The Avondale College First XV is a school sport environment like many others – where young people carry real pressure and where that pressure often goes unnamed. Selection anxiety, family expectations, the weight of not wanting to let people down. Present, but rarely expressed.
What shapes wellbeing for rangatahi in school sport – and what conditions enable the people around them to respond? That’s the question Fa’atauanau set out to answer.
Healthy Families Waitākere came to listen, to build relationships, and to let what was learned shape what came next. Working alongside players, whānau, coaches and community partners across 2025, the mahi moved through workshops, monthly wellbeing check-ins, sideline presence and ongoing talanoa. The cultural grounding – talanoa, the Fonofale model, faikava-style connection – was the design principle.
Wellbeing for these rangatahi is held collectively — by players, whānau, coaches and community together. When that system is connected and resourced, hauora improves.
This report sets out what was learned and what it points to for Avondale College and grassroots sport settings across the motu.
Read the insights report here.
