Fa’atauanau in partnership with NZR Mind Set Engage
For nearly ten years, New Zealand Rugby’s pioneer programme, Mind Set Engage has been connecting with grassroots teams across the motu to talk about mental health, through the sport pathway. Equipping people with tools, frameworks and a shared understanding to support themselves and those around them. This winter, Mind Set Engage is shifting the goal […]
From the ground up: Fa’atauanau with the Valkyries
Health begins where people already gather. The Valkyries are one example of what that looks like in West Auckland. Part of New Lynn Stags rugby league club, the Valkyries started with one team in 2024. By 2025 they had three. Their coaches will tell you that growth had nothing to do with winning. Girls come […]
Fa’atauanau: Rangatahi Wellbeing in School Sport
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 […]
Fa’atauanau: Rangatahi Wellbeing in School Sport
Fa’atauanau was a discovery process run by Healthy Families Waitākere alongside the Avondale College First XV across the 2025 rugby season. Working with players, whānau, coaches and community partners, the mahi explored what shapes wellbeing for rangatahi in school sport and what conditions enable the people around them to respond. This report shares the insights […]
More than a game: Avondale College XV family night
Young people from Avondale College’s XV are part of a bold initiative to ground hauora in their everyday lives – shaping how they see themselves, their relationships, and their wellbeing. The initiative is built on a simple but powerful idea: when young people can define wellbeing for themselves – and feel safe in their relationships […]
More Than the Game: Avondale College XV lead a new conversation on wellbeing
When young people are offered a space to define what wellbeing means for them — and feel safe in the relationships around them — they’re more likely to speak openly, ask for support, and stand by each other. That belief came to life at a recent XV rugby camp at Avondale College, where 25 players […]