Zealand but also overseas looking at
other systems, trying to learn learn as much as you
can around you know, where is youth sport looking what
does it look like in terms of the future. And
we've developed a series of proposals around what under twelves,
under thirteens, under fourteens will look like and this year
(02:33):
we're starting to talk to our communities, clubs and schools,
provincial unions, stakeholders, parents, et cetera to then engage what's that,
what's their appetite for those changes? How might we best
staged them? Answering any questions they've got around the rationale.
We know that it will invoke some strong reactions because
it always does in this space.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
People have you want the best for their kids.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
And they want they'll have a picture of what that
looks like in terms of the rugby experience. But ultimately
we need to make sure that the game fits the
players by agent stage and so we want to share
that thinking with them and say, lookok, is what we
think it looks like. To ensure that the game continues
to thrive, we retain more kids in the game, so
they move into the sort of teenage space and then
ultimately at a rugby whether that's professional community.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
You know, we just want to create the best opportunities
we can for everybody.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
So what pushbacks are you expecting from what you've done
so far? Where is going to be the area where players, parents, schools,
and the light go.
Speaker 4 (03:34):
We don't like this, you know, I guess probably people
have a strong view about you know, if it doesn't
look like fifteen outside rugby with full lineouts and scrums
and all the systems and structures that go with it,
it's not really rugby. But the reality is we've been
moving from a sort of game centric approach where we're
just trying to make players fit that kind of mode
(03:55):
of play, to more participant centric approach where we're trying
to make sure the game fits the players. We know
that fifteen's is a really important part of the experience,
as it's now sevens, there's other ways that people want
to play, both in terms of how they learn, but
or also how they engage, so contact and non contact
formats become really important. So where we are expecting pushback
(04:16):
is just through the change of In some cases, kids
are playing fifteen side rugby now at eleven and twelve
years old, you know, we're proposing that that be deferred
to later, probably in that thirteen or fourteen year old space,
and also not introducing to the same degree scrums and
line outs with the same complexity, both in terms of
size and in contest when the kids are not quite
(04:38):
ready to be profiled.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Into those positions.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
We don't quite know what they're going to look like
just through meturation, but also because they're not able to
safely contest them. So we don't want to have undue
influence of these system and structures when actually we want
to create more minutes for playing open rugby, unstructured play,
more autonomy around making rugby decisions.
Speaker 3 (04:57):
So it's going to be staged the proposition. You've got
degrees of the amount of players, the size of the park,
and this moves up through the various age groups. So
what exactly are they.
Speaker 4 (05:13):
Well up until under elevens, it's what's now in place
is basically a scaffolded approach in terms of team size,
field size, game constraints, and so. At under elevens, which
has now been in place for about four years, they're
playing ten a side on a half field with like
(05:33):
an undercontested scrumb and uncontested lineout.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
What we're proposing to do is not.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Have such a rapid jump from ten a side to
fifteen a side and have it more scaffolded in terms
of moving to somewhere in between, with most likely thirteen
a side, which is really just the number that seems
to fit best in terms of that progression, and then
starting to provide a bit more support around how we
(06:01):
introduce the scrum and the lineout, both in terms of
what happens inside the field, but also development programs to
help players actually who are starting to look like they
might fill those positions actually support them with scrum technique
and lifting technique, et cetera.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
So you talk about adult transition, I'm presuming this is
at the end of this process you're going through. When
will that adult transition stare up? And we're talking with
Mike Kester to the participation and development manager for n
Z A, Have you guys got a line in the
sand where suddenly they're playing rugby as we know it
as adults.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Yeah, based on what we know from the physical naturation
problem of development, et cetera, but also what high performances
are telling us in terms of what they want to
see a sort of fifteen and sixteen.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
We think it's in that sort.
Speaker 4 (06:49):
Of year ten spaces where they're probably the best place
to move to the adult version of the game fifteen
and side rugby scrums and lineouts with some constraints around safety,
but that's probably where it sits. And if you were
to go back five years ago, we were effectively making
ten year olds play the adult version of the game
under elevens. Back in twenty nineteen, we're playing fifteen a
(07:12):
side rugby full field, and if you think about that now,
that probably doesn't sound realistic, but that's actually what their
model look like for a long time, and we knew
that it had a detrimental impact on retention. So that's
where the proposal was suggesting, based on all the research
that we've got looking at other models, having a look
at our own system, that's where we think that's probably
where the best transition is. High performance are telling us
(07:35):
that they don't want to see talent ID programs really
emerge to that fourteen fifteen year old space for under sixteens,
and what they want is players that are really versatile,
strong game sceense can do all the fundamentals really well,
and from there they'll start to specialize them if they're
looking like they've got some potential to be specialized.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
The physical maturation, that's always going to be a difficult one.
Kids grow at different paces, different speeds, in different sizes,
So I suppose drawing a line around that almost too
hard to do. It has to be pretty much age
based more.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Than anything to some degree.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
But what we do know is that you've got big
numbers and you have team sizes that are small, then
it creates the opportunity for sitt of biobanding by age
and weight. So obviously a metropolitan centers, a number of
them have weight grades. They're always challenged in terms of
as the team sizes grow, then those weight grades become
(08:33):
quite hard to support. But with the shift back to
smaller sided teams for longer, it might create the opportunity.
Time will tell, but for more weight grades to make
relevant for longer in those in those junior grades, and
so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out,
but we certainly think that that might create some opportunities.
Speaker 3 (08:53):
Is this the same across genders? Do any in the
same drill and things changing there.
Speaker 4 (08:59):
Yeah, so up in two under thirteen it's largely considered
a mixed game and boys and girls play together. That's
permissible in terms of policy for reasons of safety. From
thirteen onwards, that then segregates into single sex rugby, but
those the thinking around.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
The models sort of still applies.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
What we do know though, is that there will need
to be some work around the girls model because girls
do go through physical meturation just a bit earlier than boys,
and so we just might need to just reflect on
that a little bit to make sure that the framework
does reflect their needs as they grow in numbers and
they're able to sustain their own competitions.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
So it's about increasing enjoyment. It's about keeping kids playing
the game from when they start, and encouraging parents, I
suppose as well to keep their children in the game.
The elephant in the room, he has got to be concussion,
doesn't it. Mike, How if you address that because a
number of parents so we don't want our children playing
(09:55):
this sport. It's dangerous. You mentioned some safety measures there,
but how does that work with the concussion debate?
Speaker 4 (10:03):
Well, we know that concussions in the junior space are
actually roughly low. We see concussion rates probably more of
a focus for us to address and the sort of
teenage and adult space, But that's not to say that
we're taking our off the ball in terms of safety.
In terms of what's happening between the white lines. Obviously,
it's been a big focus on reducing tackle height and
(10:26):
so that continues to be a focus for us, and
we've see the benefits of that already globally in terms
of the impact of lowering tackle height and getting heads
out of the same airsplace. Some of these changes that
we're making in the junior framework are actually also coach
centric and that we're trying to lighten a load a
bit for coaches about the curriculum they have to deliver
(10:50):
at each agent stage, so that can actly focus on
a real critical view tackle height and successful bull carry
or confident ball carrier, two of those things, whereas previously
when they've had to also deal with that as well
as scrums and mine outs and big numbers, it means
that the coachable moments around those critical safety bits gets compromised,
so that's also potentially a benefit. And then more broadly,
(11:14):
the more choices people have, the more opportunity. They have
to choose the.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Kind of rugby that they want to play in.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
So we know RIP has been a really successful, well
loved part of our game under sixes and the sevens,
but that largely up until a few years ago was
sort of the end of the non contact sort of
opportunity for kids, whereas in more recent times we've introduced
rip Rugby and we're now part of the sort of
world Rugby Tea on Rugby troll roll out across the world,
(11:40):
and so we'll be releasing that over the next year
or so into in the New Zealand system. And that's
a non contact variant. Produces all of the sort of
moments and the game sense that we want for kids,
but it's a non contact variant, and so we just
have to help and normalize legitimize these different ways of playing.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
And engagement for children. And this is really importantly been
touching on this as well. I know that when I'm
with a lot younger playing the game, didn't see the
ball a great deal, and I just want to get
my hands on the ball, and I wanted to run
the complexities around scrums and lineups and so on and
so forth. It detracted from the game for me, but
(12:21):
I was like, what is all this? I just want
to play on the mates pass, kick run. This is
a lot of what this is based on as well,
actually getting young people to enjoy the game in its
essence for what it actually is.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Yeah. Absolutely, So we know that running with the ball
in hand wind and you hear going for the tryline
is really catches the essence of what rugby is for
a lot of kids. So creating those sort of meaningful moments,
those opportunities is what we're trying to nextimize. We know
from other sports that largely heaving control of the ball
is power, and so how do we create more opportunities
(12:58):
for kids at all levels now as we go that
kids also want to progress, so as we can introduce
the complexity of game, scrum and line out systems and
structures that follow that they will relish that, but only
at the right time. So again a big focus on
how do we create more meaningful moments around the things
that they really enjoy And we know this from the
(13:18):
work that we've done, is that having minutes on the park,
getting compliments from the coach, getting to play all the positions,
seeing their mates play these are the things that they
really value as opposed to perhaps some of the things
that US adults think that are really important for them,
such as winning, meeting famous players, and getting what's a kid.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
So again, a lot of these changes.
Speaker 4 (13:38):
Rooted in sort of deep research and experiences that we've
drawn from both here in New Zealand and across the world.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
So to find out more for parents and players, of
course at a younger age, is there any where they
can go to have a look at what these proposals are.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
So we're in our stage now starting to roll out
communication and consultation with the premianial unions who will then
flow that out into clubs and schools and stakeholders over
the course of the next six months. So there'll be
more to come. A lot of these changes are not
initially going to be immediately implemented, there potentially over the
next five years or will be wanting to talk to
communities about how best to stage them. But we do
(14:15):
know that we need to spend a bit of time
explaining that a bit of the why, and we've covered
a bit of that today, but we need to invest
more time with parents in particular and key influencers around
that so they can look out for that as we
engage with PUS over the next six months.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Into our participation in development Manager Mike Hester, thanks very
much for your time here on news Talk ZEB. You
have a wonderful week.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
Thanks halving me on.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
For more from sports Talk, listen live to News Talk
zed B from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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