Testimonials

"We have used WILSS over the past three years to provide guidance and workshops for our potential leaders in our houses as well as our school prefects. The feedback that I have had from both the housemasters and the students is that the workshops have been very worthwhile and beneficial to both parties concerned. We plan to continue making use of the leadership opportunities WILSS provides."

Chris Luman, Deputy Headmaster ST PAUL'S COLLEGIATE

"I have learnt a whole lot of new skills and it has helped increase my confidence too. It gave me some insight into my learning styles and taught me how to improve the way I communicate with others. This programme has really taught me the importance of time management in my day to day life."

Participants, YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

What the participants said about the Headz Up day:

“Headzup was a perfect start to the year ahead as a senior student leader. Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of such an awesome day, I know I personally took a lot from it. Best of luck to all the future leaders! It’s a bit like out with the old and in with the new...I don’t really want to leave but at the same time am really excited as to where I may lead next!”

Peter, Student HEADZ UP

“Thriving on a Shoestring covered a whole range of subjects and went into depth, which I enjoyed. Life is becoming more of a struggle and what I have learnt will really help to reduce that.” “I have learnt lots of new skills and have built up my confidence.” “The car maintenance module provided me with excellent information. It will definitely help me save on basic car maintenance and running costs.” “If I put what I learnt in the budgeting session into practice, my life will certainly be a lot easier.”

Participants, THRIVING ON A SHOESTRING

"Kegan was a little apprehensive about joining Live Large but after attending, found it was great. He had been attending holiday programmes which (although enjoyable) were getting babyish for him. Learning about the history of the Waikato, bird-watching on the Thames coast and other activities brought him out of himself and provided him with a really positive environment that had recently been missing in his life. Kegan was also able to make new friends within the group. I thank you for your programme and all the benefits that it gives our young people."

Ngaire Gosnell, GRANDMOTHER

"The Holiday Programme/Leadership Training workshop reinforced concepts I was already familiar with but also gave me more confidence to lead a holiday programme I had not previously been involved in. It was fun to learn a range of games and interactive activities that I could put into practice both at the holiday programme and at school."

Jan Duthie, PUTARURU PRIMARY SCHOOL

“We had an awesome time doing a variety of team building activities. We learnt to work together and made a great team!” “I learnt some awesome leadership skills and I hope to put them to good use over the year and in the future.” “I didn’t know there was so much to learn about leadership and being a good leader. It was fun.”

Students from Taupo Nui A Tua, LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

"The sport coaching course significantly increased my confidence in my coaching abilities. The wide range of topics covered made me much more aware of the needs and requirements of the athletes I coach. The diverse range of sports represented also allowed me to become conscious of coaching similarities and differences with other codes. I now understand better why techniques work, can enhance them to produce even better results and produce excellent planning ideas to meet both short-term coaching sessions and long-term goals."

Debbie Knowles, COACH

"I injured myself playing rugby and paralysed a quarter of my body. But I still wanted to give back to the sport I had played for 20 years, so I chose to take up coaching. The National Certificate in Sport Coaching taught me how to help players achieve their goals and also how to achieve my own. I learned a lot more about goal planning and about athletes’ bodies and how you can gauge if they are genuinely committing to their sport. I feel the course really helps you be the most productive coach you can be."

Jack McSweeney, RUGBY COACH

"The Sports Administration course was a great opportunity to meet with administrators from other sports codes, find out how other sports organisations work, and gain ideas to improve the administration systems in my own organisation. Particularly useful was learning how to write sponsorship proposals, prepare financial statements and get familiar with some of the legislative requirements that impact on voluntary organisations. After being involved in teaching adults, it was really nice to be on the learning end and I have since enrolled in further tertiary study."

Sharyn Kerr, WAIKATO HOCKEY ASSOCIATION

"As the secretary of our club I found the National Certificate in Sports and Administration an excellent way to undertake professional development. The wealth of knowledge I gained from the course is a taonga/treasure: it will help to promote and extend our club in the future. Everyone in our class helped one another achieve our goals. We had lots of laughs, exchanged lots of ideas and made friends for life.The teachers were excellent and always there to help and I thoroughly enjoyed the delivery of the different programmes. No Reira tena Koutou Katoa."

Pera Paekau, HAMILTON CITY TIGERS

"I found the Smart Coach course to be very informative and helpful, partly because it reiterated to me that I am generally on the right track when coaching my teams. Knowing that my coaching style was ‘up with the play’ was a great confidence booster. The course also gave me some good ideas on team management and ways of dealing with behavioural issues. I also learned some new game activities that I will use for teambuilding and practices."

Catherine McLean, COACH

"The National Sport Award coaching course was great. It was awesome to participate in such a fun and informative course while gaining unit standard credits and working towards a qualification. I learned better communication strategies, how to value individual players and how to play games that were fun and interesting at practices. I’m sure my players appreciate the difference in our practice sessions and in my overall approach to the team."

Kirsty Barkle, COACH of VARDON STRIKERS

"The Academy was beneficial to me not only as an athlete but as a person. My favourite sessions were nutrition and mental toughness as they were very relevant to my sport. I have been able to absorb the information then adapt and use it to improve my game, like eating the right foods to provide the right energy levels to sustain my performance. Great facilitators shared how to plan your year to include time for family, friends, sport and education, ensuring you have a healthy balance."

Emily Perry, GOLFER

"Maintaining overall health is vital when you’re competing at an elite level of sport. You need to be able to meet the requirements of training and competition without compromising your physical, mental and emotional health. The Waikato Academy for Young Achievers programme addressed these issues head-on. In my day-to-day sporting life, I still use many of the techniques that I learnt."

Daniel Vettori, cricketer, NZ BLACK CAP

"The course I attended has given me a deeper insight into leadership, and practical management tools to apply in the workplace. The knowledge I have gained has been imperative in working with people, developing relationships, and building teams at our sports events. My confidence and ability to manage staff and lead work teams has improved considerably. Additionally, our team performance has been enhanced which further helps to achieve both our team’s and organisation’s objectives."

Tanya Wakefield, Events Coordinator, ULEISURE

"WILSS programmes provide participants with ways to learn a wide range of skills that can be applied to a number of organisational aspects, from staffing issues to refocusing and restructuring. The programme I attended gave me the chance to take a close look at how I do things, and how I could change to be more effective, both within my organisation and on a personal level. It was also fantastic to meet new people who are working and volunteering in the same sector as I am."

Richard Battersby, Project Energize, SPORT WAIKATO

"Walking into a room facing a group of people that I didn’t know and a programme that I was unsure of was a huge challenge for me. However after completing the Striding Forward course - and encouraged by support from others on the programme - I enrolled in a Social Science degree in Counselling and am now in my second year. I am excited about the future, not only for myself but for my wider family. If you had told me three years ago where I would be now I would have laughed - but now there is no going back!"

Joanna Beazley, STRIDING FORWARD

"Our passion and purpose is to enhance individual, team and company success."

Ron McLuckie, LEADERSHIP FOCUS

"Many of today’s organisations are over-managed and under-led and this isn’t good enough for our changing world."

Peter Drucker

"The way you make sense of the future, is by taking charge of it. Not by responding to it!"

Charles Handy

"Organisations don’t change, people change. Organisations change in units of one."

David Firth